Knights launches Chester planning team

Professional services business Knights has set up a planning department at its Chester office with two new hires.

Matthew Wedderburn joins from Muller Property as senior associate. Alice Weston joins from Gladman Developments as planner.

In their new roles at Knights, Wedderburn and Weston will be preparing residential and commercial planning applications as well as guiding clients through the appeals process.

Knights provide legal and professional services from offices in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Cheltenham, Chester, Hale, Derby, Oxford and Colchester. There are now 61 staff at the Chester office and 14 in the national planning team. Knights has made 200 hires this year, with 375 staff in total.

Sally Wightman, office leader at Chester, said: “Matthew has extensive experience from both sides of the fence; his local authority experience means he understands what it takes to get an application through to approval and his private sector knowledge means he has a great insight into problems clients might face. Alice is a rising star in the sector and we are thrilled to have her on board.”