Claire Biddle | Harworth

My Harworth Story

I joined Harworth in October 2018 as Planning Manager. At the time, Harworth was starting to build regional teams as part of its growth strategy and I was the first permanent employee for the new Midlands region. Initially based from a satellite office in Birmingham, I made frequent trips to the Rotherham office to work with colleagues on various projects and to develop my role.

My first year at Harworth flew by with plenty of development projects to get involved with straight away. Just ten days after I started, I helped out at the Ironbridge public consultation event where over 500 people were in attendance! It’s safe to say I hit the ground running and it’s been non-stop since then.

Since joining Harworth, the Midlands team has now grown to six people and we’ve moved to a much bigger office premise in Central Birmingham, which I helped co-ordinate and plan.

“I enjoy the autonomy and creativity that comes with the role and the way that Harworth supports this”
Claire Biddle, Planning Manager – Midlands

I wasn’t sure what to expect coming from a consultancy background and going to client-side, but I have felt welcomed by everyone and I enjoy the autonomy and creativity that comes with the role and the way that Harworth supports this. People at Harworth seem to genuinely care about our projects and are passionate about the work we do – one of the reasons I wanted to work for the company.

My academic background is in geography and planning, so working for a master-developer means I can put into practice some of the things I studied about place-making. As cliched as it sounds, it is a real pleasure to feel as though you genuinely have an input into how a development comes forward.

I spend a significant proportion of my time visiting sites and attending meetings, which I enjoy as it gives me day-to-day variety. Despite being out and about a lot I still find time to keep fit and go bouldering in the evenings (and outside at the weekend if the weather is good)!