Newsletter – Q3 2025

Hello from all at Rodgers Leask and welcome to our Q3 newsletter – the best place to hear about the projects, events and networking that kept us busy during the past few months.

As always, don’t forget, we’re also interested in hearing what you are working on and if we can support you – whether it’s this year or next. To get in touch with one of our team, email us at rlladmin@rodgersleask.co.uk or call 01332 285000. 

To stay up to date with our latest news and project updates make sure to follow us on LinkedIn.

Behind the scenes 

During Q3 we had the pleasure of welcoming a host of new faces to our geo-environmental, structural and civil engineering teams across each of our offices. Along with key senior appointments, many of our new starters have joined us in graduate positions. Graduates play a valuable role in shaping the future of the industry and we’re excited to be supporting each of our new team members as they kickstart their careers in engineering.

Last quarter marked one year since our membership with the Land, Planning and Development Federation (LPDF) began. In September, our directors Kriston Harvey and Stewart Friel took a trip to London for the annual summer drinks reception. The event was an important opportunity to continue strengthening our relationships within the fields of strategic land and land promotion, as well as making new contacts – all with stunning views from the rooftop bar at Savage Garden.

Our busy networking schedule then continued with the latest Walk & Talk event, in collaboration with Acrisure UK and the Chesterfield Property and Construction Group, which took us to sunny Dovedale. Despite roadworks, diversions, and closures, all attendees had a fantastic day sharing industry insights while taking in the stunning countryside scenery, followed by lunch at a local pub.

Our final Walk and Talk event of 2025, scheduled for 12 December in Castleton, is fully booked! We look forward to seeing everyone for the last event of the year. Please keep your eye out for our 2026 dates. 

We were thrilled to see Vaillant Live in Derby receive the Special Recognition Award at the East Midlands Property Awards in September, while also being shortlisted in several other categories including Design Excellence, Construction Project of the Year, Regeneration and Restoration Project of the Year and Sustainability.

The 3,500-capacity building is playing a critical role in the regeneration of Derby and is the centre piece of a £240m once-in-a-generation city centre redevelopment scheme.

Our civil engineering and transport planning teams worked on this stage development. Having been involved in the regeneration since 2018, it was amazing to see another element of the transformational scheme complete and recognised for its excellence.

Continuing with achievements, in August our director Kriston celebrated 25 years at Rodgers Leask. Reflecting on the milestone, Kriston said: “I’ve worked on so many memorable projects with great clients and contacts across the industry and formed friendships that stretch back over the 25 years.

“I’ve been able to watch colleagues develop their careers with us and grow into accomplished engineers, along with enjoying countless other charity and social activities together.

“An extremely proud moment for me came in 2018 when I was part of the team that completed an MBO from Andy Leask – a team made up of trusted friends, all with the DNA of Rodgers Leask.”

Industry Insights

September saw the completion of the University of Derby’s new Superlab, a project our structural and civil engineering teams provided their higher education expertise on. Previously an office and administrative area, the space has been transformed into a cutting-edge open lab that can simultaneously facilitate both teaching and research.

The teams’ involvement included developing the steel flue support structure, along with an external steel gantry frame to support high-level ducting over the new plant room and substations. The lab also requires sinks at the end of multiple desks, for which the team designed new internal and external drainage, along with a plant compound consisting of various concrete slabs to support mechanical equipment such as AHUs, the plant room, and HV/LV substations.

Work on the redevelopment of MLM Crayford made significant progress this quarter, with the latest milestone being the erection of the hot rolled steel frame for the final unit, multi-storey car park and adjoining link-bridge. The £30m brownfield redevelopment includes the construction of three new industrial and logistics units, including Grade A office space, and a five-storey split-level multi-storey car park building.

We’ve taken a multi-disciplinary approach to the London-based project, with our civil, transport planning, geo-environmental and structural engineering teams contributing their expertise. We’re looking forward to seeing the development complete and adding it to our successful portfolio of industrial and logistics projects. You can read the full project details here.

Our multi-disciplinary approach continued as we saw the completion of Osnabrück Square in Derby, a project we worked on with Wates Group on behalf of Derby City Council. The site is part of the Derby Market Hall makeover, and our teams came on board from RIBA Stage 2 all the way to Stage 5, handling the levels, drainage, and surfacing design for the site.

Our geo-environmental team lent their expertise, conducting CBR testing on the existing paving subbase to check if it could be reused, which ultimately allowed us to cut down the need for full-depth paving and develop a sustainable surfacing plan. The structures team was also on hand tackling the raised planter foundations, which doubled as rain gardens, designing around existing services and tree roots.

Our civil and structural engineering teams also completed work on DoubleTree by Hilton, having assisted with refurbishment, internal alterations and a single storey extension to refresh the space and create additional bedrooms at the London-based hotel.

The project was a great example of how we can assist from the early stages of a project, with both teams involved in the West End project from the initial investigations. Our solutions allowed for smooth and on schedule delivery, using quick thinking and a hands-on approach to overcome challenges with the site’s historic 1930s steelwork and previously altered structure.

In the community

One of our final networking events of Q3 was the Worcester Third Thursday Club, which we held alongside our partners Greenwood Projects and DJD Architects. The event is tailored for professionals from across the construction industry, offering a fantastic opportunity for Worcestershire-based clients, property developers, landowners, consultants, housing associations, commercial agents and contractors to come together. For anyone interested in joining please contact our technical director Mark Bellringer or visit the group’s LinkedIn page.

Kriston and our director Nick Fenton continued our calendar of event hosting, with an enjoyable day of racing at Doncaster Cup Day at St Leger, joined by guests from Hallam Land, nineteen47, Devonshire Group and Barratt Developments. In addition to being a relaxed opportunity to catch up with clients and discuss ongoing and future projects, the event provided spectacular views of the finish line, bright sunshine and a few betting wins.

Kriston also headed to Sheffield to attend the Last Friday Club, a networking event for the property and construction sectors in and around South Yorkshire.

Kriston said: “It was really good to catch up with a number of people who I haven’t seen for ages and chat with new contacts. As always, the event was a very welcoming and collaborative environment – and it was a bonus winning the business card raffle!”

To round off a busy schedule of Q3 events, the Derby team spent an evening enjoying the final weeks of the cricket season, with the Derbyshire Falcons taking on Worcestershire Rapids in the T20 Vitality Blast. We were joined by guests from Hallam Land, Clegg Construction, Taylor Wimpey and Indurent to watch the match, with Worcestershire claiming the victory by twelve runs.

To read more of our latest news visit: https://rodgersleask.com/news/