Ardent lines up Island of Ireland expansion

We, at Ardent, are thrilled to announce our expansion across Ireland. With our office located in Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, we are set to grow our presence across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to a team of 20 over the coming months. This expansion will bolster our support for a range of major transport and renewable energy projects across the island.

Our expertise in consenting and delivering projects in the transport, renewables, utilities, and regeneration sectors has driven our success. In addition to our offices in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Warrington, and Glasgow, we are intensifying our investment in Ireland. Over the past six months, we’ve established a strong team of six dedicated professionals.

Our team in Ireland is led by Graeme Black, who joined us as an Associate Director in January. Graeme is supported by Gary Dinsmore and India Roberts from Dalcour Maclaren, along with other team members who have relocated from Great Britain.

Jon Stott, our Group Managing Director, highlighted recent Government commitments to offshore wind projects and investments in transport infrastructure, including the A5 road upgrade, Metrolink, Luas extensions, and BusConnects. Additionally, significant upgrades to electricity infrastructure across the island underscore our strategic decision to invest in Ireland.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted that we can take the next steps in Ireland – both north and south of the border – to really invest and grow the work we do here. 

“Our purpose is to deliver life-improving change and it is obvious that with the range and scale of projects coming forward, there will be a real squeeze on the existing pool of expertise required to achieve consents and deliver projects that will make a positive difference in terms of meeting net zero targets, improving connectivity and delivering energy security. 

“We expect to grow our team to 20 plus over the next few months, to help to plug the emerging skills gap. 

“Developing a team that combines local knowledge and relationships, with experience of delivering on major projects such as High Speed 2, East West Rail, UK offshore wind farms and mass transit projects, means we are well placed to help clients to achieve their goals, adopting best practice and learning lessons from elsewhere, and applying them in a local context. 

“Ardent has an office in Dublin already and we anticipate opening in Belfast and Cork in the future, but we will also continue to employ great people who are based close to the projects we are working on because that is key. 

“We understand that there are differences and nuances to the consenting regimes in Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland as compared to GB, and that’s why we have taken the strategic decision to bring in professionals from within Ireland to oversee our growth. 

“This is a very exciting time for Ardent, and we are looking forward to growing in Ireland as part of a wider company expansion that will see us hit some very ambitious targets over the next two to three years.”