Melissa Kurihara is a director in LUC's planning department. Credit: via LUC

LUC promotes Kurihara to director

14 January 2026 14:30 Julia Hatmaker Comments (0)

Melissa Kurihara has become a senior figure at the employee-owned environmental, landscape, and masterplanning firm’s Manchester office planning team.

Her promotion to director was one of 49 at the company this year. Others in the North included Elizabeth Anderson becoming a senior arboricultural consultant and Becca Huggins earning the principal title.

Both work out of the Manchester office, although Huggins also spends time at LUC’s Sheffield branch, which was founded in 2023 and has 17 staff.

Regarding the promotions, LUC chief executive Rob Booth said: “I feel immensely proud of my colleagues as they take these next steps in their careers. Their expertise and hard work will continue to drive our business forward.

“As we celebrate 60 years of LUC, these promotions show our confidence in the future of LUC and the impact that we aspire to have as a business. We are building a team that will tackle the climate and biodiversity crises for the next 60 years and beyond.”

Kurihara has worked at LUC for nearly eight years, having joined the company in 2018 as an associate director. Her CV also includes roles at Urban Vision Partnership, Stafford Council, and Telford & Wrekin Council. She was optimistic about what the new year and new role will bring.

“I’m looking forward to the exciting and challenging work ahead, particularly collaborating with ambitious, forward-thinking local authorities, supporting them with their local plans,” she said.

“One highlight was working on the Barking and Dagenham Local Plan, which recently took home a 2025 Planning Award. The plan sets out a transformative vision to deliver over 40,000 new homes and 20,000 jobs, alongside vital infrastructure such as schools, healthcare, transport, and green spaces.

“It’s a perfect example of how LUC delivers excellence, creates fantastic, good-quality places, and helps in addressing the housing nature crises.”

LUC enters its 60th anniversary year on firm footing, having been named the UK’s seventh highest-earning planning consultancy in the Planning Consultancy Market Report 2025. The 2024/2025 financial year saw planning fee income reach £13.9m for that period, largely driven by LUC’s work on major infrastructure projects.

The firm is looking to expand it’s Manchester office, which has 32 employees. LUC is actively recruiting for an associate director of planning and a principal planner.