Meet the Team - James

Let us introduce you to James, our associate director and newest recruit (OK, he celebrated his first anniversary with us last week, but humour us).

We’ve pulled him away from the day job for five minutes and persuaded him to get reflective with us.

Tell us a bit about how you became a planner, James.

At school I wanted to be an architect. But when it came to university, I chose to read psychology thinking it would open up my career options.

As it was, it wasn’t the right path but one particular module, on how the built environment affects the way people behave and feel, had resonated with me. Making that connection – and discovering that there was a career entirely focused on that relationship between people and place – was a lightbulb moment for me.

I enrolled on a one-year masters in town planning at the University of Sheffield and haven’t looked back since.

What’s been your area of expertise over that time?

Prior to joining Euan Kellie, I’d amassed 14 years’ experience in the public sector at both Trafford MBC and Salford CC, so have plenty of experience on high-density city centre regeneration projects.

Seeing an unloved site reshaped into something that makes a positive contribution is just so exciting. I love that I’ve been able to play a role in transforming sites across Greater Manchester.

As an avid traveller, I often think about the importance of perceptions, and first impressions. It’s crucial we keep that in mind as we work to improve sites that currently detract from our great city’s first impression. So much progress has been made over the last two decades, but there’s plenty more still to be done.

What makes Euan Kellie different from its competitors?

I think it’s the personal touch, really. It’s not about what we do, but why we do it. We all really care about the job. There’s a pride and a sense of personal responsibility. We just want to do the best job for our clients and create a richer quality of life for people.

What do you bring to the team?

Good question! I guess I’d say I’m a planner (in the non-town planning sense) and a good listener. I like to absorb all the information available to me, then let it settle and use that to work out a strategy. That’s probably thanks in part to my experience as a case officer.

I can anticipate how something might be received by the local planning authority and like to play devil’s advocate by asking, “what will the local authority say to this”? It’s earned me the nickname Case Officer Ketley amongst my colleagues!

What fires you up?

I like to start my day right by getting off the train early at Deansgate and walking the rest of the way in. It’s the best way to experience the city and capture a sense of the pace and scale of change. It’s that sense of transformation I mentioned earlier. Every development is contributing to the city’s wider growth. It fires me up and keeps me in a positive frame of mind for my work.

What have you enjoyed about working at Euan Kellie in your first year?

It’s been great to work proactively as part of some fantastic project teams to build the strongest possible case for some really exciting projects – some of which we hope to shout about soon! I’ve also really enjoyed working across a broad geographical area, with several different local authorities.

Spending time with my colleagues outside of the day job has been great fun too.

Describe your perfect working day.

It would probably include some time in the office. I love my colleagues and I’ve also had more than enough of remote working over the past four years!

There’d be a site visit. I love getting out to study a development plot and understand how it fits into the wider built environment.

Finally, I’d have a meeting somewhere too, as I do enjoy that feeling of a project team getting together to make decisions and make progress.

What do you do for fun?

I love to travel and to hike in the Lakes or Scotland. I’m about to become a father so I’m acutely aware that this might all be about to change, but I’m a keen runner and have completed a few marathons over recent years.

What was your most memorable marathon?

Probably London in 2017, because of the scale of the event and the sights I saw along the way. The crowds along the route were just amazing.

I didn’t quite hit my time, though. Happily, in Manchester in 2015 I managed to get under three hours, so I’m pretty pleased with that.

If you’re ready for a change, like James was, we are recruiting!

We’re looking to hire an enthusiastic, proactive and talented town planner to take on a senior role in the business and help deliver our growing workload. Does that sound like you?

Get in touch for an informal chat.