MPG staff spotlight: Chris Heffernan

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Here at MPG, we’ve been taking great pride in the work we do within the waste, minerals, environmental, and town planning sectors for over 25 years.

And it’s thanks to our talented team of experts that it’s all possible – no matter how complex the project!

In a bid to get to know the people behind the brand, we’ve launched our employee Q&A series – so you can find out more about the MPG family.

First up in the hot seat it’s our director, Chris Heffernan.

1) Summarise your role at MPG in one paragraph:

I oversee the majority of our minerals case load, assist the team with project / strategy queries, and I’m currently tasked as an expert witness for several minerals and ancillary cases across the UK.  Alongside that, I’m responsible for the overall direction of the company and our growth agenda.


2) What’s your favourite part of the job?

It sounds clichéd, but I love the problem solving. It’s hard-wired into good consultants and you have to stop yourself from hunting out things to fix! The ‘issues’ that the industry throws up are very rarely simple, but we have a reputation for success – even in the most challenging scenarios.


3) How would you describe MPG’s company ethos in three words?

Honest, fair, and fearless.


4) Tell us about one of your favourite projects:

The new cemetery, that was partly a landfill, had been a quarry, and eventually became a biodiverse habitat and major surface water management scheme. Succeeding on that project was a nice reminder of how multifaceted we are. 


5) Who or what sparked your desire to work in the sector?

The professional answer is, I have an earth science and geology background, but it wasn’t until I saw the job title ‘mineral planning consultant’ that the penny dropped, and I realised someone has to design schemes for getting the mineral out of the ground! It suits me down to a T.

The real answer – as well as all of the above – is, I’m mad about cars and I used to off-road as a teenager before getting into the faster stuff. This meant a lot of time spent in quarries looking at faces while stood next to a broken-down Land Rover…


6) How would your colleagues sum you up in one word?

Versatile.


7) What does it take to be a great environmental consultancy partner?

To be able to provide clear direction for clients.

There are so many fantastic consultants who are great at what they do, but who struggle to articulate their plan of action to their customers, which ultimately leads to friction and failure.


8) What is one of the biggest challenges facing the minerals, waste, environmental, or town planning sector over the next 12 months?

The Government’s planning reforms – with an unlimited supply of building materials being assumed and not recognising there is a need to extract minerals in order to develop all of the things they are proposing.


9) You receive an email from your dream client… who would it be and why?

Probably the Queen – not because I’m a royalist, but I think she would understand that we need to balance growth and prosperity with environmental protection and biodiversity net-gain. Plus she owns a lot of land, which always helps...


10) What are your hopes for MPG over the coming year?

Success on all of our active planning and permit applications is the obvious one! But on a higher-level, it would be seeing our growth continue off the back of our recent recruitment drive. We’re scaling up our resources to future-proof our capacity for the demands of our clients old and new.


If you’d like to get in touch with our friendly team of professionals, give us a call on 01274 884 599, drop us an email at headoffice@mpgyorks.co.uk, or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.