Name: Emma Watkins
Business Name: Prospero Planning Ltd
Years in business: 12
Years since we started working together: 2.5
Emma is the sole director of Prospero Planning Ltd, a planning consultancy based in Cardiff, Wales. Emma and I were introduced by a mutual friend in the summer of 2021, and have worked together continuously ever since.
Emma and her Associate team support local planning authorities (LPAs) across Wales by providing additional capacity to their in-house teams. They deal with the full range of planning officer duties from planning applications to enforcement cases and policy development and review.
Emma’s dilemma
At the beginning of our work together, Emma was at a crossroads in her business.
Since its founding, Prospero had supported private clients as well as LPAs. However, Emma no longer wanted to take on private work but found it difficult to turn it away.
She had commissioned the design of a new website targeted only to LPAs but was delaying go-live because she was nervous about shutting down what was effectively half her business. The indecision caused Emma sleepless nights and held her back from tackling dozens of other jobs on her to-do list.
On our first call, Emma was completely fed up because all the enjoyment had gone out of her work. She and the team were tackling a massive caseload of applications for their clients, and Emma was frustrated that she couldn’t make time to work on her list of things to continue developing Prospero.
How we tackled everything
We started with an intensive two-hour session where I encouraged Emma to share everything going on in her head. All the ideas, challenges, frustrations, and doubts about her business. This helped me get to know her but crucially, gave Emma back some precious headspace so she could start to think more clearly.
Once we had everything down on paper, it was easy to see the priorities for us to work on, and I kept everything else safe on a ‘not yet’ list to avoid any further overwhelm.
Emma said that once she’d got everything out of her head and had someone objective to talk things through with, she felt much more decisive. After our first call, she updated the Associate team on the new direction of the business, explaining they would only be supporting public sector clients in future. She also contacted Prospero’s private clients to advise on the change of business direction, explaining that ongoing applications would be the last ones that Prospero would handle on their behalf.
A couple more calls into our work, and Emma decided that she would step back from doing planning officer work herself to allow greater focus on the management and continued development of Prospero alongside her work to support the wider planning profession with the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). Her Associate team now complete the bulk of all planning officer work with Emma only stepping in at times of peak activity.
What we’ve achieved together
Emma says that she’s achieved more in the two years we’ve been working together than in the previous ten years of running Prospero alone.
I’ve kept track of progress with everything on her to-do list and been there to listen and give advice when she needed it. I’ve introduced her to trusted contacts who have supported her with HR and legal matters and handled various projects on her behalf. Here are some of the things we’ve ticked off:
- Website relaunch.
- Enhanced website copy in the form of client case studies.
- New suite of on-brand documents including proposal templates and CVs for all Associates.
- Branding photoshoot.
- HR training on managing an Associate team.
- Process improvement and documentation.
- Understanding IR35 course.
- Completion of a GDPR training course and implementing everything necessary to ensure that Prospero complies with its obligations.
- Improved information security measures – devices, passwords, and data sharing.
- A full review of all legal and contractual documentation including Work Agreements, Associate Agreements, Booking Forms, Data Processing Agreements, Privacy and Cookie Policies.
- Re-election to the RTPI Cymru Executive Committee as a General Assembly Representative.
- Working to increase support for the planning profession by driving forward meetings to make changes following the RTPI’s nationwide Big Conversation.
- Featured in the RTPI’s “It Takes Planners &” campaign video.
- Facilitated Beam Training’s delivery of several well-being events for planners.
What comes next?
The to-do list never ends! Future projects include:
- Migration from Google Workspace to Microsoft.
- Reviewing and restructuring Prospero’s online filing system to make it more efficient and increase data security.
- Further work to explore what can be done to support the planning profession in terms of their health and well-being.
What Emma says about my support
“My relationship with Caroline has been one of the best working relationships I’ve formed since becoming self-employed over a decade ago. It can be a lonely place running your own business and just having somebody who understands, doesn’t panic, and listens to my rants and magically works them into an action plan has been a total lifesaver.”
Final words
I love working with Emma. Thank you for choosing me to support you, Em, and here’s to many more years of getting stuff done! 🥂
If you’re in a similar position to Emma and need someone to share the load, check out how I can help you in the Power Partnership, or send me an email to caroline@carolinebrown.online. I’d love to have a chat with you. 😊
