Will joined Paul Basham Associates in 2015 and has now worked across three of our four offices, starting in our head office in Fareham before spending some time in the Oxford Office and moving across to open our Cambridge Office in January. Today we are speaking with Will to understand his role and how things are going in the new Cambridge Office.
What does your job involve?
As a Senior Transport Planner, I am responsible for preparing various studies and reports and overseeing and managing project teams to ensure our work is delivered to the highest quality and within the required timescales. As part of my role in our Eastern Region I am responsible for promoting the business throughout East Anglia and Essex from our Cambridge Office.
Every day varies but in a typical working day I work on building our reputation as one of the leading consultancies in the region through meetings with existing and potential clients whilst also checking and approving outgoing reports and feeding information back to our internal project team to ensure our product is delivered to the highest standard possible.
Why Cambridge?
Although we are relatively new to the area given that our office opened in January, it certainly feels (for me anyway) that we have been working towards our Cambridge Office for a long time. We first started working towards the opening of the office three-years ago and our work in the region has been growing sustainably over that period.
Cambridge itself was chosen as a base for our Eastern Region given the unique circumstances in the city and surrounding areas. We all know about the issues facing the delivery of housing across the UK, which are amplified in Cambridgeshire where there is a real need to deliver housing which is affordable, and the delivery of transportation infrastructure is one of the largest obstacles to achieving this. There is no doubt that a certain level of forward-thinking is going to be required to increase multi-modal travel into the city from the towns and villages within the commuter regions which are currently becoming more and more disconnected. We are excited to take part in these conversations.
Having spent some time working in our Oxford Office I have experienced first-hand how the cross-region working between Oxford and Cambridge is becoming more and more integrated, as a result we found ourselves travelling further east into East Anglia and Essex to visit our clients and carry out site appraisals from our Oxford base in recent years. Our office now allows us to access these regions more readily and subsequently take advantage of the growing opportunities both in Cambridge itself and the wider Eastern Region.
Cambridge is such a vibrant city with a great history, it is a pleasure to work here and spend more time in the city. Having spent the last few years travelling back and forth from our other regions I am delighted to finally be settling back into the area and enjoying all it has to offer.
What do you enjoy most about the role?
Problem solving is an important attribute to have for a Transport Planner, whilst it is vital to understand all of the relevant planning policy and guidance you often have to be innovative and think creatively to overcome constraints and obstacles. Working towards these solutions, whether providing access to a site or designing an internal layout to suit its purpose, is always very rewarding when you can deliver a scheme and help a client achieve their goals whilst contributing to a quality development.
The most important and enjoyable aspect of my position is the people I meet and relationships that are formed as a result. We have always been a consultancy that has won work on repeat business and positive word of mouth which has been sustained over the years through the relationships we have built across our regions. Promoting the business in a new region means much of these relationships are new and having the opportunity to introduce new clients to our team and our ways of working is hugely enjoyable. We are aware that the work we are currently undertaking is building the foundations for our Eastern Region which will be in place for years to come, to be a part of this is very exciting.
What do you get up to in your free time?
Having recently moved closer to home much of my time is now spent enjoying time with family and friends and following Ipswich Town Football Club when I feel like ruining a Saturday afternoon! I try to stay as active as possible and enjoy skiing in the winter and running for which, I am currently training for the Southampton Half Marathon at the start of May. I also spend as much time as possible fundraising and was a small part of a fantastic committee which raised over £100k in the last year for AMEND, a small charity which is very important to me, in addition to the great work we do as a company for Pancreatic Cancer UK our nominated charity of the year.
Our Cambridge Office is located in Compass House, Vision Park in Histon. Please do give Will a ring on 01223 253699 should you wish to discuss any forthcoming opportunities.