The Executive Team
Jonathan Bretherton (Chief Executive)
Jonathan is a Chartered Surveyor, having pursued his career through a variety of private companies, including time spent with Young Group plc and the Banks Group, both of them property, logistics and minerals companies and with the Greenbelt Group where he successfully established the company in England and Wales as Managing Director.
His specialisation in major redevelopment schemes was developed primarily with the Banks Group, managing the establishment of a new settlement on the south eastern fringes of Greater Glasgow where there are now approximately 3000 new homes, an 80 acre renewable energy park and major infrastructure.
He is a member of the RICS Regeneration Policy Panel and sits on the editorial panel of the Journal of Urban Design and Planning .
Gerrard Williams (Development Director)
Gerrard is also a Chartered Surveyor with wide experience of a number of major regeneration and development schemes.
This has included a variety of business and commercial development projects whilst working in the WDA. He was then engaged in a number of landmark projects including the Millennium Stadium and River-walk development, delivered on time ready for RWC 1999, and also acquiring and securing the site for the new Millennium Centre.
More latterly he was commercial projects manager for the on-going 𧿘m International Sports Village project, a mixed urban regeneration scheme comprising major infrastructure and highway works, international standard sports and leisure facilities, plus significant retail and over 1500 residential properties.
Roma Cechaviciute (Office Manager)
Roma is from Lithuania and has been in the UK since April, 2005. She graduated from Vilnius Pedagogical University with a degree in Ethics and Education. Roma joined ESG Herefordshire Ltd in April 2007, taking over administration duties and responsibilities.
Rae Chambers (Financial Controller)
Rae joined ESG Herefordshire Ltd in May 2007; she was educated in Hereford and worked for Herefordshire Health Authority, Hereford City, South Hereford and Leominster District Councils for sixteen years before joining Herefordshire Council in 1998. At Herefordshire Council Rae was one of the accountants with responsibility for claiming funding due to the Council from various sources including Single Regeneration Budget, The European Regional Development Fund (5b), The National Lottery (Sport and Heritage) and Advantage West Midlands.
Ros Fallon (PA to Chief Executive & Graphic Design)
After starting her career with a keg repair company at Rotherwas, Ros spent nine years with a firm of Loss Adjusters. Initially employed as a secretary she later became a Loss Adjuster working in Hereford for a number of years before relocating to the south east. After leaving loss adjusting, she worked for an engineering company in Essex where she became Export Manager. Ros returned to her native Herefordshire in 2004, taking up a post with Marches Housing Association in Leominster prior to joining ESG in February, 2006.
Mohamed Ismail (Research Engineer)
Mohamed is a Research Engineer, working in conjunction with the University of Reading, to develop sustainable development strategies for the ESG project. Mohamed qualified in Architectural Engineering from the University of Helwan, Cairo, Egypt (accredited by the United States National Council of Architects Registration Boards) and gained an MSc in Renewable Energy and Architecture from the University of Nottingham. His background in sustainable design strategies is soundly supplemented by his varied experience as an architect in the Middle East, during which time he worked on the design of large building projects and complex mixed-use developments.
Julia Lawrence (Projects Manager)
Julia spent seventeen years with chartered accountants/business advisors, PKF, in their Birmingham and Worcester offices. During this time, she was heavily involved in marketing, including various DTI development and funding initiatives. After PKF, Julia broadened her skills and entered industry taking up a sales and marketing role for a company developing water soluble plastic film before moving to a publishing company as their Administration Manager/Events Manager, where she was responsible for the shows and exhibitions. Julia returned to Hereford having spent two years in Bristol where she was Office Manager for a leading firm of pension consultants and administrators.
Dr David Nicholson (Town Planner)
David is a chartered town planner with a wide experience of planning matters in the County. Moving into planning practice from a research and teaching role at Cardiff University, he joined Hereford City Council as a junior planner in 1987. In 1998 he transferred to Herefordshire Council, where he led the forward planning team responsible for producing the Herefordshire Unitary Development Plan, completed in 2007. David transferred to ESG on secondment from the Council in June 2008. At ESG he provides advice on a range of planning matters, including in particular progressing the key planning applications underpinning the regeneration of the area.
Charles Pickles (Projects Engineer)
Charles has lived in the county for many years and joined ESG Herefordshire Ltd as Project Engineer in November 2006. The appointment followed a full military career in the Corps of Royal Engineers. As a specialist civil engineer, Charles led many major infrastructure projects throughout the world. He also brings a wealth of experience in strategic planning and delivery of infrastructure overseas to support British forces on deployed operations, and in restoration of civil infrastructure during and in the aftermath of conflict. His keen personal interest in the natural environment and sustainability complements this experience in bringing a sympathetic approach to working with Hereford's considerable assets.