Our Team — Construction Project Management & Cost Consultants Meet the team.

Ollie Thompson is the Founder and Director of October Projects. A Chartered Surveyor and Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), he brings 15 years’ experience in project and cost management, leading commissions from £20k refurbishments to £350m major schemes for public and private sector clients.

Ollie began his career on the contractor side with John Sisk & Son, before moving into consultancy with Mace, Arcadis and Trinity Property Consultants. Most recently, he was a Senior Associate at Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), leading the project management division in Birmingham. This mix of contracting and consultancy experience gives him a practical understanding of how projects are delivered on both sides of the contract.

His experience spans industrial, manufacturing and logistics; retail, hospitality and leisure; residential and mixed-use; commercial; infrastructure and aviation; healthcare, education, and public and civic schemes; and fire remediation. He has acted as project and programme manager, quantity surveyor, Employer’s Agent and Contract Administrator under JCT contracts, and as Project Manager under NEC, alongside fund monitoring, commercial auditing and construction management.

Ollie founded October Projects to put clients first, with senior, hands-on advice from the person they actually meet, not a team they never see. He leads every commission personally, bringing sharp commercial judgement and a practical, delivery-focused approach that protects value, manages risk and keeps projects moving, with a commitment that continues well beyond final account.

Luisa Smith is an Associate Director at October Projects. A commercial specialist with over 15 years’ experience as a quantity surveyor and Employer’s Agent, she has led the commercial management of major programmes across construction, infrastructure, utilities, defence, energy and nuclear, including complex infrastructure programmes exceeding £200 million.

Luisa has held senior roles with organisations including Mace, Dragados, Balfour Beatty Vinci, Turner & Townsend, Costain and GE Alstom, on both client-side and contractor teams. She is highly experienced in NEC3, NEC4, JCT and FIDIC contracts, with deep capability in commercial strategy, procurement, contract management, change control, claims and negotiation.

Having worked on both sides of the contract, Luisa brings a rounded, practical perspective to every commission. She combines a strategic, detail-focused approach with a collaborative way of working, building strong relationships while protecting her clients’ commercial position and making sure projects deliver the value they were meant to.

Why I chose October Projects

“I’ve spent my career on major programmes with some of the industry’s biggest names. I chose October Projects because here, clients get senior commercial judgement on every commission, not just at the pitch.”