The company celebrates its 25^th anniversary this year having been founded by James Broadbent in 1996. With a background in planning, development and compulsory purchase, James saw an opportunity to create a new business providing high quality advice to homeowners throughout the UK whose properties are impacted by road, rail, airport and utility infrastructure projects. During the late 1990’s and early noughties, this quickly grew to become a leading consultancy. The company represented over 9,000 clients affected by the new and widening sections of the M60, and over 2,000 affected by the M6 Toll Road, and has been involved in representing claimants affected by most major road scheme which have been built in this century. In addition to private homeowners, the company also represents farmers, developers, landed estates, local authorities and housing associations.

In more recent years Thomson Broadbent has been at the forefront of negotiations for new wayleaves and easements for existing electricity power lines and associated apparatus. Until Thomson Broadbent’s involvement, most homeowners who had electricity equipment did not have a written consent (wayleave or easement agreement) for their power lines on or over residential properties. For the few wayleave consents that were in place, homeowners generally received nominal annual rents based on agricultural rates with no account for the visual impact and inconvenience of equipment being located in private gardens. Since 2008, Thomson Broadbent’s team of surveyors and consents officers have negotiated compensation for tens of thousands of properties where electricity transmission and distribution equipment is sited.