Summer in full swing: Q2 newsletter 2026

Hello from all at Rodgers Leask and welcome to our Q2 newsletter– the best place to find a summary of the projects, events and networking that has kept us busy across the first few months of the year.

As always, don’t forget, we’re also interested in hearing what you are working on and if we can support you. 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

To kick off our newsletter, we want to take a moment to celebrate some fantastic team achievements:

• Alex Parkes, from our civils team in Derby, has been promoted to associate
• Peter Collier, from our civils team in Liverpool, has been promoted to associate

Congratulations to both Alex and Peter on your well-deserved promotions and thank you for your continued hard work.

Making the most of the warm weather, a handful of the team spent a sunny evening enjoying a T20 match in Derby. Joined by James Badley, Amy Fullaway, Callum Richards, Will Marshall, Brittany Marsland and Leighton Mitchell, the evening involved great conversation and a fantastic atmosphere with the Derbyshire Falcons claiming a win against Notts Outlaws.

This quarter also saw a series of fantastic netwalking events, with two fully booked Acrisure UK Broking and Rodgers Leask Walk and Talk events. Firstly, in Longshaw and Padley Gorge and then again in Bamford. These events have become a calendar staple for the team over the past two years, with almost 100 people from across the industry joining us for various events. With plenty of fresh ideas and fresh air, it’s always a great opportunity to foster industry connections in a relaxed, yet challenging environment.

Continuing the theme of fresh ways to network and connect with industry partners, in May we saw the latest of the Rodgers Leask and Banner Jones Solicitors Property and Construction Netclimbing events, at The Climbing Works in Sheffield. It’s great to see these events becoming increasingly popular, not only because they offer a relaxed environment for our industry peers to connect, but also because it’s an amazing opportunity to test your abilities and push yourself out of your comfort zone.

This quarter also saw us host an entry level clay shoot in the Midlands, in partnership with John F Hunt. Serving as an excellent reminder of the professional community we are part of within the Midlands, the day was spent catching up with contacts, new and old, while enjoying some clay shooting in the fresh air.

Mid-June then saw the return of our annual Rodgers Leask Golf Day at Mickleover Golf Club, and what an occasion it was. The course and the weather were in top condition, and it was a great day of play. Congratulations to our winning team Oliver Dike, Jonathan Morgan, Tim Smith and Joshua Toon, along with runners up Corey Johnson, Dan McKie, Peter Newman-Earp and David Gardner.

We also used the day as an opportunity to raise money for Ashgate Hospice in memory of our former colleague Rob Woodhouse. Thank you to everyone for your generous donations so far – if you would like to donate you can do so here.

With summer in full swing, the golf days continued with Aaron Hand and Simon Collin attending the East Midlands Proper-tee and Construction Charity Golf Day at Morley Hayes. A day of networking, raising funds for Rainbows Hospice and some surprisingly good shots! Thank you to ABA Consulting and Armsons Barlow for having us.

Industry insights

Construction continued at Longbridge, on the former ‘West Works’ site belonging to MG Rover, with work on 13 new units and almost 350,000 sq ft across four development plots underway. Our involvement on the industrial and logistics project, led by Indurent with Benniman Construction Group on site, began with our geoenvironmental team managing and monitoring remediation of the site. We have also supported the delivery of highways, drainage, and site‑level strategies. Digital modelling was essential to the project, allowing the creation of practical, balanced development platforms and to maximise the reuse of site-wanted materials, resulting in both efficiency and reduced environmental impact.

Q2 also saw the return of UKREiiF, and this year Kriston Harvey, Howel Morris, Kully Toor, Matt Harrison, Stewart Friel and Mark Bellringer took to Leeds representing our infrastructure engineering, geo-environmental engineering, structural engineering and transport planning capabilities. Each year the event is an incredible platform to deep dive into the challenges and opportunities for our industry. With a jam-packed programme of panel discussions and fringe events, the team made the most of having their boots on the ground, catching up with existing industry contacts and forging new connections. If you would like to find out more about our highlights from this year’s event, take a read here.

Progress at Indurent Newport hit a milestone moment this quarter, welcoming key stakeholders to the site for a steel signing event. This marked the next phase of the landmark industrial and logistics development which, once complete, will be one of Wales’ most significant industrial and logistics developments. 213,000 sq ft of industrial and logistics warehouses are already complete, with construction and structural work on five new units at the 100-acre site now well underway.

In the community

To kick off our community activity for Q2, in April our Bristol team took on the Macmillan Darts Marathon, with an ambitious aim to score 100,000 points in 12 hours. Starting off strong, early scoring quickly took the team up to 15,000 points within the first hour, making for a promising start to the challenge. A special mention to Tim Howard, whose unforgettable performance included a 180 visit, with consistently high averages boosting the team on their way to victory.  

The entire office rallied around, providing moral support and sweet treats. Scores on the doors totted up to 100,000 points scored in 7 and a half hours, with 6,486 darts thrown, and an amazing £861.39 raised for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Then in May, we saw the University of Derby Bioscience Superlab project shortlisted in not one, but two categories at the Constructing Excellence East Midlands Awards, for Retrofit Project of the Year and Building Project of the Year.

This recognition follows the project’s recent double shortlist at the CN Life Sciences, Tech and Research Clusters Awards 2026, continuing an exciting period of industry recognition for everyone involved.

Our structural and civil engineering teams provided their higher education expertise on the project which transformed existing office accommodation into a cutting-edge open lab that can simultaneously facilitate both teaching and research. Congratulations to everyone who contributed to the project and its success.

Chris Pollett took time during the quarter to work with second year students at the University of Liverpool, supporting their civil and structural engineering module presentations. Having been involved with workshops earlier in the year, he was on hand to offer his technical advice, reviewing their bridge designs while also sharing his insight into a career in engineering.

This is the fourth time Chris has been involved in the module and reflecting on his time with the students he said: “This year’s cohort was particularly impressive, with some great design ideas and presentations. A couple of the groups showed a real understanding of the engineering principles behind their designs, and they even took some of my advice from the workshops I attended earlier in the year!”