Jon Abbatt: Head of Strategic Development, Lancaster office

With a background in forestry and landscaping, Jon has held a number of commercial and business development roles in environmental consultancy over the last 15 years. Prior to joining LUC he was Head of Environment at ADAS UK where he was responsible for a team of more than 50 consultants delivering work for infrastructure, developer and utilities clients.

Jon has wide ranging experience of many environmental areas including renewable energy, strategic land development, ecological surveys and mitigation, GIS, data management and forestry. He has a strong interest in research and has worked on several projects investigating tree risk, climate change and the use of remotely sensed data. Key projects include working with Lancaster University researchers to develop new tree risk modelling techniques for electricity networks in severe weather and the use of LiDAR to characterise tree properties.

In his new role at LUC Jon will be responsible for developing new markets and sectors across the company.

Tom Jonson: Director of Landscape Architecture, Manchester office

Tom is an innovative and passionate Landscape Architect and Urban Designer with over 22 years’ experience. He joins LUC from Aecom where he was responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of a number of high profile city centre public realm schemes including projects in Manchester, Sheffield, Salford and Liverpool. He has also recently led on a number of major public realm projects in Leicester City Centre as well the Oakham Town Centre public realm project.

A significant part of Tom’s work has also been university campus design including prestigious projects such as the University of Sheffield Student Village, the University of Birmingham and more recently implementing the Phase One Masterplan at the University of Salford. Tom has also significant highways experience and has acted as Project Landscape Architect for the A46 and A5-M1 link roads. For the latter Tom acted as expert witness at the public inquiry.

Prior to working at Aecom, Tom was at Rycroft Associates and RPS Clouston working on a variety of projects for both public and private sector clients.

Jacqueline Whitworth-Allan: Principal Landscape Architect, Manchester office

Jacqueline is a talented Landscape Architect with over nine years’ experience. She has worked on a wide range of projects from concept through to detailed design, in a range of sectors including education, housing, masterplanning and public realm.

With significant experience in landscape conservation, Jacqueline has worked on numerous Heritage Lottery Funded projects from outline design and the submission of planning applications, through to grant applications, detailed design and implementation. Her role has also included acting as project manager for Wentworth Conservatory, Barnsley, Alexandra Park, Manchester, Mary Stevens Park, Stourbridge, Telford Town Park and Rivington Terraced Gardens.

Jacqueline has authored numerous Townscape and Visual Impact Assessments including for HS2, Manchester Second City Crossing, Old Trafford Cricket Ground Redevelopment, and Brunswick PFI.

Chris Cox: Consultant Landscape Architect, Manchester office

Chris has four years’ experience working as a Landscape Architect on a range of public realm and urban design projects.

He was recently the design lead for the public realm works for the Engineering Showcase Building as part of the University of Salford Masterplan and also acted as the design lead for the public realm uplift throughout Kendal’s Marketplace. Other projects Chris has been involved in include the Leicester Mill Lane scheme and the detailed design of five streets in Leicester’s Greyfriars Conservation area as part of the Townscape Heritage Initiative. He has also prepared preliminary design proposals for Oakham Town Centre as well as preparing CGIs and rendered fly-throughs visualising the new High Street proposals at Oakham.