Ben Wrighton

Associate, Donaldson

Ben Wrighton, 30, is an associate in the planning team at surveying and property consultancy Donaldsons. He provides advice on planning, regeneration, environment and retail.

What has been your most beneficial career experience to date?
Having direct client contact - really understanding what advice they want to receive. When I started out there was always the danger that I was churning out work without appreciating its purpose. It's a lot easier to give advice when you understand what the client's objectives are.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
That planning is critical in delivering regeneration. Grand concepts are important in promoting a site, area or theme, but may not be well-founded in planning policy. Ultimately, these ideas might end up failing, so it's vital that planners are included from the start.

What's the best training experience you've ever had?
When I was at university, I did a number of work placements at Leicester City Council in the development control, forward planning and town centre teams. It was good to learn how local authorities work and how the political make-up of a council impacts on getting decisions implemented.

What book would you recommend?
Anthony Sampson's Who Runs This Place?: The Anatomy of Britain in the 21st Century. It goes through the institutions we know in society and how they've changed over the years. I've found it useful in outlining how the different departments in Whitehall inter-relate: it's good to understand where regeneration strategies are coming from at a macro level.

What do you wish you'd known when you started out?
That planning is a multi-disciplinary profession. You have to be familiar with the language of urban design, architecture, property, finance, engineering and planning. You need to be a jack-of-all-trades because you have to manage teams from all disciplines.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1997: Gains BA in urban studies from Sheffield University.

1998: Gains postgraduate diploma in town and regional planning and joins property company Chesterton as a graduate planner.

2000: Promoted to senior planner and becomes member of the Royal Town Planning Institute.

2002: Moves to Donaldsons as a senior planner.

2005: Promoted to associate.

Interview by Alexandra Coxon