Fisher German’s planning team reached the finals of the RTPI Planning Awards for Excellence 2020, and joined the celebrations via video conference. After winning the regional East Midlands award for Planning Consultancy of the Year, we were excited to also be shortlisted as a finalist in the national competition.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the physical ceremony – due to be held at Milton Court in London – was moved online and held on YouTube with an introduction from RTPI President Sue Manns which was recorded from her home.
The coveted Planning Consultancy of the Year award sees each of the regional winners, along with other national consultancies, compete for the overall title. The judges are looking for a combination of criteria and examples, including imaginative approaches to achieve high quality planning solutions, client satisfaction, multi-disciplinary projects and commitment to inclusive planning.
Head of Planning at Fisher German, Liberty Stones, said:
“It was a fantastic experience to be shortlisted for the Planning Consultancy of the Year award and we were up against some tough competition from across the UK. Despite the difficulties that Coronavirus has created there is still a lot for us to celebrate at Fisher German with our planning team among the top 10 fastest growing planning consultancies in the UK right now.
“In the last year, we have grown our Ashby, Worcester and Bedford planning teams and also been named among the top 35 large Chartered Town Planners in the UK. After winning the RTPI’s East Midlands region award, it was an added bonus to see our name among other well-known planners at the national final.”
More than 20 of Fisher German’s planning team watched the live YouTube awards together virtually, using MS Teams to video chat and share the experience together.
Liberty added: “It was really important for us to watch the live stream together. We are a very social and close-knit team so we were understandably disappointed that current circumstances meant the ceremony would not be able to go ahead in its usual format. But it was great to see everyone on video get excited about the countdown to the big reveal, with some even joining us wearing bow ties and jackets!”
In winning the regional East Midlands award, judges cited Fisher German’s ‘strong client focussed approach to schemes aiming to achieve best value for clients’ and strong evidence of developing our colleagues through training and engagement.
The overall national award for Planning Consultancy of the Year was won by Nexus Planning.
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