Having spent the first ten years of his career overseas, originally in the Caribbean and then subsequently Thailand, Derek returned to the UK in 1987 and joined Davis Belfield and Everest. He became  Partner in 1990 with responsibility for establishing and developing the Project Management division in the London office, culminating in the Building Awards ' Project Management Consultant of the Year ' award in 2004. In May '06 and having by then been the Middle East liaison Partner for some ten years,  Derek stood down from the London PM division and took up the full time role of Managing Partner for the Middle East Region with an aggressive six year plan for expansion and development.

Over his 20 year career at Davis Langdon, Derek has led a series of award winning projects including The Eden Project, The Royal Academy of Music, The Gilbert Collection, The Bank of England refurbishment, The Amphion Consortium and The National Gallery East Wing Project.