Meet The team: Rich Wherry, Survey Manager

Rich began his surveying journey when he took on a role as an Engineer’s Assistant on the A30 Gossmoor Bypass, where Kemp were responsible for the site setting out. Although he knew little about the industry at the time, he quickly found himself drawn to the variety of tasks and the opportunity to learn on the job.

From those early days assisting with setting out, Rich soon moved into land surveying, developing his skills across topographic, measured building, utility and engineering projects. In 2009, he moved to Seeka to broaden his experience before later returning to a combined setting out and land surveying role.

In 2014, Rich qualified as a UAV pilot, adding drone surveying to his growing list of skills. More recently Rich has achieved Technical Membership with the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES) and Associate Membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), adding to the skills he’d developed throughout his career so far.

In 2015 Rich took a career break from Cornwall to work as a surveyor in New Zealand, gaining valuable international experience before returning to Kemp in 2017 as a site engineer. Eventually, he transitioned back into land surveying, bringing his career journey full circle.

Now, as one of Kemp’s Survey Managers, Rich heads up our Kemp Local provision. In this role, he oversees small works projects across land and measured building survey, manages UAV operations, supports junior surveyors, and ensures teams are well-prepared before heading out to site.

A typical day for Rich involves a combination of on-site data collection with office-based processing, preparing quotes, liaising with clients, and mentoring junior staff. One of the aspects he enjoys most about working at Kemp is the multidisciplinary nature of the company, which allows him to work across all survey types and use a wide range of equipment from total stations and GPS to drones and GPR.

Among his most memorable projects is surveying the humid tropic biome at the Eden Project. He worked outside public hours to map all the footpaths and trees to support the design of the treetop aerial walkway, as well as carrying out the as-built survey for the suspended lookout platform. The unique environment and technical challenges made it a standout experience.

Outside of work, Rich enjoys water sports, coastal walks, live music, and discovering new food spots. South America is high on his travel wish list, drawn by its rainforests, mountains and incredible cuisine. If he wasn’t a surveyor, he imagines he might have become a joiner or pursued a role in wildlife conservation.