News
New Leeds Head of Office
21 Mar 2022Lichfields has announced a key leadership change in its Leeds office as it marks its tenth anniversary and continues to expand and develop operations.
Senior director Chris Darley takes on the role of office lead for the St Paul's Street-based firm from Justin Gartland, who continues his wider role as Chairman of the board. Chris, who joined the company in 2011, has a wealth of experience working with both public and private sector clients, delivering significant development plans and large-scale regional and national projects.
Leading a 15-strong team, he will be responsible for overseeing the overall management and growth of the office, while continuing to develop the firm’s position as one of the foremost planning and development specialists in Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region.
His appointment comes as the Leeds office celebrates its 10th anniversary and success at the recent Yorkshire Residential Planning Awards, where it scooped the ‘Best Residential Planning Consultant’ award.
It also follows Matthew Gregg joining as associate director from Sheffield City Council, where he was a Principal Planning Officer, to grow Lichfields’ client base across South Yorkshire, and several promotions - Suzie Yates becomes planning director and Casey Smith steps up to senior planner. Katie Jones also recently joined the firm as a new planning graduate.
Chris is currently involved in several high-profile planning projects across the city including the development of a new community of over 1,400 new homes for Clarion Housing Group on Kirkstall Road, whilst the office continues to provide planning support to CEG on their ambitious plans for their Temple Quarter development and are also acting on the proposed new children’s hospital at Leeds General Infirmary. He said the promotions are well deserved with all involved contributing significantly to continued growth and success of the office during challenging times.
I’m very much looking forward to taking over the reins from Justin, who has overseen the successful development and expansion of the office in the last 10 years. It will be very much business as usual as we move forward with everyone supporting our clients as the economy continues to grow and new planning projects are brought forward.
I’m particularly looking forward to focusing on maintaining the strong growth and success we’ve achieved to date, while ensuring we continue to deliver the highest quality service to retain our position as planning sector leaders in Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region.
I’m particularly looking forward to focusing on maintaining the strong growth and success we’ve achieved to date, while ensuring we continue to deliver the highest quality service to retain our position as planning sector leaders in Leeds and the wider Yorkshire region.
Chris Darley, Senior Director, Head of Leeds Office
Chris’s appointment also comes as Lichfields, which is marking its 60th corporate anniversary year in 2022 and currently employs 215 people working across nine regional offices, recently hit fee revenues of £22.6m.