Savills has reported a strong first half of the year for its central planning team.

It follows the merger of its teams in Oxford and Reading to become one combined team of 25 planning experts, including six directors, together representing land owners, housebuilders and promoters across the Thames Valley region and beyond.

The move, at the beginning of 2022, has enabled the team to grow, with several new appointments made, and to bolster its service across the region.

Phil Brown (pictured left), who jointly heads up the team, said: ‘Since being established in Oxford in 1998 and Reading in 2013, our planning teams have become leading consultants in our respective areas.

‘Having always worked collaboratively, in recent years our work has covered an increasingly similar geography and group of clients, and so combining our teams was a natural next step.

“It has given us the opportunity to further strengthen our offer, making best use of our collective knowledge and expertise, whilst improving the services that we provide to our clients whether they be old or new.”

Rob Linnell (pictured right), joint head of the new central planning team, said: ‘Since joining forces, we have grown both our team and business.

“We are pleased to have seen a number of notable project successes on a diverse range of sites and for a variety of future uses, encompassing everything from permissions for large-scale residential, industrial and commercial schemes through to changes of use and single dwellings for private clients.

“We are very proud to be appointed on a number of the largest and highest profile projects in our area of operation.”

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