Our new North West head of planning, Paul Murray, is getting his inspiration from an unlikely source – Jurgen Klopp!
Paul is responsible for land to fuel our long and medium-term development pipeline, but he often uses the Liverpool FC manager’s words to inspire his work.
“Jurgen is famous for saying ‘It’s not so much what people think about when you come in, it’s much more important what people think when you leave’,” explains Liverpool fan Paul, 30, who lives in Crosby.
“This really resonates with me as it ties into my role in leading the planning team and basically means that the opportunities we secure now have the potential to become hugely important sites to my successors in the future, so I want to make sure what I pass on has the ability to be amazing.”
Paul has been promoted to head of planning at our Daresbury-based North West division after being senior planning manager for three years. His new position will see him look for forward and strategic land to secure future developments.
The sites Paul will be working on can take years to come to maturity and he says when you work in planning it’s very rare to see a project through from conception to fruition.
“One development I have been working very closely on is Daresbury Garden Village, near Warrington, in Cheshire, that will deliver circa 800 homes, green spaces and community facilities, virtually next door to our regional offices. This particular development was initiated by my predecessors before me, I’ve inherited work they set in motion, but it’s fantastic sites like Daresbury that make the job what it is. I want to find more sites like this that my successors will get just as excited about in the future.”
Paul, who joined us as an assistant planner straight from the University of Sheffield in 2013, says the North West business has always had a strong pipeline of development land and his new role is to keep the pipeline full so that it can keep refuelling the company’s activity.
Paul adds: “As we step closer to finalising the Daresbury plans and launching sales, I will be turning my attention to securing future developments, like this one and others such as Ledsham Garden Village in West Cheshire and Woodford Garden Village in Stockport. Getting Daresbury to this stage represents 20 years of forward work for Redrow and my aim is to now look for other sites that can come forward over the next 20 years.”
From its offices at Daresbury Park, Our North West division has circa 15 live outlets across Cheshire and parts of Merseyside and North Wales, building everything from starter homes to large, executive detached houses.
Jason Newton, managing director for the North West says: “Paul’s promotion is well deserved and I’m confident he will continue to deliver the sites we need to create vibrant new communities across the North West.”
For details of developments see www.redrow.co.uk and for information about career opportunities, go to www.redrow.co.uk/careers
