Simon Crowther is the founder and director of the flood risk, drainage and civil engineering consultancy FPS Environmental. He is often featured by BBC News and Sky News, a member of the DEFRA Property Flood Resilience Roundtable and is a founding member of the International Property Flood Resilience Association (IPFRA). He has contributed to UK flood policy at parliamentary level, including presenting at Parliament for the launch of the FloodRe Build Back Better scheme.

Simon is a Civil Engineer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management, the highest grade of membership awarded by CIWEM. Fellowship recognises sustained and exceptional contribution to the water and environmental profession. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nottingham, is a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager and is also a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

FPS Environmental works across residential, commercial, infrastructure and public sector projects in England and Wales. Simon leads on complex and high-profile instructions, including Strategic Flood Risk Assessments for local planning authorities, planning FRAs for sites in flood zones, and flood resilience programmes following major flood events.

Simon’s involvement in flood risk goes beyond consultancy practice. In 2007, his own home was flooded. His family were out of the house for nine months while it was repaired, and the insurance claim reached approximately £120,000 pounds. That experience is what led him to build FPS Environmental, and it informs how he approaches every project.

Over thirteen years, FPS Environmental has grown into a consultancy with offices in Nottingham and London, working on projects ranging from single residential planning applications such as a Flood Risk Assessment for a House Extension, through to Strategic Flood Risk Assessments covering entire local authority areas.

Selected projects and appointments

• South Derbyshire SFRA 2025: appointed by South Derbyshire District Council to prepare the Level 1 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, the evidence base now used for planning decisions across the district and the policy backdrop for site-specific flood risk assessments in South Derbyshire.
• Gloucestershire County Council: appointed through competitive tender, scoring highest overall, to deliver property flood resilience assessments following Storm Henk in January 2024, including over 100 property-level surveys, supporting the wider context for Flood Risk Assessments in Gloucestershire.
• York Flood Alleviation Scheme: surveyed 146 properties alongside the Environment Agency as part of the flood resilience programme, August to November 2022. This work sits alongside the Flood Risk Assessments we undertake in York.
• Isle of Wight Council: appointed to deliver property flood resilience surveys following Storms Babet and Henk, June and July 2024. This sits alongside the Flood Risk Assessments for Planning we undertake on the Isle of Wight.
• East Staffordshire Borough Council: appointed as preferred surveying partner following Storm Ciara and Dennis flooding in 2020
• Lincolnshire County Council: retained to deliver Section 19 flood investigations under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. This sits alongside our wider Flood Risk Assessments for Planning work in Lincolnshire.
• Southwark Council: prepared the Flood Risk Assessment and Exception Test evidence for the Mason House and Townsend House redevelopment in Flood Zone 3, securing planning approval. This is one example of the Flood Risk Assessments for Planning we undertake in London, particularly in higher-risk flood zones.
• Environment Agency: under Simon’s leadership, FPS Environmental Ltd were successfully appointed as flood risk surveyors to the Environment Agency’s Property Flood Resilience Framework.

Simon has contributed directly to shaping UK flood policy through sustained engagement with government, parliament, industry bodies and the media. He has advised on UK water and environmental policy and contributes to Bricks and Water, an influential cross-sector policy programme focused on flood resilience and the built environment.

In April 2022, he presented at Parliament for the formal launch of the Build Back Better scheme, the insurance industry initiative that allows policyholders to incorporate flood resilience measures when rebuilding after a flood rather than simply restoring what was there before. Build Back Better is the first scheme of its kind in the world, and Simon played a key role in introducing it to the parliamentary audience of MPs and related parties.

In 2023, Simon contributed to the UK Government procurement policy review. Martin Traynor OBE, the Small Business Crown Representative, visited the FPS Environmental offices and took Simon’s evidence to Downing Street for use in the evidence base required for policy change. The Crown Representative role exists to ensure that the concerns of small businesses are heard at the highest levels of government procurement.

In October 2025, he attended the launch of the Bonfield FloodReady Review, an independent ten-year plan for property flood resilience commissioned by the Environment Agency and led by Professor Peter Bonfield OBE FREng. Simon attended as a member of the DEFRA PFR Roundtable and founding member of IPFRA, alongside representatives from government, insurers, lenders and the engineering profession. The review was launched by Emma Hardy MP.

Simon is a founding member of the Institute of Property Flood Resilience Advisors, established in 2025 to set professional standards for flood resilience practice in the UK. He is a regular speaker at Floodex London, the UK’s primary flood risk and drainage industry event, speaking in the Flood and Drainage Theatre.

In 2018, Simon co-authored research with Cranfield University on the Effectiveness of Flood Groups, examining how community-led flood resilience organisations can be supported to become more effective. The research was one of the earliest systematic studies of Flood Action Groups in England and its findings remain relevant to current policy debates on community resilience.

Simon is a recognised media expert on flooding, regularly providing technical commentary and context for broadcast audiences. He is the preferred flood risk consultant for BBC News and Sky News and has featured on Channel 4. When a significant flood event occurs or flood policy is debated, Simon is among the first consultants contacted by national broadcasters for expert input.

His ability to translate complex flood risk and engineering concepts into clear, accurate language for a public audience is what has made these media relationships consistent over several years. He is also regularly quoted in print and online media on flood risk, planning policy and property resilience.

“When a flood happens, the questions journalists need answered quickly are: why did this happen, could it have been prevented, and what does it mean for the future. Those are engineering questions. Having someone who can answer them clearly and accurately in a live broadcast context matters.”

Simon Crowther BEng (Hons) FCIWEM C.WEM MIET, Director, FPS Environmental

For media enquiries, contact FPS Environmental directly at enquiries@fpsenvironmental.co.uk or call 020 8050 3194.

In May 2026, Simon was featured as the Flood Risk Expert on BBC One’s Rip Off Britain, joining presenter Gloria Hunniford to discuss surface water flooding and the latest Environment Agency mapping. Filmed at Media City in Salford, Greater Manchester, the segment explored how surface water flood risk has risen in urban areas, why the Environment Agency’s mapping has changed, and what homeowners can practically do to check the flood risk at their own property.

Read the FPS Environmental article on surface water flooding as featured on BBC Rip Off Britain.