With a year that has seen 11% increase in turnover, 754 exciting new projects, and a steady expansion of our multinational business, there is so much to celebrate as 2023 comes to an end. 

We’ve welcomed 29 new team members across our offices over the year with our Perth office having the most notable transformation, tripling in size: A pivotal step towards growing our brand on a multinational level. And of course, the arrival of new team members necessitates new space! Both our Reading and Bristol offices are currently in the process of moving to larger premises in order to accommodate our growing team.

This year we also saw a record number of promotions across our UK offices, with over 30 of our team, including our four new Technical Directors, deservedly progressing within their fields. The combined dedication and expertise of our team members is integral in paving the way for our continued growth and success, and we thank them for their continued hard work as we progress into 2024 as one great team.  

PJA’s inclusion on the Best Companies List 2023 demonstrates that nurturing a workplace brings the best rewards. Not only did it show we were 4th Best Company in the UK to work for in the consultancy sector, 12^th Best Company in the West Midlands and 18th Best Mid-Sized Company to Work For in the UK, we also found through the independent, confidential assessment that 98% of our team found the experience of working at PJA tremendously valuable for their future.  This is just a marker in a journey of continual improvement and development to support our people in being the very best that they can be. 

A number of successful internal events have been widely attended over the year,  knowledge sharing and best practice examples were just some of the activities on Transport Planning Day, while Carbon Month held weekly activities and forums for our team to be part of – keeping us on track for our carbon zero target. 

Recognition internationally for our expertise saw us presenting in Hong Kong, while projects in Jersey, South Africa, Saudi Arabia saw our international presence grow.

As part of our ongoing commitment to industry-wide knowledge sharing, our training arm ‘PJA Academy‘ saw us deliver training to local authorities and private clients across the UK and we volunteered our time to support universities, colleges and schools in their career events.

This small to medium enterprise of a business changed legislation nationally, being part of the team that saw 20mph become the default speed limits on most urban roads in Wales. We’ve seen the long buried River Rea burst back to life, found trilobites in Shropshire and had a plethora of planning permission successes. We’ve been expert witnesses, led a bunch of travel planning events, designed active travel routes and got shortlisted for a few awards not to mention that we’ve played golf, football and darts,  kayaked, biked and ran as a team – raising lots of money for charity as we went. So there’s just too much our team have done to say it all!

Finally, 2023 marked a major milestone for PJA, with a series of celebrations taking place throughout the year as the company commemorated its 20th anniversary. Following a short period dedicated to our shared history, we’ve looked in to the future over 2023, focusing our thoughts around the potential challenges of the next 20 years. Bring it on 2024, we’re ready for you.

Find out more about our services here

Sign up for more news from PJA here

 

PJA are ending 2023 with a record breaking raft of promotions across our UK offices.

With 15 new promotions, including 4 new Technical Directors, we are thrilled to see our team members deservedly progress within their fields. Congratulations to all!

Atish Chitrakar – Principal Graphic Designer (Birmingham)

Ryan Walters – Senior Consultant (Birmingham)

Shannon Connolly – Senior Consultant (Birmingham)

James Warbey – Associate (Reading)

Maximilian Li – Consultant (Manchester)

Rebecca Jones – Associate (London)

Nik Wooldridge – Associate (Birmingham)

Daniel Flello – Principal Engineer (Birmingham)

Eugenio Toichoa – Senior Engineer (Birmingham)

Samantha Furey – Senior Engineer (Birmingham)

Samuel Jones – Senior Engineer (Birmingham)

PJA is also welcomes a new role to their ranks: Technical Director.

Water management specialist, Alison Caldwell and transport planning expert, Chris Stack, both in PJA’s Birmingham office and Matthew Franklin and Matt McFeat in our Reading and Bristol offices respectively have all been promoted to Technical Director.

Hailing the news of all the recent promotions as ‘fantastic’, Phil Jones added: “I believe that it shows the maturity of the business that we’ve got so many people pushing up through the ranks, which is really good to see. 2024 is set to be a busy year and our talented people ensure that we deliver a first class offering to all our new and existing clients.”

 

Find out more about our services here

Sign up for more news from PJA here

Our wonderful team are our greatest asset. Not only experts in transport, engineering and placemaking but also committed to delivering better places for people through high-level-service client experiences.

We’re very proud to continue to celebrate the faces behind the fast-growing international consultancy that we are today in our monthly feature ‘PJA People’.

Next up in our series is Office Manager, Jane Geoghegan, based in our Birmingham office:

 

Tell us what you do at PJA

The role of Office Manager means I wear different hats every day, so no two days are the same. If had to divide my job role into three parts, they are Finance, Hospitality and Admin.

 

What’s your career path so far?

I spent a large part of my life working in the John Lewis Partnership; I was part of the Management team for 15 years, and for the last 5 years I was an Events Manager over two branches. My role in Events was 50% admin, which is why I am now at PJA today nearly two years on.

 

What do you enjoy when you’re not working?

I am heavily into the 1950s scene which means I travel to attend live music events. This year the scene brought me to Vegas, and most recently Tenerife.

 

Are you a dog or cat person?

I have a Shar-pei who is 9 years old, but I do love cats too.

 

What are you currently reading or listening to?

I love reading crime and thrillers, and I am currently halfway through The Woman in Black.

 

Claim to fame?

Working with the public, you do see many famous faces. I have met Meatloaf, John Barrowman, Lesley Joseph and Mark Owen from Take That.

 

---

Jane Geoghegan, Office Manager

Jane assists with the day-to-day running of the Birmingham office, welcomes our visitors and is the first welcoming voice you will hear on the telephone. She brings extensive team-based experience to the role and ensures people are at the centre of everything she does.

Get in touch with Jane: [email protected]

---

Find out more about our services here

Read more in our PJA People series here

Sign up for more news from PJA here

In the hugely successful 12 months the Perth office has been open for business, the team has nearly trebled, but what made those newbies want to join a UK based company relatively new to the west coast of Australia?

We asked Richard Spencer, Rodney Ding and Sonja Hayes to give us an insight in to why they joined PJA and what it was like when they got there:

“Our main draw to joining PJA was the duo Tim and Tanya who are fearlessly successful in their fields, holding a reputation as not only the finest in their work but balancing it with an understanding of real life and family values.

“Beyond that was PJA’s reputation as a leading placemaking-led transport and engineering consultancy, offering the opportunity to grow and thrive in a new place. As a team we are eager to continue the PJA mantra ‘create better places through great design’ and our approach to work aligns well with PJA’s core values of creative, credible, committed, and considerate. We have the ability to do big things with PJA and what they say speaks to us.

“The projects we are working on are really interesting and knowing the potential outcome that may result from our investigation is motivating. All this whilst having the support of the wider PJA team of over 130 people with experience in a variety of services and sectors makes for a great offering to our clients and partners.

“We’re also encouraged to build on our individual growth and knowledge. Road safety (Road Danger Reduction) is a focused service area, and being supported to undertake training and continual professional development is something that also sets PJA apart for us.

“The team here are motivated to see the company expand organically and succeed further in making PJA a go-to trusted advisor in Perth, and we are so excited to be a part of the PJA story.”

 

Get in touch with Richard: [email protected], Rodney: [email protected] or Sonja: [email protected]

Find out more about our services here

Sign up for more news from PJA here

 

Meet our team in Australia

Sam Williams

[email protected]

Sam heads up the Melbourne office of PJA and has over 11 years’ experience in civil engineering design consultancy’s.

He has worked on a wide range of projects including: development infrastructure, public realm improvements, national cycle routes and urban regeneration.

Sam brings a genuine passion for early engineering engagement at concept stage to ensure that a creative and credible design can be delivered.

 

Tanya Moran

[email protected]

Tanya has 20 years’ experience across the transport sector working on urban regeneration, built form, greenfields and major infrastructure projects for the public and private sector.

She has a proven track record of delivering complex projects, drawing on her in-depth appreciation of the transport system and expectations of its users to service land use planning and create places that people feel comfortable to interact in and safe to call ‘Home’.

She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and has been an active committee member for over a decade for Transport Australia, Student Engagement and the National Women Working Group of Engineers Australia.

 

Tim Judd

[email protected]

Tim has over 20 years’ experience in transportation and land use planning, road safety, public transport and active travel. Tim’s main focus is on providing advice on street design and its role within places.

He is a board member of Streets for People, a member of the Cycling Walking Australia and New Zealand Design Innovations Working Group and a panel member of Main Roads WA/IPWEA Road Safety Panel.

Tim has also been actively involved in developing the Healthy Streets framework and is an accredited Healthy Streets Assessor.

 

Richard Spencer

[email protected]

Richard has over 20 years’ experience in both the public and private sector in Road Design & Construction, Traffic Engineering, Traffic Management Planning, Road Safety, Crash Investigation and Road Safety Engineering.

With expansive experience and appreciation for projects of all size Richard is passionate about delivering high quality safe places with a commercial focus.

 

Rodney Ding

[email protected]

Rodney has over 33 years’ experience in transport planning, traffic management, traffic engineering, transport/traffic modelling, road safety engineering and traffic planning. He specialises in Transport Impact Assessments, Intersection Analysis, Transport Modelling, Traffic Design, Parking Assessment/Design, Road Safety and Expert Witness. Having worked across a wide variety of projects, he is also fluent in the use of key traffic engineering/planning software platforms such as Sidra Intersection (Network), Q-Paramics and the Emme suite.

 

Sonja Hayes

[email protected]

Sonja has over 13 years’ experience in the traffic and transport industry. She started her career in New Zealand with a focus in road safety before relocating to Australia in 2012. She has experience in the local government sector and in small and large consultancies, undertaking traffic assessments for small individual developments through to larger structure plan and subdivisions.

Sonja has a vast skill set having prepared traffic impact assessments, car park assessments and design, safety inspections and crash analysis for sites across Australia and New Zealand. Her passion lies in road safety, hoping to contribute to improvements in the experience of travel for all road users, across all modes of travel.

 

Our wonderful team are our greatest asset. Not only experts in transport, engineering and placemaking but also committed to delivering better places for people through high-level-service client experiences.

We’re very proud to continue to celebrate the faces behind the fast-growing international consultancy that we are today in our monthly feature ‘PJA People’.

Next up in our series is Senior Geo-Environmental Engineer, Dan Evans, based in our Birmingham office:

 

Tell us what you do at PJA

I am a Senior Geo-environmental Engineer in the Ground Engineering and Contaminated Land team based in Birmingham. Since joining PJA in May 2022, I have largely been involved with the regeneration of the former Ironbridge Power Station. It is an interesting project with both geotechnical and environmental constraints, and it provides a great opportunity for me to continue to learn and grow in my role at PJA.

 

What’s your career path so far?

I studied at University of Birmingham and gained a Geology BSc and Hydrogeology MSc. Before joining PJA, I spent 5 or so years working for a small environmental engineering company, operating in a combined consultancy and contractor role. This gave me extensive hands-on experience working on-site but also developed the skills needed to progress my career.

 

What do you enjoy when you’re not working?

I spend most of my weekends outdoors, usually walking, and last year my wife and I converted an old van into a campervan which has allowed us to explore the UK. We recently drove down through France into the Pyrenees for a couple of weeks – we’re wondering where to go next! I also really enjoy food and find cooking a relaxing way to spend an evening or a weekend.

 

Are you a dog or cat person?

Definitely a dog person. Growing up my grandparents had Border Collies and I’d love a dog one day – although I’m not sure a collie would fit in the tiny van.

 

What are you currently reading or listening to?

I love music, and my Spotify is bit of a mishmash of everything, from Jacob Collier to Foo Fighters. I used to play drums in a funk band, so anything with a good rhythm I’ll enjoy. I’m not much of a reader, but my faith is important to me so I often have a Christian book on the go.

 

Claim to fame?

Answering this made me realise I haven’t met anyone famous really, but aged ten or so I met the Everton football squad, panicked, and ended up telling Tim Cahill that he was going to ‘get battered’ by Brazil in the World Cup. From what I remember he was nice enough, but a quick google tells me Australia did ‘get battered’. Maybe a career in football management awaits.

 

---

Dan Evans, Senior Geo-Environmental Engineer

Dan is a Senior Geo-Environmental Engineer with over 6 years’ experience in geo-environmental consultancy and has a range of experience working on a variety of geo-environmental and geotechnical projects across the UK.

BSc MSc FGS

Get in touch with Dan: [email protected]

---

Find out more about our services here

Read more in our PJA People series here

Sign up for more news from PJA here

A huge welcome to the new members of our team who have joined us over the year.

Our new faces have taken up roles right across the business in all service areas and locations.

We are so pleased to have you all on board and part of Team PJA.

Read more about our newest members of the team:

 

Sonja Townsend, Principal Engineer, Reading

[email protected]

Sonja has over 19 years’ experience working with both public and private sector clients on multidisciplinary projects from the feasibility stage to the construction stage.

Her experience includes public realm design, developing concept schemes into detailed design packages as well as developing utility strategies for various types of development, providing planning and technical support for several schemes and preparing Transport Assessments and Travel Plans.

 

Colin Young, Associate, Cambridge

[email protected]

Colin has 21 years’ experience working in transport planning with particular focus on development planning for private sector clients. He has a breadth of experience in undertaking Transport Assessments and all the facets of transport and travel that go into the assessments. He also has vast experience in modelling, including VISSIM and junction modelling, feasibility and early appraisal work, master planning and area studies, and strategic thinking with respect to transport and movement.

Colin has an active interest in the future of how people will travel for different journey purposes and how we (transport planners) can contribute to bettering the lives of people that live in the areas we develop.

 

Kwasi Amoah, Associate, Reading

[email protected]

Kwasi is an Associate based in the Reading office with over 14 years’ experience working on wide portfolio of civils design from feasibility through to detailed design and implementation in accordance with approved design standards for public and private sectors. Kwasi has extensive experience in highways, traffic management, public realm design and site supervision.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and undertakes Professional Reviews.

 

Mark Teague, Associate, Birmingham

[email protected]

Mark is an Associate with over 37 years’ experience within the construction industry, mainly dealing with infrastructure projects for industrial, residential and other mixed-use developments for both public and private clients. Has undertaken all aspects of works from concept, planning, design, procurement and construction, therefore has a good understanding of what is involved and able to advise clients accordingly.

Due to Mark’s extensive experience and knowledge, he is able to provide a holistic approach when dealing with multi-disciplined schemes and is able to understand the constraints or benefits of other disciplines.

 

Tracey Harber, Credit Controller, Birmingham

[email protected]

Tracey has over 22 years’ experience in accounting and HR. She works with project managers supporting the company with credit control.

 

Parth Paluskar, Graduate Consultant, Manchester

[email protected]

Parth recently completed his masters at the University of Manchester in Urban Design and International Planning. His interests lie in developing pedestrian safe environments and planning transit-oriented developments around transport hubs to develop compact, sustainable, and smart places. He is from an architectural background with a B.Arch. and is also proficient in creating 2D and 3D representations through CAD software.

 

Paul Ojeil, Senior Consultant, Birmingham

[email protected]

Paul is a Senior Consultant in the placemaking team at PJA.

He has an enthusiasm for design within the built environment as well as a strong aptitude in visual representation which has been developed through his degree in Architecture and seven years of professional experience covering: Placemaking, movement-based Urban Design, Active Travel design & Visualisation.

 

Lucy Keegans-Wood, Associate Director, Birmingham

[email protected]

Lucy is a Chartered Geologist and Registered Ground Engineering Professional with over 17 years’ experience in geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering. She brings experience in design and construction of earthworks, foundations, retaining structures and infrastructure projects.

Lucy has extensive experience in the management, and delivery of geotechnical inputs for projects within a variety of sectors, from commercial and residential developments to large multidisciplinary highway schemes across the UK.

 

Lucia Perez Ezquerro, Consultant, London

[email protected]

Lucia is a transport planning consultant with over three years’ experience based at our London office. She is a civil engineer by background having worked in the structural field before embarking on an MSc in Transport Planning and Management at the University of Westminster. Lucia works closely with clients in strategic planning, development control, public transport operations and active travel schemes.

 

John Tsui, Graduate Consultant, Cambridge

[email protected]

John joined PJA as a Graduate Consultant in 2023 after an 8 week internship the year before with the Cambridge office when he was completing his Masters in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge. He is based in London and works between the London and Cambridge offices. His interests are in transport, specifically active travel.

John’s work involves assisting in delivering high-quality, sustainable low car developments. This also extends to planning applications and masterplans for larger scale public transport projects, including contributing to business cases, public realm improvements and active travel planning.

 

Marta Urena Delgado, Engineer, Reading

[email protected]

Marta is an Engineer with 6 years’ experience in highways design. She has worked on several major highway’s schemes going from feasibility to preliminary and detailed design. She has experience designing horizontal and vertical alignments according to DMRB, Manual for Streets and LTN 1/20, including production of 3D models using Civil 3D. She has experience of mentoring and developing the skills of others, supervising work, and organising resources and workloads.

 

Todd Lithgow, Graduate Consultant, Manchester

[email protected]

Todd joined PJA’s Graduate Development Programme after completing his degree in Town and Regional Planning at the University of Liverpool and is based in our Manchester office. During his degree, Todd worked on several community and research projects in Liverpool designing more cycle and pedestrian friendly environments in key parts of the city. Todd’s work has since been featured within public engagement and consultation projects by key stakeholders in the development of the areas.

 

Emma Beynon, Graduate Consultant, Birmingham

[email protected]

Emma joined PJA in 2023 after completing her MSc in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Birmingham and is based in our Birmingham office. During her master’s degree she wrote her dissertation on different safety perceptions when walking, with a focus on how to use planning to make places more accessible and encourage active transport. As part of the PJA Graduate Development Programme, Emma has assisted in writing travel reports and gaining new skills in GIS.

 

Reanna Bongo, Graduate Consultant, Bristol

[email protected]

Reanna joined PJA’s Graduate Scheme in the Bristol office following graduation from the University of West England in 2023 with a first-class BA in Geography and Planning. As part of the transport module in her final year, Reanna wrote a travel plan for her local train station and gained work experience in town planning for a development consent order for the Lower Thames Crossing. Her work is predominantly focused on writing transport statements and developing further skills in technical drawings and GIS.

 

Ricky Kelly, Accounts Assistant, Birmingham

[email protected]

Ricky supports our finance team with our accounting systems and protocols to ensure they run smoothly within our fast-paced environment.

 

Stephanie Barter, Graduate Consultant, Reading

[email protected]

Stephanie joined PJA in 2023 as a Graduate Consultant at our Reading office, after achieving a first-class degree in Geography at the University of Nottingham. During this, she wrote an award-winning dissertation on women’s geographies of fear in urban spaces since COVID-19, exploring how features of built environments affect women’s interaction and perception of spaces. Through her studies, Stephanie established an interest in urban planning, which she looks forward to developing at PJA.

 

Philip Romeril, Graduate Consultant, Reading

[email protected]

Philip joined the PJA Graduate Development Programme in 2023 after graduating with a first-class degree in Geography from Durham University and is based in the Reading office. Philip discovered transport planning through internships at the Government of Jersey. Here he developed skills in GIS, mapping data to support the development of strategic policy documents and road safety improvements, and preparing presentations to inform ministerial decision-making.

 

Lydia Green, Graduate Consultant, Cambridge

[email protected]

Lydia joined the PJA Graduate Development Programme in September 2023 and is based in the Cambridge Office. She graduated from the University of Birmingham with a BA (Hons) in Geography, where she gained valuable skills and knowledge in GIS and active travel, which she is looking forward to developing further at PJA. Lydia’s dissertation focused on female students’ perception of safety on the University of Birmingham campus, and how this perception could be altered with the use of personal safety apps. This has led Lydia to develop a great interest in inclusive mobility.

 

Ben Kelly, Apprentice Engineering Technician, Reading

[email protected]

Ben is beginning his career as an apprentice learning valuable skills in CAD and design. He is also studying for a Level 3 civil engineering btech qualification at Wiltshire college. He aims to improve his skills and knowledge at PJA in the different aspects of road design to become an engineer.

 

Jack Sheppard, Apprentice Engineering Technician, Reading

[email protected]

Jack is beginning his career as an apprentice learning valuable skills in CAD and civil design engineering. He is also studying for a Level 3 Civil Engineering BTEC qualification at Wiltshire College. He aims to improve his skills and knowledge at PJA in the different aspects of road design to become an engineer.

 

Would you like to be the next member of Team PJA? View our current posts here

Find out more about our services here

Sign up for more news from PJA here

Our wonderful team are our greatest asset. Not only experts in transport, engineering and placemaking but also committed to delivering better places for people through high-level-service client experiences.

We’re very proud to continue to celebrate the faces behind the fast-growing international consultancy that we are today in our monthly feature ‘PJA People’.

Next up in our series is Associate, Kwasi Amoah, based in our Reading office:

 

Tell us what you do at PJA

I am an Associate based in the Reading office working on wide portfolio of civils design from feasibility through to detailed design and implementation in accordance with approved design standards including the LTN 1/20.

I also collaborate with colleagues in Cambridge, London, and Birmingham to support them in the delivery of the highway schemes from concept through to detailed design.

 

What’s your career path so far?

Growing up, I had in mind to become either a medical doctor, a civil engineer, or an aeronautical engineer.  With time, I had developed strong interest in Civil Engineering, which I studied at university, followed by Master of Science in Engineering.

I began my professional career as a Graduate Intelligent Transport Engineer (ITS) where I had the opportunity to work on numerous local and international projects, including delivery of the Emergency Roadside Telephone training units for Highways England (now National Highways) and Doha Express for the Government of Qatar.  I gained valuable knowledge and experience working in this field.

After a good two years as a Graduate ITS, and being on the company’s graduate scheme, I requested to be moved to the highways department to practice what I had studied at university.  This was very exciting in a sense that, not only was I involved in all stages of design through to construction, I also had good exposure on-site with senior colleagues to supervise construction work relating to the design.  This has given me a versatile mix of skills and knowledge as well as an appreciation of engineering.

The technical approval process from the design prior to construction has never been straight forward and with new regulations and changes to industry standards, it is now tougher, daunting and frustrating sometimes for engineers.  However, the fulfilling and exciting aspect of the work is seeing the  design come to fruition.

I successfully obtained Chartership Status in 2016 and a year later a Fellow of CIHT. I undertake Profession review and offer mentorship to potential candidates.

Joining PJA at the start of the 2023, I have been working with our amazing Reading team to deliver a growing list of developer / private sector highways workload for S38, S278 and S104. I am keen to develop junior staff member skills and to offer mentorship to those who wish to attain a professional qualification.

 

What do you enjoy when you’re not working?

Spending time with my family and friends, going on adventures, watching movies and football.

 

Are you a dog or cat person?

I am a cat person, although we don’t have one yet, I sure we will welcome one to the family someday.

 

What are you currently reading or listening to?

I am preparing to conduct Professional Reviews, hence currently reading through documents/reports of candidates who wish to attain professional status.

 

Claim to fame?

In 2019, I was walking to the office located near Houses of Parliament, Westminster; this was during Brexit time and the press was busy outside Parliament covering various events. Just as I had passed the coverage area, my friends started calling to say they have seen me on Sky News and that I just walked past Sky News political commentator Berth Rigby interviewing an MP. I decided to watch Sky News at 10am, thankfully, the interview was repeated to confirm my popularity!

 

---

Kwasi Amoah, Associate

Kwasi is an Associate based in the Reading office with over 14 years’ experience working on wide portfolio of civils design from feasibility through to detailed design and implementation in accordance with approved design standards for public and private sectors. Kwasi has extensive experience in highways, traffic management, public realm design and site supervision.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and undertakes Professional Reviews.

MEng, CEng FCIHT

Get in touch with Kwasi: [email protected]

---

Find out more about our services here

Read more in our PJA People series here

Sign up for more news from PJA here