Malcolm Hockaday FRTPI FCIM FRSA Chairman After 10 years as the Director establishing NLP's Cardiff Office, Malcolm became Chairman of NLP in 2010. His 40 year career has included seven years in the public sector in South Wales (including a period as a Chief Planner) before being the Planning Director of first Carter Commercial Developments and then Value Retail plc. His commercial experience - particularly in retail, housing, employment and leisure schemes - has been undertaken with a clear emphasis on environmental and design importance.

James Fennell BA (Hons) MRICS MRTPI Managing Director James is based in the company’s London office and was appointed Managing Director of NLP in 2007. James concentrates on commercial development projects in town and city centres for major developers, fund managers and operators. He also advises public sector clients on strategic planning issues and major regeneration projects.

Philip Barnes BA(Hons) MRTPI Director Philip joined NLP's Newcastle Office in 1993 after working as a planner in local government and a multi-disciplinary consultancy. He is the Director in charge of the Newcastle office. He specialises in housing and urban regeneration. Workload includes housing market assessment, land availability studies, expert witness evidence and research and housing delivery.

Steven Butterworth BA(Hons) BPL MRTPI Director Steven joined NLP in 2004, having previously led the London planning team at GL Hearn. He specialises in retail and housing led mixed use schemes, has particular expertise in strategic advice, retail and leisure assessments, environmental impact assessments and project coordination, and has presented evidence at many planning and CPO inquiries. Steven joined the Board in 2007.

Justin Gartland BA(Hons) BPl MRTPI Director Justin is the Director in charge of NLP's Manchester office. He has been involved in a wide range of development planning projects for public and private sector clients. He specialises in leading multi-disciplinary teams to secure planning permissions for mixed use, housing, employment and leisure schemes with a significant track record in major infrastructure and urban regeneration developments. Justin has considerable public inquiry experience and leads teams involved in environmental impact assessment work.

David Gavin BA(Hons) DipTP MSc MRTPI Director David joined NLP in 1983. His experience covers many aspects of urban, regional and statutory planning, including co-ordinating planning applications for large complex projects and is an experienced expert witness at public inquiries. His specialist interests include conservation areas, airport development and environmental impact assessments.

Neil Goldsmith BA(Hons) BPL MRTPI Director Neil Joined NLP in 1990 after several years experience in the public sector including Westminster City Council. Neil runs one of NLP’s Retail and Town Centre teams, and has built up extensive experience of commercial development projects in the retail and town centre, leisure, office and hotel sectors. He has substantial experience of giving evidence at Planning Inquiries, Local Plan Inquiries and Hearings throughout England and Wales.

Jane Hirst BA(Hons) MRTPI Director Jane joined NLP in 1993 having previously worked for two local planning authorities. She predominantly works on large scale mixed use development projects, including urban regeneration schemes. She has extensive informal hearing and public inquiry experience and has developed a specialism in direct professional access.

Bruce McLeod CA(ICANZ) BMS(Waik) Director Bruce joined NLP in December 2003 as Finance Director. He has overall responsibility for the Finance, Human Resources, IT and Office Management functions. He has worked in a variety of businesses, the most recent being FD of an International Recruitment Company.

Gareth Morgan BSc(Hons) DipTP MRTPI Director Gareth joined NLP in 1978. His wide experience includes giving evidence at a large number of public inquiries and the application of economics to town planning. He specialises in strategic planning advice on large projects particularly within the firm's long established retail and town centre consultancy team.

Iain Rhind BA(Hons) MPhil Dip Urban Design MRTPI Director Iain joined NLP from Cardiff City Council in 1990. He is a planner and urban designer working within NLP's masterplanning and urban design team, and is responsible for information systems and the drawing office. He specialises in housing development, large scale mixed use developments, conservation and listed building projects and major leisure attractions.

Hugh Scanlon BA(Hons) MPhil MRTPI Director Hugh joined NLP in 1993 and has a wide range of experience in all aspects of development planning. He specialises in major hotel and leisure projects, as well as the promotion of business and industrial schemes often at sensitive policy sites, such as green belt. He also specialises in the preparation of environmental statements.

Matthew Spry BSc(Hons) DipTP MRTPI MIED Director Matthew joined NLP in 2008, following four years in the Regional Development team of Deloitte. Previously, he worked for NLP in Newcastle. Now based in London, Matthew advises public and private sector clients on planning, economics and delivery for major housing growth, including new settlements, urban extensions and infrastructure. He also leads on regeneration and economic development projects.

Nicholas Thompson BA(Hons) MA(Urban Design) MRTPI Director Nick is Head of the London Office. A diverse portfolio of experience in terms of projects and locations. Oversees masterplanning/urban design, leisure/tourism (Merlin, Bourne) and major sports developments (incl Wembley Stadium), heritage/conservation,residential and education. Advises both public and private sector clients and is experienced with high profile complex projects eg. Carlyon Bay.

Jonathan Wallace BA (Hons) MSc MRTPI Director Jonathan joined NLP in 1997 and now leads the Town Centres and Retail team in NLP's Newcastle office. He specialises in retail planning and advises a wide range of clients including local authorities, developers, operators and financial institutions, drawing upon 12 years of consultancy experience.

Michael Watts Dip URP. MRTPI Director Michael joined NLP in 2007. He has experience of a wide range of development planning projects for public and private sector clients, specialising in housing, urban extensions, major infrastructure, mixed-use schemes and NHS developments, he also oversees environmental impact assessments. He has prepared and presented evidence at many planning appeals, EIP’s, and development plan inquiries throughout England.

Peter Wilks BSc(Hons) DipTP MRTPI Director Peter joined NLP in 1999 and has been a town planning consultant for over 20 years. He has concentrated on major town centre mixed use and commercial projects. He has presented evidence at numerous planning appeal and development plan inquiries and has advised over 70 local authorities across the country on development proposals and development plan policies.

Gareth Williams BSc(Hons) DipTP MRTPI Director Gareth joined NLP from the House Builders Federation in 2002 where he was Regional Planner for Wales, having previously spent eight years in local government. At NLP he has been involved in a wide range of housing, employment and regeneration projects including urban capacity studies and site appraisals, as well as Environmental Impact Assessments.

Nigel Perry BSc(Hons) Master of Civic Design MRTPI Consultant Nigel joined NLP in 1992 and has over 30 years of experience principally in the North East of England and has a thorough understanding of planning issues in the region. Specialism's include urban regeneration, masterplanning, conservation, infrastructure projects, planning briefs and public inquiries. Nigel was Chairman of NLP between 2006 and 2010 and prior to that led our Newcastle office for many years.

Geoffrey Smith BSc(Hons) MPhil MRTPI FRICS Non-Executive Director Geoff has been with the firm since 1974. Geoff has extensive experience in all aspects of planning, acting for developers and local planning authorities. He is a leading expert witness and advocate at planning inquiries.

Robert Warner ACA Non-Executive Director Robert has been a Director of NLP since 1989. From 1992 until 2002 he was Finance Director and Company Secretary of Aukett Group Plc and now practices as a freelance Finance Director. He is a Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chairman of Warner Estate Holdings Plc and a Director of several private companies.