News & views

We’ve provided an English local authority with the first phase of communications support for a contentious land project.

The southwest-based borough council is exploring the idea of disposing of a large area of open land. Its plan is to sell the land to a developer which would create hundreds of new homes as well as community facilities, roads and commercial premises. While providing homes for many local people, the proposals are also likely to provoke controversy, with some ...

We’re happy to have completed the first phase of community consultation work for property developer Apex Airspace and Shian Housing Association - for a residential scheme in the London Borough of Islington.

The early-stage project is exploring the potential to extend a four-storey block of 28 flats upwards to develop more affordable homes, while making improvements to the existing building.

With an acute shortage of affordable housing in ....

We’ve now completed the main phase of our brand reputation initiative for Wokingham Borough Council.

The objective of this wide-ranging exercise for the Berkshire local authority has been to analyse its reputation – especially amongst its 175,000 residents – and recommend ways to improve it through communications and marketing. The Council said it selected us based on our experience in advising local government bodies as well as private sector businesses, and the clarity of our proposed approach.

Our project links closely with the local authority's ...

We’re supporting Mid Sussex District Council with communications advice for an important community project.

The local authority is running a £100,000 initiative to explore investment options to create a sustainable cultural facility on a large site in the centre of Haywards Heath. The options to be assessed will take account of ....

We’re delivering an extensive communications campaign to support a pioneering initiative to create one of the most digitally advanced areas of the country.

Mid Sussex District Council is leading the programme - as part of its wider economic development strategy - to get businesses, residents and public bodies connected to the latest digital technology. It’s laying an underground fibre optic ‘spine’ between Crawley and Brighton, and around Burgess Hill, with branches from this set to connect every part of the district to full fibre broadband in the near future. Innovatively, the Council is ...

We’re pleased to be running a community consultation exercise for MIA Property Group, one of Birmingham’s most established family-owned developers.

MIA is planning to redevelop the rundown site of a disused community centre in the Ladywood district, close to Birmingham city centre. The company is proposing 144 one, two and three bedroom apartments to breathe new life into the area, in line with Birmingham City Council’s policy – given the scarcity of vacant land - to build ...

The recently-published white paper – Planning for the Future – sets out the government’s plans to overhaul town planning, with implications for how local councils and property developers will need to consult communities.

There’s a strong emphasis on the need for local authorities “radically and profoundly to re-invent the ambition, depth and breadth with which they engage communities as they consult on Local Plans,” giving them “an earlier ...

We’ve just delivered a project to advise innovative residential property developer Apex Airspace on community engagement for a housing scheme in the London Borough of Southwark. Apex specialises in developing high-quality ‘airspace’ homes on top of existing buildings, addressing the problem of severely limited land supply in built-up cities. The company hired us to support its proposals to develop 30 affordable homes by extending two large 1950s blocks of flats in London's Bermondsey area. We've advised Apex on ...

I wrote a little while ago about how there’s been a recent resurgence in location marketing and why UK towns and cities are right to grasp the nettle. I said I’d come back to how relevant bodies can undertake smart marketing to boost their area's economic ...

It’s funny how certain fields of marketing demonstrate sudden surges in interest. One field showing this lately is place marketing. By this I mean the ...