Rob Hardyman has been heading up our new regional office in Bristol over the last month. Today we are talking to Rob to find out how the Bristol office is progressing.
How have the first few weeks in Bristol been?
The first few weeks in Bristol have been great, I am really enjoying the office location in the centre of the city and it has been great meeting developers, architects and planners that have been based in the city for a number of years.
What excites you about Bristol?
Bristol is a very vibrant place to work and is one of the best performing cities in the UK in terms of economic output, this is reflected in the range of development and investment that is taking place around the city.
The City Council is currently in the process of reviewing their Local Plan setting out how the city will develop over the next twenty years. The review identifies the need to deliver 33,500 new and affordable homes across Bristol by 2036 and being based in Bristol provides us with a great opportunity to help in delivering the objectives identified by the Local Plan Review.
More widely, the West of England authorities (South Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset and North Somerset) are preparing a Joint Spatial Plan (JSP). The JSP has been developed alongside a Joint Transport Study (JTS) and seeks to provide a collaborative approach to the delivery of housing and supporting highway and transport infrastructure. It is therefore a very interesting time to be working in the region with the anticipated levels of growth which are forecast to occur over the coming years.
What do your days in the Bristol Office consist of?
So far, my work has primarily consisted of lots of networking! This has included Paul and I visiting potential clients in the local area, attending networking events and preparing fee proposals. I’ve also had to get to grips with our historic and live projects across the region. We are now starting to see the fruits of our labour by being appointed on some of the projects that we quoted for in our first week.
I have also met with the University of the West of England regarding potential graduate recruitment and the opportunities for our employees to undertake the MSc in Transport Engineering and Planning at the university.
What have you got planned over the next few weeks?
Over the coming weeks we will be looking to continue to introduce ourselves to potential clients across the region. If you are in the area please let myself or Paul know and we would love to meet for a coffee.
