EC Harris hires to environment team

EC Harris, part of design and consultancy firm Arcadis, has appointed hydrogeologist Matt Gardner as a partner in its Manchester office.

Gardner will be responsible for overseeing the promotion and delivery of the full range of environmental consultancy services provided by Arcadis in the North West.

He joined from WSP | Parson Brinckerhoff and also previously worked at Capita.

Gardner has almost 20 years’ experience in contaminated land management and ground engineering. As a chartered geologist he specialises in brownfield regeneration.

The appointment is part of the firm’s move to substantially enhance its environment team presence in the North West, with a focus on providing expertise in property development solutions and the remediation of complex brownfield sites.

Arcadis’ work in the region include the environmental impact assessment for the North West Coast Connections project, which will deliver a cable tunnel under Morecambe Bay to connect new sources of electricity generation into the National Grid. Other schemes include advising on the sale of surplus land at Southport General Hospital.

Gardner said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining a company that has some of the most diverse capabilities in the industry. Operating in the environmental field, it is essential that we can bring together the many disciplines needed to deliver a tailored solution for our clients. Whether that’s clearing up land for development, implementing new technologies, creating new facilities, or meeting increasingly complex legislative and planning requirements, it’s a real benefit to be in a position where we can respond to a client’s needs at any stage in the project lifecycle.”