Atkins has announced three senior hires, including the appointment of the chair of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
Richard Bonner joins the global engineering, planning and design consultancy’s Bristol office at Aztec West business park as its new market director for buildings and places.
Mr Bonner has worked in the infrastructure sector for 30 years, most recently as a Northern Cities director for Arcadis. Atkins said he will work across a number of portfolios including central and local government, education, commercial and residential and metros and stations.
His predecessor James Rose takes on a new role in the business focussing on selected key client relationships and its 'Northern Transformation Programme'.
Mr Bonner said: “I am thrilled to join Atkins, which is a market leader in providing integrated sustainable design and consultancy outcomes in our chosen markets. By working with our practices, and leading the buildings and places team on delivery of design-led strategies for clients, we will be putting the importance of thriving places and positive social value outcomes at the heart of development.
“I am looking forward to working with our clients and our people and partners to support the delivery of their goals and ambitions.”
Also new to the firm is Andrew Jones, a former board member at construction engineering firm AECOM. Mr Jones joins as senior service line director for planning and consenting.
Mr Jones “Building thriving places means putting the environment first when it comes to the planning of development, infrastructure and natural environments, and I look forward to advancing this principle in my new role.
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“Atkins has a wealth of talent and expertise in planning, design and environmental disciplines. Through a more efficient and collaborative approach to projects, this experience can transform how clients approach decision-making, as well as result in more sustainable outcomes for communities impacted by development.”
Meanwhile Dr Deb Upadhyaya arrives from Homes England in a newly-created role to drive the agenda on creating thriving places, as well as supporting the northern cities project team.
Dr Upadhyaya said: “The focus throughout my career has been on quality, socially-driven, inclusive design-led sustainable places for people, underpinned through value-led partnerships that creates legacies that we can all be proud of.
“It is a focus I can bring to this new role at Atkins where I am able to work with a great set of clients in the region, which are onboard with the idea of putting sustainability at the heart of the delivery process to secure long-lasting positive and resilient legacies for the built environments.”
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