Investing in the North East – Surface Property Posted on: January 9th, 2019 Ahead of the North East Development Plans Conference in Newcastle, we hear exclusively from Surface Property on their business and their fresh investment into the North East: Surface Property is a multi-disciplinary environment and design consultancy specialising in the built environment. Tell us a little bit about Surface and what you do? [emaillocker id=”71749″] As an SME with around 60 staff Surface prides itself on being able to provide a wide range of in-house environmental disciplines, together with in-house engineering and planning expertise, supporting development projects through planning, construction and operation. Through a collaborative multi-disciplinary approach to projects, combined with our local knowledge, we are able to offer clients a bespoke holistic service that focuses on their key development objectives. Surface works on all scales of projects, from individual properties to some of the largest developments across the UK and Ireland covering all stages of the development cycle. Through close multi-disciplinary teams based in our open plan offices we are able to identify risk and opportunity at early stages of projects which has helped us develop a strong track record of saving our clients’ money. For instance, we recently saved a client just under £1 million by designing an innovative SUDs scheme as part of the public realm of a large residential and commercial development which addressed numerous environmental constraints, and removed the requirement for costly groundworks. You’ve recently decided to open a new office based in the North East. What attracted the company to Durham over other regions across the UK? We’ve enjoyed establishing close relationships with clients in the North East and have worked on some innovative and exciting projects in the region such as Quayside West and Wallington Hall. As a company our work here continues to increase and we see the North East as both an exciting and growing economy and are happy to invest in the areas where we work. Caroline Airson who heads up our new Durham office originates from Sunderland and her local knowledge has been essential to our growth and our clients’ success. She is passionate about the development of the North East and its economy and Surface are proud to invest in the North East economy by creating new jobs, developing new business and supporting our growing client base. You have provided acoustics and air quality consultancy support on the Quayside West project in Newcastle, how important is it that these assessments are thorough and robust? The obvious answer is that robust assessments are required to secure planning permission and reduce risk of objection and legal challenge. However, of equal importance in the long term, robust assessments help remove potential risks and liabilities, which increases the financial and amenity value of the development. This is especially the case where the development design can respond to noise and air quality constraints. The Quayside West project required EIA, which increased the importance of the assessments being robust, and helped ensure that the development was well designed. Over 150 built environment professionals will come together for the North East Development Plans Conference on January 16th. Why is it an important date in the industry calendar? January represents the beginning of a new year, new opportunity and the countdown to the end of the financial year. It also represents the start of many new projects in the industry and we are pleased to be here tonight to support this event and look forward to working with new and existing clients in 2019 from our new office. Surface Property are exhibiting at the North East Development Plans Conference alongside 150+ business professionals and key stakeholders including Gateshead Council, The High Street Group, NEPO, University of Newcastle , iMpeC and Milburngate. To register for the event click here. [/emaillocker]
