Rapleys Manchester Planning team expands with three new Associate Partners

Strategic property consultancy Rapleys has grown its Manchester-based Planning team further following the appointment of two partners earlier this year.

Bal Tiwana-Thompson, Alastair Skelton and Tim Coleby all join as Associate Partners following the appointment of Bernard Greep as Equity Partner to lead the team in Manchester and Michael Gilbert as Partner. 

Bal joins following 14 years working in planning roles at Stantec, Gladman and Peter Brett Associates. Alastair has over 40 years’ experience and joins from Stephen Abbott Associates where he spent 32 years, having also held public sector planning officer roles previously. Tim also has over 40 years’ of professional planning experience in both public and private sectors.

Rapleys has been on a strategic growth plan over the last two years, adding people and services in response to client demand or where opportunities have been identified. In addition to the Manchester planning team expanding, the business launched a team in Cardiff, expanded in London with the acquisition of Avison Young’s retail team and has hired eight new Partners already since the beginning of the year.

Bernard Greep, Equity Partner and Head of Manchester Planning at Rapleys, said: “The addition of Bal, Alastair and Tim to our Manchester-based planning team further strengthens our reach across the Northwest with expertise across both traditional and alternative sectors – both private and public side. We have an ongoing aspiration to build our strength both in this area – working with the Commercial and Building Consultancy experts also based here – and across the UK, joining up with the national division to support our clients wherever they need us.”

Rapleys Manchester Planning has been working on increasingly high-profile projects including supporting Lidl on its national expansion, promoting mainstream and specialist residential schemes of all sizes, and successfully obtaining a range of consents for motorway service stations and solar farms for a major Roadside brand.