GRAHAM Headquarters

Planning application for a new headquarters for GRAHAM consisting of storage, distribution and office facilities.

Our Involvement

We were commissioned in July 2007 to assist GRAHAM in achieving planning permission for a new Headquarters facility consisting of 30,000 sq ft of offices, 90,000 sq ft of storage and distribution facilities. The new facility effectively relocates their entire Dromore Headquarters operation.

The priority was to achieve a planning permission as quickly as possible, so we successfully lobbied to have the application dealt with by the Strategic Projects Unit in Planning Service HQ. The application was accepted and was duly processed in record time with an approval granted within 7 months. The siting of offices in the countryside is contrary to PPS4 but Planning Service accepted that the offices were ancillary to the main use on the site.

We also involved the local elected representatives at Westminster, Council and Assembly levels to help maximise support for the application to be determined as quickly as possible. The then Planning Minister Arlene Foster MLA, subsequently issued a press release commending Planning Service and all those involved in the project for the efficient and professional manner it was dealt with.

The new facilities were officially opened in 2010.