How it started
It started with one very good conversation.
Back in September 2021 I had my first chat with Aegaea Directors Chris Cameron-Hann and Dan Cook. They wanted to be innovative: a market-leading, fully remote business setting out to become the industry experts in all things water across the UK.
I’m sure many professionals would argue that jumping to a five-person start-up was not the most sensible option on paper, particularly as the COVID pandemic was still sweeping the nation. I did it anyway, mainly due to that initial conversation and the vision both Chris and Dan described for their company. Best call of my career (and I have never once missed the commute)!
The early days
Employee No.5
In the early days the entire company fitted around one (virtual) table. We were five people building a consultancy and beginning our mission to establish Aegaea as a market leader, with company-wide meetings every morning where every new enquiry was shared and discussed. My first Aegaea project in Scotland was for a single dwelling in Drimnin, a stone’s throw from my home island of Mull. Modest compared to some of the larger schemes we take on today, but I still approach every project with the same care and dedication I gave that first one.
What else has happened in 5 years?
January 2022 brought Nick Darling-Drewett through the door, a great hire for the company. He brought with him many years of flood risk planning experience, having previously worked alongside Daniel Cook. Alongside myself and Rebecca Thirkell (who leads our excellent Modelling team), Nick now makes up the Senior Management Team at Aegaea.
I’ve worked on some excellent (and genuinely challenging) projects over the last five years, including the redevelopment of Annan Harbour and Scotland’s first AI Growth Zone in North Lanarkshire. I owe a lot to the talented and committed team we have built here at Aegaea for their assistance in delivering landmark projects across the country.
Thirty great employees later, and we are proud to still be providing expert advice the same way we did around that one table: clearly, early, and backed up with years of industry knowledge and expertise.
2022 / 23 · Civils
We built our own civil engineering team
Across 2022 and 2023 we formed our own civil engineering team, with Directors Vikki Walker and James Mahoney at the helm. This allowed Aegaea to become a true end-to-end water consultancy: flood risk, hydraulic modelling, drainage and detailed civils under one roof. For clients, it means one team from first site appraisal through to technical approval and beyond.
Working alongside the Aegaea Civils team on various projects across Scotland has been extremely rewarding, with great results achieved nationwide.
SPP to NPF4
Significant policy changes across Scotland
The biggest shift of the five years was Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) giving way to National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4).
Long story short – gaining planning approval for most developments becomes more challenging. NPF4 Policy 22’s core message is “avoidance as a first principle”, and with the functional floodplain superseded by the newly defined (and larger) “Flood Risk Area”, which includes all allowance for climate change, it can be challenging for a lot of developments to obtain consent.
For developers, this has changed how flood risk needs to be considered from the earliest stages of site appraisal. Understanding whether a site falls within a Flood Risk Area, how climate change allowances affect the assessment, and what mitigation may be required can make the difference between a straightforward planning process and a much more challenging one.
This of course brings new challenges to constrained sites, but these are the sorts of problems myself and the Aegaea team love solving!
From early site appraisal and flood risk assessment through to planning, we help developers understand the risks and identify practical ways forward.
2023 · Sabbatical
The three months I spent on a beach
In 2023 I requested a three-month sabbatical to compete on the BBC’s UK Survivor (not a small thing to ask of a growing business)! Aegaea said yes more or less immediately and, as you would expect, it was an incredible experience.
A company that backs you through something that daft and that brilliant is a firm that trusts you, and that trust runs both ways.
2025
And in 2025, the best day of the lot
I got married in 2025 and, surprisingly, there was not one single conversation about flooding (it was 30 degrees on the day!). Five years of professional milestones and this is still the highlight.
Full Scotland Coverage
All 32 Local Authority Regions Covered!
I have worked with hundreds of clients over the last five years, covering every region in Scotland. When I joined, our work sat in a handful of local authority areas, mainly Glasgow City and The Highland Council.
This includes projects across residential, commercial and infrastructure development, with flood risk considered from early site appraisal through to planning and development.
That spread is the thing I am proudest of. Whether you are a repeat client or a new customer, no site in Scotland is too far for us to help out.
2026 Onwards
Here’s to the next five
Five years. Five people to thirty. One policy framework replaced, one national-scale mapping update, one slightly unhinged sabbatical and one wedding. Thank you to the clients who kept calling back, and to the colleagues who help me and Aegaea continue towards our vision. See you again in 2031!
My role remains focused on helping clients navigate flood risk and planning requirements across Scotland, from understanding site constraints to finding practical solutions that allow development to move forward.
