Neon Surveys was established in 2012 by Director Duncan Hallam, who saw a better way forward for the production of independent geomatic surveys.
From the outset, he invested heavily in the latest capital equipment and production software to maximise his team’s efficiency. He carefully developed a team of qualified surveyors to provide a tailored, on-site surveying service eliminating the traditional obstacles involved with getting on with your work.
The result?
A team who react quickly to achieve the fast turnaround of your survey through a combination of an unparalleled level of accuracy and a lack of internal bureaucracy.
Contact us today to discuss a cost-effective solution and a turnaround time to suit your project.
Duncan Hallam
Director
I original gained a degree in Hospitality and started working in a hotel. But this environment didn’t suit me and I wasn’t enjoying it, so my father, a director at a national survey company, suggested I spent a day at his business. I guess you could say the rest is history!
I found that the work really appealed to my technical mind and I took up a job as Junior Surveyor with the firm. During this period, I combined learning on the job with a two-year block release surveying course and worked my way up to the role of Surveyor.
I eventually switched employer, where I worked to become a Senior Surveyor. I loved my job, particularly embracing and harnessing new technology to improve what I did for customers, but got frustrated by the bureaucracy involved with taking on new equipment and adopting new techniques in a large business.
I wanted to be able to incorporate the opportunities to improve surveying services for my customers as they arose. So I decided to set up my own business and Neon Surveys was born in 2012.
Luckily for me, I had two colleagues who felt the same and wanted to join me in my new business. Peter, Will and I now work together to provide the most flexible, adaptable and technologically advanced surveying service we can, which I find really gratifying.
I come from a sporting background – my uncle was a professional cyclist and won Olympic medals as well as competing in Commonwealth and World Championships - and have cycled competitively and played rugby in the past.
Nowadays, my biggest sporting passion is motor racing, in particular the Le Mans 24-hour race. I’m a family man with two sons who are also catching the racing bug, I’m pleased to say!
Will Jordan
Director
Maps always fascinated me when I was younger and although I didn’t know much about surveying prior to my degree, the course really appealed. I completed my degree at Newcastle University, as one of a select group of eight on the course.
Straight from university, I was offered a role at a large national surveying company through their graduate programme. I received a great deal of on-the-job training and gained hands-on experience on a wealth of different projects over a period of seven years.
One of my trainers was Duncan. We shared the same attitude to providing quality results for customers and got on really well from the word go. This was one of the factors which led me to join Neon in 2014, rather than going out on my own as a subcontractor.
Working at Neon is a very personal experience, both in terms of working as a team and working with our customers. It’s very satisfying to work together to provide such a tailored, efficient service for our customers.
My wife and I have a dog, Lottie, rescued from Cyprus via an animal charity. We think she’s a cross between a beagle and a whippet, and much of our spare time is spent walking with her or looking after our horses. My wife kept horses before we got together – I didn’t really know what I was getting into but enjoy it greatly as it keeps us fit and active!
Peter Barnes
Senior Surveyor
I originally studied engineering but got made redundant from an early job and was referred to a large surveying company who were looking for new recruits with CAD skills. I had an interview and due to the crossover skills I had, was actually offered a role training as a surveyor.
This has proved a great move for me. I especially like how life as a surveyor enables me to travel to different places and meet people.
I eventually moved on to a different surveying firm and it was during this time that Duncan, who I knew from my original role, contacted me to see if I’d like to join the Neon team.
I’d always appreciate Duncan’s candid approach and willingness to harness new technology for the benefit of his customers, so I jumped at the chance.
There are some great jobs at Neon to get my teeth into and I very much enjoy working with the team.
I have a camper van and when I’m not working you can often find me travelling around in it. I am happiest outdoors in my canoe, on my paddleboard or bicycle. I used to play lots of sport too, including hockey at county level.
Jayme Forbes
Senior Surveyor
I began as an Architect Technician, designing hospital layouts for a civil engineering firm. I went on to draw post offices from site data. From there I fell into surveying.
Following a few years working in a small family surveying business, I went to work at a national surveying company. My fellow senior surveyors included Will and Duncan. Surveying is a fast-moving role. It requires adaptability and integrity. You have to mentally turn up for work, as well as physically, and get grafting. Both share this attitude and ethos which made it enjoyable to work with them.
I continued to work with Will following Duncan’s departure to start Neon. I became self-employed in 2012 and built a reputation for dealing with high value, complex interior area surveys.
After over a decade working on my own, I’m looking forward to working with the Neon team and exploring new ways of thinking. We all share a passion for adopting new technology and pushing the boundaries of surveying. I believe I can help Neon to continue doing this through my experience in making workflow as accurate and quick as possible. New technology picks up a lot of info. Distilling this to exclude unwanted data and deliver an end product that matches customer expectations is key.
There’s a real human side to being a surveyor which all the Neon team appreciate. It may be that you’re surveying a building with 100 different tenants and you need to interact with every one in just a couple of days. You have to be able to socialize, gain their co-operation and hit the grown running.
I live on the Norfolk Broads with my wife and we love the rural setting. My other passions are computing and tinkering with old electronic components. I love science fiction and can often be found watching star trek or something similar – usually while waiting for surveying data to process!