Top 100 UK Law Firm Hugh James is marking a “significant milestone” in the evolution of its planning practice.
Since the appointment of Alex Madden as Partner and head of planning and environmental in July 2024, the planning team has grown in both size and scope. The firm says it now has new clients, complex projects, and key hires under its belt.
“It’s been an action-packed 12 months,” Alex said. “We’ve supported the firm’s commercial property team on standout deals like Rockwool’s new manufacturing base at Peddimore and Pobl’s land acquisition at Cardiff’s Plas Dŵr. We’ve also facilitated critical conversations around housing delivery in Wales, including a roundtable with Lee Waters MS focused on unlocking social housing.”
The team now includes Senior Associate, Hannah Mannion, who specialises in energy and renewables, and soon to be assistant solicitor Ben Bowen who will qualify in September 2025.
The team’s growth over the past year has significantly boosted their capacity to support the firm’s national housebuilder client base across both contentious and non-contentious work, it said.
The introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for certain developments, updates to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) – including the new ‘grey belt' classification – and proposed legislative reforms via the Planning and Infrastructure Bill all signal an increasing demand for commercial planning advice, said the firm.
Further changes are in the pipeline, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishing a working paper proposing reforms to site thresholds in the planning system to better support housing delivery across different types of sites and launching a consultation on proposed reforms to planning committees. Defra is also consulting on BNG implementation for NSIPs and minor, medium and brownfield developments.
Alex believes these developments only underscore the importance of having a strong, agile legal team in place.
“Our expansion means we’re not just meeting our clients’ needs – we’re anticipating them,” he said. “We’re now able to offer a cradle-to-grave service that ensures continuity, clarity and strategic input at every stage of a project. That’s a win-win for clients new and old.”
The team is advising on significant residential schemes in the South West. These include the landmark Selwood Garden Community comprising 1,700 homes, a major mixed-use development of around 400 units at Nailsea within the Green Belt, and a residential-led scheme at Trull delivering 125 new homes. Recent client wins include Wain Estates, Wain Homes, and Land Value Alliances.
This strategic growth reflects Hugh James’ wider vision for its planning and environmental team, and delivers on the ambitions set out when Alex was first appointed, the firm said.
“We knew that planning and environmental law was becoming a bigger priority for our clients,” said Alex. “That’s why we invested in building a market-leading team, and now we’re delivering on that promise.”
