Prior + Partners’ Director, Tom Venables, has recently been elected to be part of the RTPI Fellows of Institute, the highest professional membership grade offered by the RTPI.
As a town planner and built environment practitioner, this Chartered Fellowship is in recognition of Tom Venables’ 22 years’ experience delivering transformative projects across the globe.
Within the UK, Tom has worked on a significant number of sub-regional and city scale transformation plans focused on delivery and growth around major infrastructure, including advising the London Borough of Barnet on the outline planning application for the new metropolitan town centre at Brent Cross Cricklewood in North London. He worked with the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation to establish their Masterplan and Implementation Framework, and was pivotal in developing the masterplan which shaped an implementable vision for Old Oak Common in West London. Most recently Tom has led a multidisciplinary team to deliver the Southampton Renaissance, a cohesive investment and spatial strategy for the local Council that celebrates the historic port city (and Tom’s hometown).
Internationally, Tom has led large scale strategic plans for Dubai, Jeddah and Istanbul. He has also been deeply embedded in the transformation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with roles including a leadership position in the historic area of AlUla where he has supported the Royal Commission in the articulation and implementation of their strategic vision and setting a framework for light-touch regeneration and cultural change at this UNESCO heritage site.
Tom established the town planning practice at Prior + Partners in 2018, and since then has overseen the growth of the planning team with a long-term vision to create an innovative and progressive place for MRTPI chartered planners to work. Over the past seven years, the practice has evolved to become a multi-million turnover Employee Owned Trust (EOT), with some 100 designers, masterplanners, data scientists, economists, landscape architects, alongside town planners.
In 2024, Prior + Partners was awarded the RTPI Planning Consultancy of the Year as well as the Kings Award for Export Enterprise on the back of international strategic planning work, much of which was led by Tom. Central to the practice ethos is investment in thought leadership and research, with the team currently investing in the “Strategic Planning Group” which has brought together a range of practitioners to set out recommendations and approaches to the new era of strategic planning in England in light of current proposals for Spatial Development Strategies.
Tom has held a variety of roles as a trustee of the Royal Town Planning Institute between 2017 and 2023 including chair of the Policy, Practice and Research Committee, Finance Committee and International Committee, as well as acting as vice chair of the Board. Tom was chair of RTPI London on four occasions in between 2011 and 2021, and was awarded Young Planner of the Year in 2009.
Tom comments on his Fellowship election saying:
“I am deeply honoured to become a fellow of the RTPI – an organisation which continues to make a profound impact in shaping vibrant and sustainable places and communities, both nationally and internationally. This influence vividly resonates with my career ambitions and experiences to date, where I have had the great fortune of working on transformative large-scale regeneration and new settlement projects across the globe.
Professionally, I hope that the esteem that being a fellow brings will enable me to continue to push for planning to be recognised as an innovative and creative vocation, and one that is vital to the future of towns and cities around the world. I am also impassioned to continue my advocacy for the RTPI as a professional institute and support its ongoing legacy for generations of planners to come.”
Find out more about the RTPI Fellowship and Tom’s election here.
