Environmental consultancy planning to double staff numbers
Environmental consultancy LUC is planning to double the number of staff in its Manchester office.
Head of the Manchester team Tom Jonson said the expansion follows several new client and project wins.
LUC, which has offices in London, Bristol, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Lancaster, launched its Manchester office last summer when Tom joined from AECOM.
He was followed shortly afterwards by fellow landscape architects and urban designers, Jacqueline Whitworth-Allan and Chris Cox.
Tom says the office has already expanded its services to include planning and welcomed five new recruits.
He plans to double staff numbers again to around 15 in the next 12 months, further develop its offering to include ecology and is currently looking for new offices to accommodate the growing team.
New team members include Melissa Kurihara who has joined as an associate director to lead the Manchester planning team. Melissa was previously at Urban Vision in Salford where she was an associate planning consultant.
Melissa has a wealth of experience in planning policy and green infrastructure and has worked for local authorities including Stafford Borough Council as a senior planning officer.
Melissa said: “It is an exciting time to join LUC. The company has an excellent reputation and is involved in some of the UK’s leading landscape and urban design projects. I am looking forward to growing the Manchester team.”
Stephanie Crewe has also joined the landscape planning team as a principal landscape architect. Stephanie, who was previously a landscape architect at HLM Architects in Sheffield, has a diverse skill set which includes landscape planning and design.
Meanwhile, principal planner Jennifer Rea has relocated to Manchester from LUC’s London office.
Jennifer has more than 10 years’ experience in project coordination and management, environmental impact assessment of major projects, as well as undertaking sustainability appraisals of local authority strategies and plans.
Two graduates are soon to join the Manchester office to work in the design and planning teams.
Since launching, the Manchester office has won several new clients and projects including being appointed by Eden District Council to lead on the Penrith Vision Masterplan in Cumbria. The project is to prepare a strategic masterplan to create between 5000 to 8000 new homes, a new link road as well as a 70-hectare employment site.
The team has also been appointed by Manchester City Council to provide landscape appraisals at Heaton Park, and by Peel Land for work on Arpley Country Park which is part of the Port Warrington Masterplan.
The team is continuing to work for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. LUC carried out an assessment of the Manchester Green Belt and was then commissioned to carry out further landscape character and sensitivity studies to support the rewrite of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.
