The Harrogate based planning specialist had a turnover of £3.5m and made a pre-tax profit pf £700,000 for the year ended 31 March 2015.

Signet Planning was stablished by Simon Chadwick, James Hobson and Ian Rowe in 2005 and has since opened offices in Newcastle, London, Nottingham and Manchester.

The firm employs 37 people and its clients include Quintain, Peveril Securities, Arena Racing, Story Homes and JD Wetherspoon.

Paul Hamer, Chief Executive Officer, WYG said: “We are delighted to be joined by Simon Chadwick, and his colleagues in Signet Planning.

“We are confident that they will be a significant enhancement to WYG’s planning and urban and landscape design capabilities.

“Following our recent acquisitions of Alliance Planning, FMW Consultancy and North Associates, we now have more than 140 planning specialists representing the third largest team in the UK.

“This leading market position leaves us well placed to take advantage of the strong demand we expect for these specialist skills within a buoyant UK market for property and infrastructure development.”