DTZ has recruited three new staff to its Leeds based UK Development team as part of its continued growth in response to an improving development market. Ben Pretty, William Steel and Harry Mason join the expanding team as Associate Director, Planning Consultant and Graduate Surveyor respectively.
Ben Pretty joined the team in October 2014 as an Associate Director to support the growing opportunities within the regeneration and economic development sector. He is currently advising a number of Local Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships on the funding and delivery of property and infrastructure investment priorities. He has developed a significant number of business cases on behalf of public and private sector clients to successfully secure capital funding.
William Steel joins as a Planning Consultant, from the City of York Council, where he has worked for the past four years across a broad range of planning policy and development management remits. He will support the planning specialism within the team on all elements of its offer, focusing on the progression of key development projects through the planning system.
Harry Mason, who joins as a Graduate Surveyor, is a planning and development Graduate of Nottingham Trent University. He joins to support the team’s continued growth on projects across the Yorkshire and North East region.
The Leeds based UK Development team now comprises 10 staff and advises public and private sector clients on all aspects of the development process. The team has advised 2 out of 3 of all the local authorities across the Yorkshire and Humber region over the past 18 months. It is currently advising on major town centre regeneration schemes nationally with a development value of over £500m. The team also acts as DCLG’s preferred property adviser on 21 of the 24 Enterprise Zone sites nationally, including all EZs in the Yorkshire region.
In the last 12 months, the UK Development team has secured over £20m of funding for property and infrastructure projects from the public sector. This includes securing planning permission for strategic employment developments in Bolton and Barnsley, education schemes in Leeds and Preston and current live applications for residential development in Nottingham and Doncaster. The team also acts as sole provider of planning services to Royal Mail.
Keith Hardman, Senior Director within the team, comments: “I am delighted to welcome Ben, William and Harry to the team. The continued growth of our UK Development team in Leeds reflects DTZ’s response to our client needs and improving market conditions. These appointments continue to build on our market leading position as Planning and Development Consultants across the region and enable us to continue to provide a class-leading service for our diverse clients’ requirements. We have further ambitious plans for the growth of the team in response to the increasing needs of our client audience.”
