People: Series of hires for land promotion company; US engineering firm expands Birmingham team; and more

Strategic land promotion company Richborough Estates has welcomed a number of new starters to the team.

Briony Stenhouse and Alanna Mahoney have taken on roles as assistant land and planning managers for the west and east divisions respectively.  They will work to identify development sites that are free from constraints and suitable for the future delivery of housing.

Ellie Cudmore has been appointed team administrator and Tom Ball has joined the business as financial controller, supported by Jon Dunman as part-time finance director.

Former head of planning for Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, James Carpenter has joined Richborough Estates as planning director, with responsibility for planning strategy and will soon join The Land Promoters and Developers Federation’s (LPDF) Policy & Technical Committee.

Paul Campbell, joint managing director at Birmingham-based Richborough Estates, said: “The process of housing delivery is changing, with strategic land companies now responsible for the delivery of 50% of outline planning applications for new homes.

“Every land opportunity is different and we need to ensure that we have a team in place with a diverse range of skills and capabilities who will be able to identify sites and bring them through the planning process swiftly and to the greatest benefit of existing communities and prospective homeowners.”
The government has set national targets to deliver 300,000 new homes each year in order to ensure a sustained housing supply and Richborough expects to sell land in 2019 with a value in excess of £67m and consent for approximately 1,400 dwellings.

“Last year housing delivery across England fell 78,000 homes short of the government’s target. If this trend continues, some local authorities will find themselves with a significant shortfall of housing stock.

“We currently have around 100 active projects across the country and if all of these sites come forward, they would contribute approximately 7% of the annual target and would play a significant role in ensuring a continued supply of new homes.”

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Burns & McDonnell, the US engineering-construction firm, has continued to grow its presence in the UK by welcoming two engineers to its Birmingham headquarters.

Electrical engineers Ahsan Halim and Arash Nateghi have joined the team and will focus on delivering full-service engineering and consulting solutions to Burns & McDonnell’s clients.

The 121 year-old global firm recently announced a record £3bn in sales and its commitment to hire 1,000 new employees each year.

In 2017, Burns & McDonnell opened its first UK office in Birmingham.

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Kris Robbetts, Frances Anderson, Samantha Chaney, Nicola Bickham, Christina Le Riche, Madeleine Wakeley.

Samantha Chaney, part of the corporate, commercial and charities team at the Birmingham office of law firm VWV, has been promoted to partner.

The appointment is part of a record number of promotions which the firm said reflects its successful growth strategy where the turnover in the last financial year was just shy of £40m.

VWV Managing Partner, Simon Heald, said: “Christina, Madeleine, Frances, Samantha, Kris and Nicola are deserving of their promotions. They represent the quality and values of VWV across their areas of law and have all been instrumental in the growth of the firm.”

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