50 Shades of Planning – Episode 130 : Hitting the High Notes w/ Mike Best

In Hitting the High Notes series, Sam Stafford chats to preeminent figures in the planning and property sectors about the six planning permissions or projects that helped to shape them as professionals. And, so that Listeners can get to know people a little better personally, for every project or stage of their career Sam also asks his guests for a piece of music that reminds them of that period. Think of it as town planning’s equivalent of Desert Island Discs.

You can listen to Sam’s High Notes chat with Cratus Group’s Chief Executive, Nick Kilby, here.

Sam’s guest for this episode is Mike Best who many planners, especially in the West Midlands, will know from his twenty years at Turley.

Their conversation was recorded at Birmingham Podcast Studios in July 2024 and takes in Mike’s early career in Local Government at Rotherham and Coventry and his move into consultancy with Jones Lang Wootton as was. Taking in retail parks, racecourses and regeneration, the projects that Mike talks Sam through highlight the breadth of the planning profession.