Iceni’s Graham joins Nexus

The planning consultancy has appointed Murray Graham as director of its expanding Manchester office.

Graham was planning director of consultancy Iceni Projects in Manchester since 2017 and has 30 years’ experience in the planning and development industry – both in the public and private sectors.

He was previously planning and regeneration manager at the now defunct Cheshire County Council, with responsibility for managing spatial planning, development management and regeneration services.

He then became principal of his own planning consultancy in 2009 and, as part of that role, was appointed for six months as Warrington Council’s interim manager of the planning team.

Graham is a chartered town planner, a member of the Town and Country Planning Association, and is the TCPA’s North West regional representative. He is also a consultant at Places Matter, the design review panel for the North West of England, and a visiting lecturer on the architecture course at the University of Liverpool, as well as fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Graham’s private sector clients have included housebuilder Urban Splash, Wallace Land Investment, developer Watch This Space, Clarion Housing and Get Living. He has also acted as an expert witness at several planning inquiries and hearings.

As director of Nexus Planning, he will work alongside executive director Peter Tooher and the rest of the team, tasked with developing the consultancy’s strengths in the residential and regeneration sectors and using his expertise to support clients.

Nexus Manchester has grown over the past two years, with nine staff now based at the Castlefields office. Earlier this month, two of Nexus Manchester’s team –Tooher and director Richard Shepherd – were appointed as experts on the Government’s High Streets Task Force, aimed at helping communities and local authorities to transform their high streets.

The practice was selected this year to join the £750m Innovation Chain North Framework to provide town planning services.

Graham said: “Nexus Planning has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, culminating in the recent RTPI Planning Consultancy of the Year 2020 win.

“The consultancy’s track record of high-quality planning and regeneration work made it an easy choice to join the Manchester team. I’m looking forward to helping maintain the high standard and help grow the team further.”