Military man Dan is the new engineer at Rogers Geotechnical

land quality assessments of miliary sites across Afghanistan and Iraq. These were often still occupied or were in the process of being handed back to the host nation.

Dan said his work involved identifying sources of contamination on site. The inspections were conducted to ensure the UK’s Ministry of Defence was not wrongly accused of contaminating the loaned land provided by the host nations.

RGS managing director Emma Lewis said: “We are delighted that Dan has joined our team and the experience that he has built up during his career with the British Army will enhance and strengthen our very professional team.”

Dan is now supporting the three teams at RGS – fieldworks, laboratory and engineering. His role includes covering in-situ testing and result formulation for the fieldworks aspect; helping with United Kingdom Accreditation Service accreditation management in the lab and factual report formulation; plus onsite engineering and sample logging for the engineering department.

Commenting on his adjustment to life on Civvy Street, Dan said: “I am definitely enjoying being at home in the UK a lot more now after so many years of being deployed for six to nine months per year, especially with having a five-month-old son and a wedding to plan for February.

“I do miss some aspects of it though as I did enjoy seeing different parts of the world that I would otherwise not be able to experience.” ROPERTY agency Knight Frank’s Yorkshire industrial agency team has advised clients on more than 1m sq ft of “big shed” transactions so far this year.

Notable deals include the 361,000sq ft design and build unit at Logic Leeds to technology distributor Premier Farnell; the acquisition of the 133,000sq ft Mount Park, Wakefield, for a private client; the leasehold disposal of 190,000sq ft at West Moor Park, Doncaster, and the acquisition of the 176,000sq ft Wakefield 31 distribution unit on behalf of property investor Broadland Properties.

Rebecca Schofield, head of Knight Frank’s industrial team, said: “This has been an excellent year for industrial and logistics property in Yorkshire so far. Despite the uncertainty caused by Brexit, the confidence shown in the region by investors and occupiers alike has been tremendous.

“Whilst the high street is witnessing structural change, online retail continues to grow. Many retailers are still adjusting to this and adapting their logistics models to serve increased online sales and handle returns. Our region is attracting such requirements.”

Iain McPhail, who heads the industrial agency team in Leeds, said: “With the increasing take-up of available stock, the region will continue to suffer from a shortage of grade A warehousing above 150,000sq ft. However, we are starting to see a return of speculative development in the immediate pipeline which should satisfy future demand.

“We are delighted with the industrial market performance so far this year and with a number of significant deals in the pipeline, we are confident that the second half of 2018 will be as successful as the first.”