Alan has been the Director of the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland since 1993. For the past two years he ahs also been the Acting Director of the CIH in Northern Ireland.

From 1990 to 1993 Alan was a lecturer on the housing courses at Stirling University from and prior to that he was Policy Officer again with the CIH in Scotland. Alan also worked with the Strathclyde Campaign for Investment in Council Housing and for seven years was a as a community development worker, working with a range of tenant / community groups and federations.

A previous Committee Member of Link Group, Link Housing Association, Linkwide, Kintry Housing Partnership and Govanhill Community Development Trust, Alan is currently a Committee Member of Cube Housing Association.

Over the years, Alan has been a member of a wide range of Government Advisory Groups including New Housing Partnerships and the Housing Improvement Task Force.