Two Principal Planners become Associate Directors and one team member is promoted from Assistant Planner to Planner

DPP, one of the UK’s leading independent planning consultancies, has made key promotions at its offices in Cardiff, Leeds and Newcastle.

Tom Molyneux Wright, Principal Planner at DPP’s Cardiff office, has been promoted to Associate Director, as has Oliver Corbett, who will be stepping up as Associate Director at its Leeds office. Assistant Planner Joe Kirtley, who is a member of DPP’s Newcastle team, has been promoted to Planner.

Tom is a graduate of the University of West of England and relocated from a planning consultancy in Bristol in 2018 to join DPP as a planner. He worked his way up the ladder and has now been recognised by his peers within the consultancy and has been promoted to Associate Director. Tom is as a Corporate Member of the RTPI Cymru Executive Committee, helping inform and shape planning policy in Wales.

Tom works on a range of sectors on projects across Wales and Southern England, recently securing consent at appeal for a 419-bed purpose-built student accommodation scheme in Beeston, as well as the zero carbon in operation West Coventry Academy.

Oliver Corbett is a graduate of Leeds Beckett University where he studied Town Planning. He worked at Kirklees Council as a graduate planner before joining DPP as a planner in 2018. Several promotions later, Oliver has now been named as one of DPP’s new Associate Directors. He also sits on the committee of Forum for Tomorrow (fft)Leeds, the young professional’s branch of the Forum for the Built Environment (fbe) Leeds construction industry networking group, where he organises various networking and CPD events throughout the year.

Oliver works across many sectors at DPP and is currently working on major education redevelopment projects across the country. He is also leading on the regeneration of the Rheola Estate in the Neath Valley, South Wales, which includes three Grade II listed buildings and a Registered Park and Garden designed by renowned architects John Nash and George Stanley Repton.

Joe Kirtley studied Urban Studies and Planning at The University of Sheffield and after graduating in 2021 went on to join firm of chartered surveyors as a graduate planner, before joining DPP as an Assistant Planner in August 2022. He is also a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute North East Young Planners Committee.

Based out of DPP’s Newcastle office, Joe works across many sectors including education, residential, retail, leisure and health. He has worked on projects such as Culture House in Sunderland, Greenfield Academy in Newton Aycliffe and a major residential development in Easington Lane, Sunderland

Gareth Hooper, CEO of DPP Planning, said of the promotions: “There is nothing I like better than seeing colleagues thrive at DPP and that’s just what we have witnessed with Tom, Oliver and Joe.

“Being able to nurture talent is part of our DNA at DPP and seeing our younger staff members progress and contribute so much to not only us as a business, but also to our client’s work is so rewarding.”

Gareth added: “At DPP we recognise that we need the best in the business on our team to win and work on the best projects. We are fiercely independent and so we are committed to succession planning and creating a culture of excellence in a supportive and fulfilling working environment.”

More information about DPP can be found at https://dppukltd.com/

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