Civic acquires New Practice to expand place-based expertise

Civic, the parent company of Civic Engineers, Civic Earth, Civic Heritage, and Civic (Ireland), has announced the acquisition of New Practice, a Glasgow-based firm known for its expertise in place-making and community-led projects.

Founded in 2019 and led by Directors Marc Cairns and Becca Thomas, New Practice is recognised for its focus on embedding social value through community engagement, retrofit and reuse approaches, and regeneration projects across the UK.

The acquisition follows Civic’s recent launch of its archaeological and heritage consultancy, Civic Heritage, and reflects the company’s strategy to expand its range of services to deliver greater social and environmental impact.

Civic’s CEO, Stephen O’Malley, highlighted the importance of New Practice’s role in enhancing the company’s range of services: “New Practice’s focus on embedding social value and real collaboration helps us to further build on all the brilliant work that Civic Engineers, Civic Earth, and Civic Heritage are doing to help achieve our vision of having a positive impact on the environment and enabling people to lead happier and healthier lives.”

New Practice has worked on a wide range of projects, including the redevelopment of the Kinning Park Complex, The Sustainable Glasgow Landing for COP26, and city-wide consultations for Liveable Neighbourhoods. Their clients include leading ESG developers such as Grosvenor, Regal London, and LandsecU+I, and they are currently leading several community-led place plans in Scotland and across the UK.

Marc Cairns, director of New Practice, said: “We are delighted that New Practice has been acquired by Civic. This is an incredibly exciting move which enables us to be part of a larger expert team. Whilst our focus on a day-to-day basis will still be on ensuring we deliver exceptional inclusive place-based projects, the support of the wider Civic team will help us to grow and allow our services to reach even more clients.”

Becca Thomas, director of New Practice, added: “We have worked with the Civic Engineers team on a number of projects and known them for some time. It is very clear that we have aligned values and a shared vision of creating communities that can thrive. By becoming part of the Civic team, we believe that we can have an even greater impact across the UK and Ireland, while continuing to provide leadership on social and environmental consciousness within the built environment.”