Two experts in planning and related areas of law, Carolyn Lord and Kate Butterfield, who have 60 years’ experience between them, have joined Clarion’s real estate practice as it continues to develop the breadth and depth of its services.

Now one of the largest real estate teams in Yorkshire, Carolyn joins as its seventh partner while Kate becomes the seventh legal director in the dedicated real estate practice. After qualifying in 1992 at a leading law firm, Carolyn’s and Kate’s expertise was honed at the nationally renowned commercial planning law firm Wilbraham & Co, which Carolyn was instrumental in setting up in 1994 and where both were partners.

Carolyn was subsequently employed in-house for development and construction group, GMI, before setting up well-known specialist planning and highway law practice LB & Co in 2012. Kate went on to be a partner at two other regional firms before joining Carolyn at LB & Co in 2015.

The pair have become renowned in the region and across the UK for their strategic and pragmatic advice on legal planning and related areas of law, handling the full range of planning work from planning applications and appeals, highway and rights of way law, to compulsory purchase orders and enforcement.

Carolyn and Kate have worked on large, high-profile projects nationwide across diverse sectors including commercial and strategic residential sites, town centre regeneration, energy, waste and other infrastructure, minerals-derived work and major highways schemes as well as leisure, education and retail.

Partner Martin Grange, who heads up Clarion’s 45-strong real estate practice, said: “As two of the most respected legal planning experts in the north, the addition of Carolyn and Kate to the Clarion team not only boosts our real estate offering, but their skills will also strengthen many of our areas of expertise such as energy, regulatory, logistics, education and the public sector.”

“They have an extremely impressive track record – over the last 30 years, Carolyn and Kate have supported many of the best-known schemes in Leeds, including the regeneration of Holbeck and the South Bank, the White Rose Centre and Thorpe Park Leeds, plus projects across Yorkshire and the country, such as work for rail freight operator DB Cargo (UK), major logistics and residential sites and a range of minerals operations. They are a great fit with us, sharing the Clarion ethos and we are genuinely excited to welcome them to the team.”

Carolyn comments: “We know many of the Clarion lawyers well, having trained with some of them – they’re our friends, and joining Clarion feels like ‘coming home’. Not only has Clarion established a strong reputation both regionally and nationally, Kate and I were also attracted by the firm’s commitment to investing in and developing its planning services which it sees as a crucial part of its offering. By joining Clarion, we will have the advantage of continuing to advise on planning as we have always done, but within the context of being part of a larger law firm which supports our ambitions to recruit and grow the practice.”

Carolyn is active in the wider Yorkshire business community: she is on the board of trustees of Yorkshire Sculpture Park; a board member of Luminate Education Group; chair of the board of directors of Leeds Conservatoire; and a co-founder of Yorkshire Textiles/Leeds Fashion Works.

Clarion’s real estate practice provides a full range of property expertise from development, investment, asset management, corporate occupier work through to retail, leisure and secured lending.

Hatmill, one of the UK’s largest independently owned supply chain and logistics consultancy, has today been named as the UK’s Best Workplaces™ 2023 (small business category) by Great Place to Work®, the global authority on workplace culture.

The unique, self-managing culture and employee ownership is just one of the reasons why the company ranked number one in the small business (20-50 employees) category and why employees love working for Hatmill.

Hatmill topped the list after a rigorous survey and interview process with its staff and faced tough competition to reach the top spot.

Hatmill, based in Grantley near Ripon, provides end-to-end supply chain and logistics support to deliver improvements to warehouses, transport, forecasting and inventory, so clients become more profitable and transform their customers’ experience.

The employee-owned company works with some of the UK’s leading and most trusted brands including Asda, Greggs, NHS England and Royal Mail.

Hatmill joins well known firms recognised on the list including Lindt, Confused.com, Hello Fresh and Laithwaites Wine. Simon Dixon, Founder of Hatmill said: “I’m thrilled Hatmill has been recognised as THE Best Place to Work. Creating a great place to work is fundamental to my business principles so to be ranked top of the list is such an honour and is credit to our amazing team”

“I believe Hatmill has been so successful in the programme due to our unique culture and innovative ways of working which is in direct contrast to so many traditional consultancy firms. While growing Hatmill I’ve been determined to create a culture focused on collaboration and shared values that avoids the usual corporate traps and focuses on what’s important – for our clients and our team.”

“It’s a key differentiator between Hatmill and our competitors; our clients value the difference it makes to them. It hugely influences our ability to attract and retain the very best talent in the industry. We’ve demonstrated time and time again that a growing firm from Yorkshire can compete against the big consultancy firms.”

“Despite the challenging economic environment, we’ve got ambitious plans for growth at Hatmill in 2023 following a 41% increase in turnover last year with plans to expand into the US and Europe on the back of client demand.”

Hatmill’s culture matches that of ‘Teal’ businesses as researched by Fredrick La Loux in his book “Reinventing Organisations”.

As a ‘Teal’ organisation, Hatmill’s operating model is non-hierarchical – and the team have significant influence over their work, something that has boosted staff retention, morale and wellbeing.

About Best Workplaces

“As the global authority on workplace culture, our mission at Great Place to Work® has always been to build a better world by helping organisations become a great place to work for all. We strongly believe in the notion of ‘better for business, better for people, better for the world,” said Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place to Work® UK.

“Best Workplaces™ consistently put people first – not just in terms of looking out for their own employees but also by caring for and supporting their surrounding community and environment. We’re incredibly proud to recognise the very best ‘For All’ organisations committed to equity and unfaltering in ensuring that all employees are empowered to deliver the right strategic solutions to ever-changing business opportunities and challenges.”

A great workplace is more than lavish perks, fancy parties and amazing benefits. While those elements are present in many Best Workplace™ organisations, at its core a great workplace is about the level of trust that employees experience in their leaders, the level of pride they have in their jobs; and the extent to which they experience camaraderie with their colleagues.

Great Place to Work® performed rigorous evaluations of hundreds of employee survey responses alongside Culture Audit™ submissions from leaders at each company to create the 2023 UK’s Best Workplaces™ list. They then used these data insights to benchmark the effectiveness of companies’ employee value propositions against the culture their employees actually experience.

Those businesses who achieve the highest scores after evaluation receive Best Workplaces™ status.