Savills has strengthened its planning capabilities across parts of the South of England by officially merging teams in its Wimborne and Southampton offices.
Forming the Central South Planning team, the planning teams in Wimborne and Southampton will combine to create a 34-strong team that will provide clients with comprehensive planning and environmental impact assessment (EIA) services throughout the region, spanning Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, the Solent and beyond.
The merged team will continue to service multiple sectors, including residential, healthcare, retirement, education, commercial town centre mixed-use, infrastructure, energy, hotel and visitor accommodation, student accommodation, sport and waste. However, there will be a renewed focus on information sharing, implementing more sector and geographical led initiatives and increasing the regularity of profile raising among clients and prospects. The team will complement the South Coast Development Team, which also comprises teams from its Wimborne and Southampton offices.
The new team will be overseen by a management group comprising directors Gavin Hall, Peter Lamb and Sarah Beuden.
Gavin Hall, head of Central South Planning at Savills, says: “The coming together of the two planning teams, at the same time as the emerging focus on the ‘Central South’ region from business organisations, clients and government, will not only put us at the forefront of current thinking and developments in the region, but provide the largest dedicated planning team in the area. The merger will create a single EIA centre of excellence for the business nationally across Savills.
“With a dynamic and experienced group of planners and EIA specialists, along with some of the most exciting and diverse projects in the country to work on, the opportunity to build on the growth prospects from many sectors including the Solent Freeport are strong and Central South Planning at Savills provides the platform from which to do that. The opportunities to collaborate across a number of sectors and initiatives are significant and we will build on the strong reputations that our two planning teams have established over the years.
“This is an exciting opportunity to expand our skills, expertise and experience and drive growth in this important part of the country, delivering a high quality service to our clients throughout the region.”