Newsletter – Q3 2023

Hello from all at Rodgers Leask. Welcome back to our quarterly newsletter – the best place to hear about some of the things that kept us busy during the third quarter of 2023.

Before we dive in, don’t forget, we’re also interested to hear what you are all working on and if we can support you. To get in touch with one of our team, make sure to email us using rlladmin@rodgersleask.co.uk or call on 01332 285000. 

To be the first to hear more news as it happens, do follow us on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rodgers-leask-ltd/ 

Behind the scenes 

Within Q3 we had two regional relocations into larger premises – to accommodate our rapidly expanding teams.

Firstly, our Liverpool team relocated to Helix on Edmund Street in the city centre. The new 1,200 sq ft workspace will be where we continue delivering projects across the North West. At the same time we welcomed new head of civil engineering Peter Collier, structural technician Connor Holland and graduate structural engineer Christopher Moss.

Chris Pollett, divisional director and Liverpool office lead, said: “It’s been a successful first year in Liverpool and busier than we honestly expected. We’ve been appointed to some interesting projects, which are varied in size, and this is perfect for our young, ambitious team with experience beyond its years.”

To read more about Liverpool’s relocation and team expansion, visit https://rodgersleask.com/2023/07/13/new-faces-and-spaces-in-liverpool/

Next up, our Bristol team. Relocating to Woodlands Court, Almondsbury, the workplace comes with a dedicated secure geo-environmental storage area to keep equipment and manage and photograph samples collected from sites.

Our Bristol office has recently recruited three new members including Andy Jackson, a principal geo-environmental consultant with more than 30-years of experience in the sector, taking the overall size of the team to 13.

Regional director Dave Bathurst said: “It was clear that we required a space that not only accommodated our growing team, but also closely aligns with our work. Having a dedicated space for our geo-environmental team to conduct crucial research will only be an immense advantage for us and our clients. We look forward to inviting clients in and sharing the space with our contacts as we make it an office that people want to visit.”

To read more about Bristol’s relocation and team expansion, visit https://rodgersleask.com/2023/09/13/a-bigger-office-for-our-growing-bristol-team/

Industry insights

Putting pen to paper, Dave Bathurst recently provided insight into how a wider implementation of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) is the solution to England’s surface water problem. His deep dive explains how the latest government review into existing legislation can trigger an increase in the usage of SuDS in urban planning as a flood prevention measure.

You can read more of Dave’s thoughts here: https://rodgersleask.com/2023/07/18/how-england-can-tackle-its-surface-water-problem/

Our Nottingham office was proud to recently lead a design team including Sigma Architects, Marrons, JBA Consulting and Naturally Wild Consultants, which successfully worked together to achieve planning permission for a proposed industrial development in Hoddesdon. The development is a 70,000 sq ft industrial warehouse for Trent 2 Limited and our team produced the transport statement, travel plan, phase 1 desk study, and the flood risk assessment and drainage strategy in support of the successful planning application. You can read more about the development and our support here: https://rodgersleask.com/2023/07/14/planning-success-for-proposed-industrial-development-in-hoddesdon/

Finally, we are pleased to be shortlisted for the Brownfield Awards 2023! We’ve had previous successes at these awards and this year our work on the Glan Llyn regeneration project in South Wales has been recognised in the Best Sustainable Re-Use of Materials category. The regeneration project near the city of Newport is set to transform the 240-hectare site into a mixed-use development including 4,500 homes. A big congratulations to our team and we hope the award ceremony on 2 November will see another award win for us.

To learn more about the Glan Llyn regeneration project, read on here: https://rodgersleask.com/2023/09/06/shortlisted-at-brownfield-awards-2023/

In the community

Our involvement in the University of Birmingham’s Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology degree is set to continue following several years of collaboration. Since 2019, we have assisted in the degree programme by preparing real-site case studies and task briefs, and will continue this partnership in the upcoming months, by hosting weekly meetings and workshops at our Longbridge office. In recent years, we have organised a site visit to Longbridge West, which is an active construction site undergoing regeneration, and the visits have proven to be enriching for the students – combining theory with the practical reality of engineering.

You can learn more about our collaboration here: https://rodgersleask.com/2023/09/25/university-of-birmingham-collaboration-set-to-continue/

For Derbyshire Day, the national day to celebrate all things Derbyshire, we co-hosted a ‘netwalking’ event at Carsington Water with construction consultants Bentley. The sunny weather made for a pleasant walk around the reservoir, and we enjoyed the company of our guests, Ian McCann, James Atkin and Christian White, while we networked in the open air.

Last but not least, we saw the return of the ‘Rodgers Leask Away Day’, with nearly 80 of our colleagues spending a sunny day at Alton Towers Resort. The morning started with breakfast in the Towers Suite, followed by a brief company update from managing director, Paul Spencer, and then the day was filled with all the thrills Alton Towers has to offer. A special thank you to Sophie Foster and Amelia Daly for making sure the day went without hiccup.

You can see how the day unfolded through pictures here: https://rodgersleask.com/2023/09/19/rodgers-leask-away-day-2023/