GVA acquires HOW Planning to reinforce group offer

Chris Cheap

Commercial property agency GVA has acquired Manchester-based HOW Planning which it will merge into its existing planning, development and regeneration team.

Under the deal, for an undisclosed sum, HOW will dovetail with a wide range of related services including regeneration, development, compulsory purchase, economic planning and finance, reinforcing GVA’s offer.

This move establishes the largest planning business in the north of the country, claims GVA, with a combined capacity of more than 60 planning specialists operating from GVA’s North of England and Scotland platform in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

It is also a major plank in GVA’s strategy to build the Manchester office into the North West’s leading real estate advisory business.

HOW was founded by Gary Halman and Richard Woodford in 2001, and has since grown to be one of the leading private planning practices in the North, working with a wide range of clients including the Far East Consortium, Bruntwood, Royal London, Bentley Motors, Marks and Spencer and Aldi.

Chris Cheap, head of Manchester for GVA said: “GVA has a very strong regional presence in the North, and the integration of HOW provides an even stronger platform to deliver a best-in-class service to our clients.

“HOW and GVA have strong synergies in terms of culture and values and this is an excellent fit for our clients and partners.”

Gary Halman, managing partner of HOW, said: “HOW has many synergies with GVA in terms of its strong regional positioning, work ethos and commercially focused approach to planning and development.

“Joining such a highly regarded national practice with such a strong consultancy and planning pedigree will allow us to better service our clients’ needs, enhanced by GVA’s wide experience and activity within key markets in the UK, as well as offer a strong pathway to growth for our talented workforce.”

The corporate team at the Manchester office of Mills & Reeve, led by partner Chris Ross, advised the founders of HOW Planning, while Paul Stringer, partner at Cowgill Holloway, provided corporate finance advice.

Deloitte provided buyside due diligence on the transaction.

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