Description:
People will always need to come together, and Towns represent a huge opportunity as an alternative to city living. An opportunity to retain and attract people to the town, whilst strengthening local communities, whether that be in Art, Music, Food or workspaces. There is an opportunity to realise alternative, optimised and bespoke local resources, over national high street brands.
With the increasingly online and distributed nature of modern work – only accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic - investing in a unique modern town ecosystem that supports and enriches the lives of those who are seeking a change in lifestyle, can present a huge differentiator in attracting and retaining businesses and talent; ultimately economically future proofing towns and providing opportunities to current and future generations of the community.
This workshop looks to provide an outline of potential delivery models for community spaces, accompanied by real life examples of those who have been through setting one up. From food markets to co-working spaces to digital innovation hubs, this is an opportunity to hear from industry leaders and innovators who are on hand to offer their insights.
Please note that this event has limited capacity, with 15 places available to towns. We therefore ask that only one individual from each town register interest.
About the speakers:
Stephen Carrick-Davies (Hatcham House CEO) has been a CEO for 3 non-profit organisations and over the last 30 years has developed both education and training programmes in the UK and around the world. Currently as well as running Hatcham House he is working with a team to develop the Facework.online platform which helps young people acquire the necessary soft-skills, character traits and growth mindset for a post-covid world. See www.facework.online.
Hatcham House is a community workspace in South London. Launched from an old members club just before the Covid Pandemic, Hatcham House has pioneered an affordable and inclusive offering for local people, both those in work and those under-employed. Despite being forced to close twice because of the various lock-downs Stephen has proved that developing a work-hub with social value is popular and can be successful not just in providing a quality work-hub, but in incubating a number of social programmes, events and training. Currently HH has over 160 members. See www.hatchamhouse.com
Paul Rostas (Plus X CEO) started his career in brand management with Unilever, before establishing a leading reputation in equity research in the City of London analysing European FMCG companies and subsequently property companies for global banks such as JP Morgan. He went on to build successful new businesses for companies such as ICAP in property risk management, before embarking on his own entrepreneurial career in technology and innovation, culminating in the creation of Plus X in 2018.
Plus X transforms places by creating thriving innovation communities. We believe that talent is everywhere in the UK but opportunity is not, and by supporting collaboration and innovation, and optimising for inclusion, we can unlock potential. “Where people cross paths and ideas are exchanged, great things happen.”
Wayne Butcher (Grant Thornton UK LLP) is the principal lead of providing specialist funding and investment advice to Towns, including guidance on delivery structures, funding options and risk management. Wayne specialises in the delivery of engagements to local and central government across property including housing, leisure, and mixed-use development schemes.
Joe Gregory (Grant Thornton UK LLP) has led on the funding and investment advice offered to Towns during Stage 1 of the Town Fund project. He has specialised on the review of TIPs submitted by the Northern Towns and has been part of the wider project team to create the business case templates for the Towns. Joe has over eight years of experience delivering infrastructure engagements across a portfolio of clients, including local and central government and private sector clients, predominantly within the real estate sector. He has advised multiple councils on their Future High Street Fund business cases.
Sandeep Bhakar (Grant Thornton UK LLP) is an associate director within the public sector services team at Grant Thornton. Sandeep has significant experience in leading large infrastructure, housing and commercial development projects. He has worked as a financial advisor for the last 9 years, with a short 10 month at a London & Quadrant Housing Trust.
Register your interest
This event has reached capacity. If you are interested in attending this workshop in future, please speak to your Town Coordinator.