Meet our team

Behind every Square Perch project is a team with a wealth of experience across a variety of complementary skill sets, including planning, construction, finance, design, and delivery. Their combined perspective and diverse expertise enable us to make better decisions.

What unites us is a shared conviction that by unlocking the potential in overlooked buildings and transforming them into well-considered homes, we reduce waste, preserve character, and create lasting value.

Russell Hopcraft

Founder & Managing Director

Russ is an entrepreneur, property investor, and senior business leader with over three decades of experience across property and operationally complex businesses.

His property experience began in his twenties with the conversion of his first property into an HMO and has since spanned residential and hospitality assets. This includes the renovation of a near-derelict B&B, buy-to-let and furnished holiday let investments in London and the Cotswolds, as well as investment in a fine-dining pub with rooms, securing planning permission to expand its on-site accommodation.

Alongside property development, Russ has held senior leadership roles in the UK and US (including a NASDAQ quoted software company) before founding his own software company in 1999. Over more than 20 years, he grew the business into a trusted supplier of mission-critical systems to major UK high street banks, operating under multi-year, multi-million-pound contracts. Russ spearheaded a successful exit to a private equity-backed organisation, and stayed on to manage a two-year transition.

Square Perch sees Russ returning to his property roots, together with a team of highly qualified and like-minded professionals, to transform neglected commercial and light industrial buildings into well-designed modern homes that respect and preserve the heritage and character of the original structures.

Colin Smith

Planning Consultant

Widely regarded as a key authority on commercial to residential conversions, Colin is an extremely valuable asset. He has extensive knowledge of planning regulations and controls, hands-on construction know-how, and possesses an acute understanding of planning law and policies.

Colin can draw on over 30 years of experience in planning, building regulation, and property consultancy. Throughout his career, he has successfully resolved hundreds of planning issues, helping clients unlock the full potential of their properties and land. With his deep knowledge of planning law, building controls, and development policy, Colin offers practical, economical solutions that add value through expansion, conversion, or redevelopment.

Beginning his career in private architectural practice, Colin quickly became an early adopter of CAD technology before establishing his own architectural and planning consultancy (CJS Planning Services). Today, he continues to guide clients through every stage of the planning and development process with clarity and expertise.

Colin provides a comprehensive “one-stop” service, managing projects from design through to planning approvals. His collaborative approach ensures strong relationships with both clients and local authorities.

Dan Stiles

Quantity Surveyor and Project Manager

Dan is an experienced Quantity Surveyor and Project Manager with over 30 years of expertise delivering complex commercial, residential, and public sector projects.

His portfolio spans retail parks, healthcare facilities, ultra-high-end residential properties, aviation hubs, and large-scale commercial conversions.

A Director of Syndicate Property Development Ltd, Dan’s proven track record, combined with his hands-on leadership and strategic insight, consistently drives efficiency, quality, and client satisfaction across every project and makes him both a trusted leader and valued contributor to any construction or development project.

Tony Power

Legal Consultant

Tony is a former university law lecturer and legal consultant with experience across frontline policing, legal education, and strategic contractual risk advisory. He now works exclusively in the early stage identification and interception of contractual and commercial legal risk for business owners, property investors, and developers, supporting them to make legally informed decisions that reduce risk, improve clarity, and protect commercial position.

The founder of Empowerment Legal Consultancy, Tony’s work sits entirely before the formal legal process, helping clients understand where leverage, exposure, and control truly sit in their documents, structures, and decisions while they still have flexibility and strategic choice. This early interception approach helps reduce the likelihood of disputes forming.

Disclaimer

Tony Power is an independent legal consultant. He is not a practising solicitor or barrister and does not carry out reserved legal activities. His consultancy services are limited to non-reserved legal work, including advisory, drafting, and compliance related support. His inclusion on this website does not create a partnership, employment relationship, or agency arrangement, nor does it constitute an endorsement of any investment opportunity or an assumption of responsibility for the affairs of the hosting organisation.