Projects

Coast to Capital is the Local Enterprise Partnership covering Brighton to Bognor Regis on the coast up to Epsom, Surrey. The region is expected to be disproportionately affected by Covid-19, with vulnerabilities due to high-risk groups for Covid-19 exposure living along the coast, reliance on Gatwick Airport for employment, a high proportion of self-employed people, business closures in Brighton & Hove, and more.

With the right investment and support, the Coast to Capital area is well-placed to recover. PRD developed a brochure for the LEP illustrating the potential for the area to ‘build back stronger, smarter, and greener’, focusing on development and infrastructure projects that can tackle long-standing socioeconomic challenges as well as issues caused or exacerbated by Covid-19. The brochure is a tool for the LEP to set out its vision for the region with a view to attracting investment and government funding.

For example, the brochure outlines the LEP’s aspirations to see a £2m upgrade to Brighton mainline for better train reliability and quicker journey times; development around Gatwick and Crawley build a more resilient worker base and innovative business practices; urban innovation districts in Brighton & Hove; and embedding zero carbon and clean energy across the region’s new development and existing operations.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council commissioned a multidisciplinary team, which included PRD, to develop a Place Plan for Folkestone town centre—a critical exercise to define the future role of the town centre following a year of Covid-19 related lockdowns and ongoing challenges facing the high street.

The Place Plan addresses themes such as public realm, employment, skills and training, investment, and transport. PRD developed the socioeconomic evidence base for the Place Plan as well as recommendations to enable business growth, economic development and long-term community participation.

Guided by the views of local people, the project team developed a ‘mission-driven’ approach with six missions to structure the actions of the Place Plan and galvanise external investors around shared goals. PRD helped develop these missions and identified specific outputs and outcomes against each one to enable the council to measure success and progress.

The Place Plan provides the council with a robust evidence base upon which to bid for central government regeneration funding and the ‘mission-driven’ approach has allowed external partners to see both what the council is doing and where their own investments can make contributions to the aims of the Place Plan.

LB Hackney commissioned PRD to develop and administer a new business grant fund for Hackney Central using Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funding that the council had received from central government. PRD had been working closely with Hackney Council on the development of the Hackney Central town centre strategy and we used our extensive research on the area’s communities and economy to shape the scope of the new grant fund. The aim of the fund was to support local businesses with Covid-19 recovery and to deliver exciting new projects for the town centre.

In January 2022, the Hackney Central Impact and Ideas Fund opened for applications, receiving almost 200 applications and over £3.5 million of funding requests. PRD led the assessment process and decided, in partnership with the council, on the projects that would be funded. The council awarded almost £600,000 to 23 local independent businesses.

Successful projects include free retail space for emerging fashion designers, a festival celebrating Caribbean culture, a 3D printing process using waste plastics and a walking map showcasing the borough’s history. PRD are now working with successful applicants to evaluate the impact of their projects.

Together with Hatch, PRD supported Invest Northern Ireland to explore and develop a range of structured joint venture models to co-ordinate investment into Local Enterprise Agencies (LEAs) across Northern Ireland with the aim of delivering affordable workspace.

Working closely with Invest Northern Ireland and in consultation with a broad selection of LEAs, PRD analysed the barriers to and opportunities for delivery, then tested several new models and approaches for delivery through client consultation.

PRD proposed innovative delivery models with new, active stakeholder roles for local and national government alongside the LEAs. The models made best use of the resources, property assets, skills and powers of each party to deliver locally-tailored workspace.

In 2020, PRD and project partners We Made That worked with Thanet District Council and the Margate Town Deal Board to develop a Town Investment Plan underpinned by extensive community engagement and a widespread desire to transform Margate into a town with a strong year-round economy.

The TIP charts a 10-year course of improvements for Margate, focusing on scaling Margate’s creative economy and skills through a new Creative Land Trust; tackling deep health inequalities by providing more wellbeing amenities linked to Margate’s coast; improving public realm and connectivity; and making Margate’s nationally-renowned heritage assets more sustainable and inclusive. It is underpinned by PRD’s extensive socioeconomic baseline to ensure interventions are targeted in areas that need them most.

PRD subsequently worked with partners to lay the groundwork for the Margate Creative Land Trust (MCLT), which now has a fully operational Board of Trustees. MCLT’s purpose is to safeguard sites for creative industries, mainly through purchasing property and taking headleases with a view to subletting at discounted rates. To assist MCLT with this process, we designed a property acquisition decision framework for MCLT to assess the suitability of potential properties for their portfolio. The framework sets out how MCLT can collect and analyse information on available sites, taking into account factors such as site size, price, condition and refurbishment needs, potential number of jobs, businesses, or creative activities it can support, and the extent to which the property’s end use can align with MCLT’s vision and aims.

The OPDC development area spans the boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent and Ealing and is responsible for regenerating 950 hectares around Old Oak Common and the industrial Park Royal site. The project will bring 24,000 homes, 55,000 jobs, and a new HS2 station. Within Park Royal is a substantial element of the site. Covering around 500 hectares, it is London’s largest areas of designated Strategic Industrial Land (SIL). Its economy comprises over 35,000 jobs spread across around 2,000 businesses and contributes circa £2 billion economic output (GVA) per annum.

PRD has been involved in several studies and strategies for this area:

• We produced the What Works: Park Royal study to develop clear plans for industrial regeneration in Park Royal. The study advises how the economy can grow and evolve in response to Covid-19 and nearby non-industrial regeneration, with an explicit focus on providing new affordable workspace.
• We built a bespoke Industrial Funding Strategy to support the OPDC’s ambitions for industrial growth in Park Royal and Old Oak North, along with partners Newbridge Advisors and Gerald Eve. The IFS identifies spaces requiring investment and intensification, investment gaps, funding sources to meet needs/fill the gaps, and how OPDC and its partners can access the funding sources. Our team consulted with cross-sector stakeholders (including the core investor, developer and occupier market) to inform the strategy, which will directly drive how OPDC delivers regeneration.
• We developed a Socioeconomic Funding Strategy with Regeneris Consulting to identify sources such as the Apprenticeships Levy, domestic and European funding, business rate retention, and private investment that can be used for local social and economic initiatives.
• PRD team members have also worked on the OPDC’s Future Sectors Study, Food Sector Study, Regeneration Funding Study, and the Park Royal Intensification Study.

Supported by acclaimed architects Astudio, PRD was commissioned to develop an Action Plan to secure the long-term viability of Sutton town centre. LB Sutton commissioned this innovative project to re-energise the existing strategy for the town centre, which had lost momentum as the economic downturn made the major spatial strategy for the area undeliverable.

We did a thorough analysis of the town centre’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and a review of policy, baseline data and best practices. Together with LB Sutton and local stakeholders, we developed a portfolio of short, medium and long-term interventions of varying levels of complexity, cost and risk.

The revised strategy promotes an innovative, community-driven focus, with public realm, meanwhile uses and public art being conduits to reposition the town centre at the heat of civic life. It also proposes a proactive approach that empowers the council to take control of regeneration and development in the town centre.

LB Sutton has since embarked on a range of initiatives which build on the proposals in the action plan; make the most of the town centre’s long pedestrian thoroughfare; and present a vibrant mix of uses at a human scale. These initiatives include Sutton Works (delivering innovative workspace in a former BHS department store with GLA Good Growth Funding), the Market House Hub, the Future High Streets Fund project and the Town Centre Masterplan.