Bush appointed to head Marron’s Manchester team

James Bush has joined the multidisciplinary development consultancy from Stantec to lead its Northern masterplanning and urban design team, made up of Billy Burgess, Matthew Howard, and Georgia Gray.

Burgess, Howard, and Gray are all new to Marrons, having also joined from Stantec where they worked with Bush. At Marrons, they have been appointed as associate urban designer, principal urban designer, and urban designer, respectively.

The team of four, alongside planning associate director Max Kidd-Rossiter, will work out of Cubo at No1 Spinningfields in Manchester.

Bush has more than a decade of experience in masterplanning and urban design, having previously held senior positions at Pegasus Group, Brown & Co, and PRP.

The Cubo base will act as a launch pad for Marrons’ operations in the North West.

“Joining Marrons presents a real opportunity to help shape and accelerate the consultancy’s growth in the North,” Bush said.

He added later: “We’re building a Northern offer that combines strong design thinking with commercial awareness, delivering residential and mixed-use schemes that respond to both client and community needs. The breadth of experience within the team allows us to take projects from early concept through to delivery – creating innovative, context-driven places.”

Brian Mullin, head of Marrons, described the Manchester office opening and urban design team appointments as “a significant milestone in our Northern growth journey”.

“Manchester is a key part of our growth strategy and expanding our team here allows us to better support clients across the region,” Mullin said.

“With the combined expertise of our planning and urban design teams, we are well positioned to shape sustainable, high-quality development throughout the North.”

In addition to Manchester, Marrons has offices in Leeds and Sheffield in the North. The company’s Northern offer is lead by planning partner Dan Mitchell, is also head of Marrons’ Leeds office.

Marrons’ list of services includes architecture, transport planning, socio-economic advisory, heritage, and landscape planning – in addition to planning, masterplanning, and urban design.

The B-Corp firm has 11 offices across the UK in total, with 114 staff working out of them.