Pegasus bolsters senior Liverpool team
Jonathan Burns, Ian Ford, and Darren Muir have been promoted to the role of senior planning director at the development consultancy’s Merseyside office.
Pegasus Group is working on some of the most high-profile projects in Liverpool City Region, including Beetham Group and Davos Property Development’s King Edward Triangle skyscraper cluster and Peel’s Liverpool Waters.
Burn, Ford, and Muir all spoke about the role Pegasus will play in shaping Liverpool’s future.
“Pegasus’ continued investment in our Liverpool team is a clear vote of confidence in city region’s potential and a recognition of our position as its largest planning consultancy,” Muir said.
He has been a member of the Pegasus team since 2020, when he joined as a principal planner. He had previously worked at Cass Associates and Crabtree Homes and Community Windpower.
“Having spent over a decade embedded in Liverpool’s development fabric, I am focused on strengthening our Liverpool office further and introducing new roles and services,” Muir said.
“I am looking forward to helping lead our talented team advising a wide range of clients on Liverpool’s most complex and high-impact projects.”
Of the three, Burns has been at Pegasus Group the longest, having joined in 2018 as an associate planner from DPP.
“After seven years at Pegasus, I am proud to step into this leadership role at such a pivotal moment for the city region,” Burns said.
“The alignment between the combined authority’s focus on delivery and the government’s housebuilding agenda creates a genuine opportunity to unlock the city region’s full development potential,” he continued.
“A vital part of this will be the combined authority pressing ahead with a pro-growth spatial development strategy to guide future development. I look forward to continuing to inform and influence the SDS on behalf of our clients, ensuring Pegasus remains at the heart of the region’s growth story.”
Ford is the newest addition to the Pegasus team of the trio. He joined in 2024 as a director of town planning. Previously, he had worked at Arup, Homes England, and Liverpool City Council.
“Helping lead a locally based team that is genuinely passionate about Liverpool’s success is a privilege,” Ford chimed in.
“This promotion reflects the specialist advice we provide on some of Liverpool’s strategic development projects, including key growth areas for North Liverpool including Liverpool Waters and King Edward Triangle. This is particularly exciting following the recent mayoral development corporation announcements.”
Ford continued: “With deep local knowledge and a long-standing presence in Liverpool’s development sector, I am excited to work with our team to continue using that expertise and help unlock opportunities and deliver meaningful growth for the city.
Pegasus currently has 12 employees in its Liverpool office, with ambitions to grow that number this year.
Kate Williams, chief people officer at Pegasus, said: “We are committed to building a great place to work; a key part of this is building long-term career paths that enable people to develop and progress into senior roles.
“Growing our own talent, from the graduate scheme onwards, is an essential part of the Pegasus Group growth strategy as we work to extend our reach across the UK.”
Pegasus has more than 400 staff members across its 14 offices, including locations in Leeds, Newcastle, and Manchester. In addition to planning, the group offers services in design, economics, transport and infrastructure, asset management, and more.
In addition to the King Edward Triangle and Liverpool Waters, other Merseyside projects from Pegasus include Northstone’s plans for 249 homes in Bromborough, Westchurch Homes’ fully affordable resi scheme in Liverpool, and Hallam Land Management’s 700-home masterplan in Knowsley.
Positive story for Liverpool City Region, but let’s hope we see more actual spades in the ground in 2026
By George
That’s a top-notch team, to be fair. Good to have them in the city.
By Anonymous
The good thing about these guys is that they’ve worked hard to be well placed in Liverpool. They know the City, the decision makers and genuinely want to see the area flourish for all.
Congrats guys and well done to Pegasus for investing.
By R.Mal
2026 needs to be the year Liverpool gets a move on. The planning agenda is so underwhelming it’s just full of bungalow extentions. Does the council or Mayor have any ambition at all.
By Trevor
These appointments hopefully are a sign that things are about to take off in Liverpool. Yes the Beetham/TJ Morris high-rises are the big story but we need to see movement on Chinatown, Littlewoods, and Pall Mall, while areas like the Baltic need a jump start, and the Ten Streets needs to be allowed to develop naturally.
By Anonymous
Good appointments but working with LCC and the invisible mayor is hard work. You can’t succeed with both hands tied behind your back. We were told only Labour would take the city to another level but so far nothing has changed.
By Phil Timpson
They are a great outfit and seem to be going from strength to strength.
They know the city well and have a passion for driving schemes forward, despite coming up against probably the most brutal council in the country, who have a specialism in rejecting change and taking the city backwards.
By Anonymous
Just looked at the agenda for yesterday’s City Council Planning Committee, just 5 items, one related to a 2 bedroom house while the other 4 were for tree preservation orders. Suddenly the optimism generated by this article evaporated somewhat.
By Anonymous
Re 10.27am, Planning, Davos/TJ Morris submitted plans in March 2025 for an 8 storey block in Blundell St, plus a refurb of an adjoining building, it’s now 2026 and it’s still under discussion with Planning. Not only are applications not coming in but ones that are in are stuck in Limbo for years.
By Anonymous