Landscape design group LUC reports continued growth

Tom Jonson, head of LUC Manchester office

Independent planning, landscape design and ecology consultancy, LUC, which has recently announced plans to expand its Manchester office, has reported turnover up 5.3% to £8.8m.

Operating profit improved by 2.1% to £316,000 in the year ended December 31, 2017, and staff numbers increased by just over 8% during the year.

LUC was one of the first multi-disciplinary environmental consultancies set up in the UK by eminent and influential environmentalist and former director general of the Nature Conservancy, Max Nicholson, in 1966.

Today, LUC employs nearly 150 people and it has recently opened offices in Manchester, headed by Tom Jonson, and Lancaster to add to those in London, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow, giving the company good national coverage.

Jeremy Owen, managing director of LUC, said: “I am delighted with the way the company has continued to progress and grow following our 50th anniversary in 2016.

“We have delivered another strong set of financial results, and our balance sheet and order book both look very healthy.

“We continue to deliver high quality services to our clients, which were reflected by LUC receiving 17 industry awards and commendations in 2017.

“I am particularly pleased we are able to demonstrate better gender equality of representation, progression and opportunity than many of the reporting organisations in our sector, and that we are now an accredited Living Wage employer, and part of the Working Families network.

“Looking ahead, uncertainty remains regarding the implications of Brexit, for example in relation to the impacts on the economy, government funding and environmental safeguards.

“The publication of the 25 Year Environment Plan earlier this year is encouraging as it suggests that the Government wishes to place renewed emphasis on the importance of a healthy and high quality environment by looking after our natural capital.”

He added: “This policy aspiration will need to be married with the on-going and long-term need to upgrade our infrastructure, deliver a step-change in the building of new homes, and address the challenges of climate change.

“This is no easy task, but we believe that LUC can make an important contribution by providing creative, and robust and sustainable solutions, drawing on our in-depth knowledge and specialist skills garnered over 50 years of successful operations.”

LUC offers a range of services to clients in the public and private sector, including development planning, strategic planning and assessment, landscape architecture, urban design, and ecology.

The diversity of LUC’s work is illustrated by recent projects such as its appointment as landscape design and ecology advisors on new accommodation for the University of Exeter, the preparation of a masterplan for the growth of Penrith, the publication of an interactive map illustrating ‘dark
skies’ in Ireland, numerous green belt assessments for local authorities, and helping National Grid to secure planning permission for a project removing overhead transmission lines in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

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