High Streets and Town Centres Development Conference; In association with Lambert Smith Hampton

Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government – Baroness Judith Blake, Leader Shadow Spokesperson for Housing, Communities and Local Government

As a servant to the people of Leeds for over two decades and as its council leader for 6 years, Baroness Blake was part of the team that oversaw the transformation and modernisation of the city. Now a member of the House of Lords, she is holding the government to account on all policy matters related to MHCLG and has a particular interest in turbo-charging investment in UK wide high streets and town centres. Judith joins the event to talk about cross-party collaboration to ensure money reaches the places that are in most need of support following the devastating effects of the pandemic.

Hilton Hotels – Graham Dodd, Managing Director for Development, UK and Ireland

The Hilton Hotel continually grows with the announcement of Hilton Garden Inn in Plymouth and the debut of Canopy by Hilton. The Hilton is looking to deliver more than one hotel a day in 2022 worldwide, Setting out to reinvigorate the hospitality sector. Graham joins the session to give his thoughts on what’s next for the hotel development sector, how the Hilton is evolving and the next phase of their growth.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council – Helen Martin, Chief Officer of Regeneration and Enterprise

With over £1bn set to be spent on capital schemes lead by the council and their partner developers in the coming ten years, Helen is at the forefront of plans to deliver a world class place. As part of this conference she leads our audience through details for each project, prospective future sites for regeneration and how the built environment can get involved in delivering economic change for the region.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Town Centres – Stephen Hammond MP, Chair

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Town Centres is one of the most active in parliament and has seen interest magnify as the crisis facing high streets intensifies. Stephen will join the event to talk about the diligent work he and his fellow executive members are doing to lobby for investment across the country while also talking to our audience about how to engage with his team.

Lambert Smith Hampton – Bláthnaid Duffy, Director – Planning, Development and Regeneration

Bláthnaid is a Director within Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH)’s Regeneration and Town Centre team. She has a particular interest in consumer markets and how they influence town centres and wider policy making. She has over 18 years’ experience advising local authorities across the UK on the regeneration of their respective town centres, through evidence-based policy advice and town centre strategies. As well as this, she also advises the private sector on a wide range of planning applications for retail, leisure, and mixed use schemes. Bláthnaid has represented numerous local authorities, such as Eastleigh Borough Council, Elmbridge Borough Council, and Tendring Borough Council, on town centre planning matters, at both planning inquiries and local plan examinations.

Stockton on Tees Borough Council – Richard McGuckin, Town Centre Development Director

Using the £21m allocated via the Future High Streets Fund and £20m from the Tees Valley Combined Authority, Stockton Town centre is about to undergo radical change which they hope will include large scale demolition from late 2022 onwards followed by the construction of Riverside Park in time for opening in 2025. Richard and his most trusted developers join the conference to talk through the plans and tell our audience how they can get involved.

Kingston First – Kirsten Henly, Chief Executive

As the UK’s first ever business improvement district, the Kingston BID team are well versed in collaborating with built environment organisations and the public sector to rethink citizen interaction with town centres. Kirsten joins the event to talk about changing trends on High Streets and how permitted development rights might help her team accelerate some of their plans.

Swindon Borough Council – Samuel Rackham, Town Centre Development Project Manager

Swindon Borough Council are one of the figureheads of major regeneration and development within the Thames Valley region. The council looks to improve on existing infrastructure and further develop the town centre within the next five years. The borough is undergoing a multitude of projects ranging from the £25 million redevelopment of Fleming Way Bus Boulevard to Kimmerfields mixed-use business district regeneration with up to 60,000 square metres of new office space, a new bus interchange and 450 homes.

Swindon and Wiltshire LEP – Shahina Johnson MBE, Technical Advisor for Digital and Placeshaping

Swindon and Wiltshire LEP are playing an active part in attracting developers to the region and are an integral part to not only unlocking development across 12 key sites but also playing a role on futureproofing any regeneration by promoting the digital places agenda. Shahina joins the Swindon and Wiltshire delegation to detail her role in designing the future of “place” in the region.

North East Lincolnshire Council – Damien Jaines-White, Assistant Director of Regeneration

North East Lincolnshire Council have recently been the recipient of £50m of funding from the Future High Streets Fund and the Towns Fund which will be the catalyst for a multitude of development. With plans afoot for major housing growth in Grimsby Town Centre via partnership with some of the UK’s biggest BtR investors and developers and ongoing conversations to create a world class leisure destination at an unnamed site in the borough, Damien leads the delegation to unveil the council’s exciting plans.

Swindon Borough Council – Liz Sheppard, Commercial Lead

More information to follow.

Hemingway Design – Wayne Hemingway, Co-Founder

Wayne has particular expertise in overcoming negative perceptions of places, internally and externally, through community led urban design , place-making, events strategies and meanwhile uses.  Other than his BSc degrees in Geography and Town Planning, Wayne spent several years on Design Council Trustee Board and on the Design Council CABE Committee. Wayne received an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list of 2006 for services to design. In addition, Wayne is a Professor at Northumbria University and has Doctorates / Fellowships at Leeds Beckett, University of Stafford, Lancaster University, Regents University London, Blackburn and University of Cumbria. Wayne and the HemingwayDesign team are in their third decade of urban design which encompasses town centre visioning, masterplanning, coastal regeneration and affordable housing. Our urban design team work closely with the HemingwayDesign place making and place branding teams, with place brand projects completed in Berwick-upon-Tweed, York, Crewe, Bognor Regis, Southend, and more in the works. All of these projects come down to one thing – listening to people, bringing communities together, defining a shared vision and then making it happen.

Stockton on Tees Borough Council – Jennifer Tomlin, Communications Officer

More information to follow.

Centre for Cities – Paul Swinney, Director of Policy and Research

As Director of Policy and Research, Paul oversees the research programme and strategy of the Centre. He has published on a wide range of subjects relating to city economies, including the development of UK cities over time, the role that city centres play in the national economy and the trading relationships UK cities have with the rest of the world.

Paul is a regular regional and national media commentator, including print, radio and TV, and speaks at conferences across the UK on subjects relating to the performance of city economies.

Callison RTKL – Federica Buricco, Associate, Planning and Urban Design

Federica’s expertise is within mixed-use masterplanning and urban design regeneration projects, with over 13 years’ experience in the design and management of large-scale residential, commercial and hotel developments and has worked in the UK, Italy and Switzerland. Federica’s portfolio of work includes urban design projects in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

High Streets Task Force – Mark Robinson, Chair

Swindon Borough Council – David Dewart, Head of Strategic Place

Swindon Borough Council are looking to further improve on existing infrastructure and further develop the borough within the next five years. A variety of projects will be taking place throughout the borough, featuring one of the largest urban regeneration developments in the UK at New Eastern Villages, that will consist of 8,000 homes, new schools, employment spaces and community and leisure facilities. The council are also working on the £25 million redevelopment of Fleming Way Bus Boulevard and Kimmerfields mixed-use business district regeneration with up to 60,000 sq m of new office spaces and 450 homes.

Swindon Borough Council – Karen Phimister, Swindon Heritage Zone Project Officer

More information to follow.

Swindon Borough Council – Councillor Gary Sumner, Cabinet Member for Strategic Infrastructure, Transport & Planning

More information to follow.

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council – Bill Kirk, Chief Executive, New Heritage Regeneration

Dudley Regeneration Company are the drivers of the £1bn Dudley Town Centre vision which will be delivered in phases over the next decade. Recent announcements include funding approval for a £442m extension of the West Midlands Metro and a council lead £82m mixed use project bringing apartments, student accommodation and leisure to the area. Bill will talk about this and also compliment Dudley Council’s update on its multimillion pound Brierley Hill overhaul.

Totum Finance – Piragash Sivanesan, Founder

More information to follow.

Built Environment Networking – Fahmida Nisa, Host & Event Manager

Nisa is a research, marketing and content specialist at Built Environment Networking. She will be hosting a number of the sessions throughout the day, running the day’s proceedings and managing the interaction between our virtual delegates and the speakers.

North East Lincolnshire Council – Clive Tritton, Strategic Regeneration Advisor

As part of the team advising on how to use the £50m gained from the Towns Fund and the Future High Streets fund to unlock wider regeneration across Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham. Clive is an important link between the council and potential investors and developers; he will deliver exclusive intel on the work they will be doing over the next 10 years.

Arup – Richard de Cani, Director and Global Planning Leader

Richard is working with the senior team at North East Lincolnshire council to re-imagine the town centres of Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Immingham and joins the panel to give an overview of masterplan ideas which are being discussed at the moment.

Dudley College – Neil Thomas, Chief Executive

The £23m Black Country and Marches Institute of Technology will have a strong focus on higher level technical programmes in: advanced manufacturing, modern methods of construction, medical engineering and healthcare, to meet the regional demand for skills in these sectors. The new employer-led Institute brings together the training offer of Dudley College of Technology in collaboration with key partners including University of Wolverhampton, University of Worcester, In-Comm Training Services Limited and Avensys UK Limited, allowing a wide offer of non-traditional progression routes to degree level programmes that will allow learners to study whilst in work. Neil will talk about this project and series of other exciting developments that are in the pipeline.

Built Environment Networking – Amanda Griffiths, Director

Amanda is one of the Co-Founder’s of Built Environment Networking – formed almost 10 years ago.

She’ll be hosting throughout the day, running the days proceedings and managing the interaction between our delegates and the speakers.

Ambassador Theatre Group – Stuart Beeby, Operations Director

With new sites being developed in Stockton and Swansea and a number of other UK locations in their sites, Ambassador are experts at delivering world class performance venues which have hosted some of the biggest names across theatre, comedy and music. In the North East they are investing and redeveloping The Globe theatre on Stockton High Street which will be one of the instruments for creating destination within the town centre. Stuart joins the event to detail their future growth plans and talk about how integral Ambassador are to Stockton.

RivingtonHark – Mark Williams, Executive Director

With 14 live projects and a host of strategic assets in major towns and cities, Rivingtonhark’s expertise has been called upon by some of the most influential investors, local authorities and operators. Mark joins the event to discuss in detail how the assets they are working on are modernising and being refreshed in the coming years.

Lambert Smith Hampton – Chair: Dr Steve Norris, National Head of Planning, Regeneration + Infrastructure

Steve is the National Head of Planning, Development & Regeneration (PDR) at Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH).  He has almost 30 years’ experience advising the public and private sectors on the planning, development and regeneration of towns, shopping centres and complex sites/buildings across the UK.  Over the years he has prepared much evidence-based visions, strategies and plans for centres – underpinned by wide-ranging engagement and consultation – to help inform plan-making, unlock funds, and deliver new commercially viable and sustainable development and regeneration projects.  For example, he has recently prepared bids and Town Investment Plans (TIPs) for the Future High Street and Town Deal Funds to help deliver key regeneration and infrastructure projects; ranging from new healthcare, education and youth facilities in centres, to improvements to station gateways and digital connectivity.  Steve has also recently been appointed as an expert adviser to the UK Government’s High Street Task Force and is an active member of Revo and the Association of Town & City Management (ATCM).