Author: John Till

Last week it was great to meet with fellow place branding people at what has always been the most important event of the year – City Nation Place UK. It was a fantastic line up of speakers and the whole day was stacked with learning, best practice and ideas. Here are a few points I… Continue reading What I learnt from an inspirational City Nation Place UK 2021

Today we held our inaugural place perspective event on the occasion of our 15th birthday ‘Place: what’s the future?’ and I was delighted to be joined by two of the leading thinkers and practitioners of all things place: Professor Martin Reeves, CEO of Coventry City Council and Professor Cathy Parker, Co-Chair of the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan… Continue reading 15 key thinking place points on our 15th birthday

I was delighted to be part of the recent Institute of Economic Development webinar on ‘Our High Streets and Town Centres: what’s the story?’ focusing on an issue that affects us all – and my contribution was centred on the following thoughts. All our places are in the midst of a massive change programme, not of… Continue reading Future placemaking: it’s time for a shared story

Amazingly, it’s 15 years since the thinkingplace journey began to help places develop a shared sense of purpose, pride and prosperity. Many people said we were crazy to set up a company purely dedicated to place marketing and place making, but we did it anyway and it’s been a brilliant experience. We’ve worked with over… Continue reading thinkingplace is 15!

In the third of our series of best practice webinars looking at how places have responded to Coronavirus in partnership with the Local Government Association, we examined the importance of having a shared forward-looking story for a place that highlighted opportunities, but that was authentic. We discovered what four very different towns and areas have… Continue reading Recovery – maybe even reset but keep it real!

In June we hosted a very thought-provoking webinar with the Institute of Economic Development with Martin Reeves, CEO of Coventry City Council; Tom Stannard, Corporate Director – Regeneration and Economic Growth, Wakefield Council; Corinne Day, Programme Director, Newhaven Enterprise Zone and David Fletcher, Assistant Director – Economic Development, Hampshire County Council. Apart from their contributions… Continue reading Recovery and reset: how can we create a confident and collaborative place?

We are still gripped by the most significant crisis many of us have ever experienced and it is being played out in places across the UK irrespective of size, poverty or affluence, rural or urban, connected or isolated; it is touching us all. Whilst the threat is still potent, communities are starting to look to… Continue reading Coronavirus: can UK places not just recover but reset and repurpose?

It’s now six years since then Chancellor George Osborne unveiled a new initiative for the North. The Northern Powerhouse was supposed to create a focus for investment, to redress the long-standing North-South economic imbalance. Since then the concept has waxed and waned – sometimes high on the political agenda; at other times seemingly on life… Continue reading Why the North needs a narrative

A week on from my most recent Solace (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives) Masterclass I was reflecting on the ever inspirational CEO of Coventry City Council, Martin Reeves as he set out the journey that Coventry and Warwickshire have been on with their place story and place led activity. Amazingly it was on this… Continue reading Why everyone wants to get sent to Coventry!

The figures tell a powerful story. The Centre for Retail Research estimates there are around 50,000 fewer shops on our high streets than just over a decade ago. No wonder so many town centres are struggling to adjust; to find a new future. But in our work around the country we see rich opportunity in… Continue reading A new story, a new chapter for our town centres