The Team
Governance
The CHEESE Project was setup in 2014, Bristol’s Green Capital bid year, by a small group of local people concerned about climate change and who wanted to make Bristol a truly sustainable city. It was formally founded as an unincorporated association in August 2016, governed by a five-member volunteer management committee working to a formal constitution (PDF). In February 2018, the CHEESE Project was registered as a Community Interest Company (CIC), limited by guarantee. For more information on the structure and organisation of the CHEESE Project, please read our Articles of Association (PDF).
The project is managed by a central office and operates with community organisations to carry out our Heatview® thermal surveys. Our community partners are based in Bristol (more details on who we work with can be found here).
OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MICHAEL ALFORD ANDREWS – CEO, Chair
Mike was a BBC TV senior producer responsible for budgets of millions of pounds while directing environmental TV series that won international awards. He subsequently ran his own company for 10 years, contributing ideas to national environment exhibitions including the Eden Project. A former Trustee and Vice Chairman of the SS Great Britain, he was a founder of the CHEESE project in 2014 and has worked pro bono since then.
JOSHUA MUDIE – Non-Executive Director and Treasurer
Joshua became involved with The CHEESE Project through volunteering as part of the Asking Bristol initiative. He is a Financial Services auditor, working for EY in Bristol. His educational background was in Civil Engineering, where he gained an undergraduate MEng from the University of Bristol, continuing on to complete a PhD in the field of Timber-Concrete Composite Floors, awarded in 2020.
GEOFFREY HUNTER – Non-Executive Director
Geoffrey has an MChem in Materials Engineering and Chemistry. He worked for Glass Technology Services as a forensic glass analyst and fracture engineer. He has a PGCE in teaching Physics and Chemistry and taught at Merchants Academy. He was previously a thermographic imaging surveyor for CHEESE. He is at dissertation stage (focussing upon challenges and opportunities relating to air tightness) of his MSc in Building Surveying and is a new graduate building control surveyor for ACT surveyors.
JEREMY BIRCH – Technical director and co-founder
Jeremy founded a venture-capital funded software company (Pulsic Ltd, Bristol) and the Friends of the Earth Bristol branch. With 34 years’ experience in software and silicon chip design, he is the author of several patents. Having developed bespoke software to power our initial low-cost iPhone-based survey equipment, he has trained over 30 surveyors to carry out more than 1000 CHEESE surveys successfully. He designed and built our own custom thermal-imaging Heatview® camera based on a Nano-Pi cpu board. Mark 1 and Mark 2 of his system is currently in successful use by CHEESE surveyors, and in 2024 he developed an Android version of the software to run with hardened off-the-shelf smart-phones.
MANAGEMENT and OUR HEATVIEW® SURVEYORS
WILLOW MEREWOOD – Business Manager
Willow is an experienced company director, specialising in operations, marketing, events, business management and more. She brings 12 years in green mobility and a passion for energy efficiency and environmental causes to the company. Having lived in Bristol for nearly 20 years, she is delighted to be making a difference to people’s lives in the South West.
TRACEY KOVACS – Development Co-ordinator
Tracey joined the organisation April 2023. She is passionate about raising awareness of how we all can make small changes to improve the energy efficiency in our homes, including how low-cost remedial actions can save householders money, improve their comfort and well-being, and work towards reducing their energy consumption and carbon footprint. Her role is varied and includes engagement with general public, attending events, marketing, administration, and a range of other duties to ensure the project’s successful seasons.
OUR HEATVIEW® SURVEYORS
Our highly-valued surveyors undertake a specially-designed, intensive, CPD registered training course in our unique survey protocol, using bespoke software and equipment. They then carry out monitored training surveys to reach the required standard. They are self-employed, setting their own work schedule.
HEATVIEW® SURVEYORS, 2024-2025
Chris has worked as a surveyor with CHEESE since 2019. He has used the knowledge gained from surveying to retrofit a flat in a 19th century house and a 1950s 3 bed semi, to modern standards of thermal performance. He is passionate about addressing the shocking thermal flaws in current building techniques in new builds and also extensions and loft conversions. He also has an interest in measuring and understanding the practical ventilation of buildings. He has also helped with developing the blower door system that we use.
Rob has worked with environmental consultancies and local authorities in a variety of community, sustainability and policy roles. He started as a surveyor with the CHEESE Project in 2019, and has completed over 200 surveys, including homes, community centres, converted churches and heritage buildings. He now plays a leading role in training new surveyors as well as surveying.
I am a retired natural builder with a passion for sustainability and providing realistic money saving ideas for low income homes. Ive been with the CHEESE project since Winter 2016. I attended an event on behalf of my girlfriend. I was bitterly disappointed to discover there were no dairy products but came away inspired to train as an energy surveyor (cheese-monger).
Jo brings 20 years of working in the building industry as an architect and has been a seasonal thermal imaging surveyor for CHEESE since 2016. Her specialist knowledge of traditional and listed buildings informs the interpretation of thermal images, leading to a deeper understanding of your home’s behaviour and planning routes toward improving its performance.
Dori started her career as a heatview surveyor in 2023, and surveyed over 60 homes in the Bristol area. She has completed multiple courses on retrofitting best practice, delivered by leading organizations in the energy sector. She helped build a dwelling from scratch in Japan and refurbished an old building as a member of a working co-op in Hungary – thus gaining invaluable insights about the different construction practices across cultures.
She also works as a content creator and development coordinator for the CHEESE project.