Growing North East planning specialists Hedley Planning Services has opened a new office as it looks to expand its operations into Yorkshire and Teesside.
The firm has appointed planning and development expert Stephen Litherland, who previously worked as group planning manager at Bellway Homes covering planning matters on a national basis and latterly, at a senior level for Story Homes.
He will head-up Hedley Planning Services (Yorkshire), which will be based in its new offices at the Evolution in Wynyard Park.
The move comes as the North East-based company plans ambitious expansion, targeting both private and public sector decision-makers across the North of England with strategic land promotion and consultancy work among other services.
Several new planning roles are expected to be created in the coming months on the back of the move, as Stephen Litherland, who has extensive in-house experience, particularly in the residential sector, builds a skilled and dedicated regional team.
Several major projects are already underway which will underpin the office, with a raft of additional work expected to fall into place over the coming months as clients take advantage of Hedley’s expertise.
Stephen Litherland said the Wynyard office will support the growing demand for the company’s strategic services beyond its North East of England heartland.
He said: “Yorkshire is currently seeing strong demand for strategic planning requirements in the face of a buoyant commercial planning sector. Teesside is also on the up, with positive news of fresh investment and development.
“This is an exciting move and sees a new chapter of opportunity open in one of the most vibrant parts of the country. Leeds continues to see extremely strong growth supported by wider regional economic confidence.
“We are in the business of helping to deliver that growth for residential, retail and commercial clients.”
Sean Hedley, managing director of Hedley Planning Services, whooversaw a 25% increase in trade on the back of new work and clients in 2018, said a second office will contribute to achieving a turnover in excess of £500,000 in 2019.
He said: “We will continue to deliver a quality service to clients across the North East from our Hexham office, but the time is now right to expand with a second office opening.
“The move will allow us to establish a greater presence across the wider North of England, develop existing important relationships and provide a more in-depth proposition for new clients seeking high quality professional planning services.”
Theplanning landscape will continue to evolve in the face of revisions to national policy, he added: “Despite the uncertainty caused by Brexit, house building will be a busy sector for us and we expect to see more smaller builders entering the market in 2019, who will benefit from the services and support of Stephen and his team.”
Hedley Planning Servicesprovides creative planning solutions to complex development proposals, with services covering a range of land-use and planning considerations. More www.hedleyplanning.co.uk