Meet the Team - Nicky Witchell, Rural Consultant

Today, we are introducing you to Nicky Witchell, one of our rural consultants who works with a range of landowners on a variety of strategy and development projects. Nicky lives near Corbridge in Northumberland with her family and dogs (including new puppy Sika) and enjoys spending time on the beautiful Northumberland coast.

What team are you a part of and what can you tell me about your team?

Consulting – we are small, but extremely efficient team who cover a huge range of clients, projects and business development. We have quite different professional backgrounds which means that we all bring our own expertise to the team, and this really benefits our clients as we can approach projects in many ways.

What does a 'typical' day look like for you?

I work remotely from home in Northumberland, visiting clients and the office in Skipton when required. But, wherever I am my workday always starts with a list, my team will tell you that I like an old-fashioned notebook and am the queen of lists! The Consulting team works either remotely, or some are hybrid workers (home and Skipton), so we have a weekly team catch-up to find out what everyone is up to, share any conundrums and discuss our new business pipeline. Normally client calls, catch-ups with other colleagues on projects and project work fills the rest of the day. If we’re on a deadline for a project, it normally involves liaising with Sam our fantastic in-house designer as so often our work needs to be really visual as well as factually correct.

What do you enjoy the most about working at Rural Solutions?

I know it sounds cliched but it’s the people. Of course my team, but also my other colleagues, they’re a really talented bunch and great fun (our summer and Christmas parties are legendary!). My clients are wonderful and I have such a varied range of projects. The fact I can also work for Rural Solutions but live in Northumberland is really important to me.

What is the most exciting or unusual project that you have worked on?

I was lucky enough to work on the Chatsworth Whole Estate Plan which has given me a really in depth understanding of the estate, its people and communities, and its challenges and opportunities. As well as managing to bring together an enormous amount of information into one place which sets out what the estate wants to achieve over the next 10-15 years, the importance of engaging the many and varied stakeholders in the process has been equally as vital. Looking at a business at such a macro level brings another level of understanding which will be extremely valuable for many of the other estate clients that I work with.

Is there anything that you have learnt since joining RSL that really stands out to you?

No two projects are ever the same and if it was simple, we wouldn’t be involved - we really do specialise in 'tricky'! I’m always amazed by how we are able to find solutions to the problems that clients put to us (often problems that other consultants have not been able to navigate), by unlocking ideas that might not have been thought of before, using our understanding of the systems, frameworks and market demand of the rural economy which enables us to look at things in a more innovative way.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of joining the RSL team?

Be prepared to think differently, every day.