Robert is Managing Director at RCA Regeneration Limited. He is a dual qualified Chartered Town Planner and Chartered Surveyor and has extensive experience in both the public and private sector.
Initially, Rob worked in local government as a Senior Planning Officer and then as an Economic Development Officer, before moving on to work for English Partnerships and then Advantage West Midlands as a Development Manager, in the latter case with specific responsibility for Urban Villages.
Rob then moved into private sector consultancy, working for the likes of GVA Grimley and a Chartered Surveying practice, both on a national basis, before setting up his own consultancy.
For a large part of his career, Rob has specialised on appraising development projects, for both the award of grant and on behalf of developers seeking to assess viability. More recently, Rob has been assisting a number of local planning authorities in appraising viability assessments submitted by applicants who are seeking to make a case for reduced levels of affordable housing and other Section 106 obligations.
Experience
I have worked extensively in both the private and public sectors, with the latter comprising both local authorities and regional/national government agencies.
I am a Chartered Town Planner, Chartered Surveyor and a Registered Valuer. I am also Managing Director of RCA Regeneration Ltd and take a lead on the development consultancy work which we undertake for local authorities.
My experience in the public sector is extensive and began in 1990 with my role as a Planning Officer and later on as a Senior Planning Officer in the Local Plans section of a Mid-Wales local authority. My role was to lead the production of the District-wide Local Plan including the commissioning of the evidence base to support the Plan. Thereafter, I moved to another local authority in Worcestershire as an Economic Development Officer with responsibility for promoting economic activity and investment within the District. Both of these roles provided me a thorough understanding of the workings of local authorities.
In 1999 I moved to English Partnerships as a Development Manager which then became subsumed within the creation of the Regional Development Agencies, working in a similar capacity for Advantage West Midlands. In both instances I was responsible for appraising private and public sector projects for the award of grant and ensuring best value in the use of public funds. Such experience has provided me with an invaluable insight into and appreciation of the workings of government agencies.
In 2002 I took my first step into the private sector working initially for a multinational engineering and construction consultancy and thereafter for the international property consultancy, GVA, as a Principal Consultant in the planning and regeneration department of the business. This was important in providing me with a more rounded appreciation of the role of a consultant and consultancy costs.
More latterly, since 2005, I worked as a Senior Development Surveyor in a Development Consultancy Practice before I established RCA Regeneration in 2009 as a planning and development consultancy. In the nine and a half years since it was set up, RCA has grown from a sole trader operation to the being the 50th largest planning consultancy in the UK by turnover.
As Managing Director of RCA, I take full responsibility for direction and leadership of the Company, including financial matters and company administration.
Individually, I work on behalf of a number of local authorities appraising viability reports submitted by developers to determine appropriate levels of affordable housing and other Section 106 obligations. Increasingly, I also work as part of a team on behalf of a range of private and third sector clients preparing, submitting and negotiating viability cases, including national housebuilders, housing associations and strategic developers.
Recent Projects
Viability Services
(Client: Various Local Authorities)
I have worked on behalf of a number of local authorities assessing viability cases submitted by developers for a range residential and commercial projects, predominantly in the West Midlands region but also in Gloucestershire and as far afield as the north west of England. I now act as a retained consultant in this respect for several local authorities and have established a good understanding of current local authority working practices within planning and related departments. I have also provided viability training to officers and members in most of these authorities.
Valuation Services
(Clients: Various Registered Providers including Rooftop Housing, Two Rivers Housing, Fortis Housing, Sanctuary Housing, Bromford Homes)
I have worked extensively for a number of Housing Associations providing RICS Red Book Valuations, Opinions of Value and Residual Land Valuations. In the main these are as part of the due diligence process to support the acquisition of land but also to assess the viability of various development options and establish Benchmark Land Values.
Masterplanning
(Clients: Various including Telford & Wrekin Council, English Partnerships, Black Country Consortium)
• Telford Industrial Estates Regeneration – Production of a masterplan and strategy for the regeneration of Telford’s industrial estates identifying a range of interventions from land disposal to the establishment of Business Improvement Districts.
• Eastern Gateway, West Bromwich – Development of a masterplan for the Eastern Gateway area of West Bromwich on behalf of English Partnerships and Regeneco. Advised specifically on the viability of proposals, including undertaking a market assessment and drawing up development appraisals for the site as a whole.
• Black Country Technology Park Study – Assessing the suitability of employment land sites throughout the Black Country for technology parks and technology park uses and identifying mechanisms for bringing sites forward primarily in terms of public sector interventions to support a bid for funding to the Regional Development Agency.