Planning consultancy looks to expand as workoads rise

Increased urban development activity has prompted a property consultancy to look to bump up the size of its planning service by taking on an associate planner.

Smiths Gore partner Lachlan Robertson said the recruitment drive was part of an ongoing expansion in planning following a merger last spring with with Reading-based Hives Planning.

He told Planning: “We are known specialists in rural property services within the UK. But there is a lot of expansion taking place in urban areas.

“You cannot have urban expansion of any great scale unless you look at the rural areas, so this is an obvious service to provide.”

Robertson, who co-partners the practice with Rebecca McAllister, said: “We have noticed more demand in the market for planning services, and the approaching general election notwithstanding, we think this trend will continue for some time to come.”

Last year's merger increased the numbers of chartered town planners within Smiths Gore from 13 to 17 across the country, in addition to a number of planning graduates.

Around six of Smiths Gore’s 32 UK offices offices now offer planning services, in Darlington, Edinburgh, Peterborough, Petworth, Reading and Taunton. 

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