Mr Cole CBE is an architect by profession and currently acts as an independent Strategic Client Adviser. He was previously an Under-Secretary at the DHSSPS(NI) and Chief Estates Officer for the Health Estates Investment Group (HEIG), in which roles he was responsible for the procurement and implementation of many major health facilities in Northern Ireland. He is a former chairman of the European Health Property Network.
John previously held the presidency of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects and is currently a Council member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In 2014, he was appointed as an Honorary Professor to the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering at the Queen’s University of Belfast. He has chaired a number of public inquiries and is the author of several recent major reports on the state of the Construction Industry. In 2018, he was appointed as an adviser to the Scottish Government on a review of the effectiveness of Building Regulations in Scotland.