Town Centre repurposing and regeneration schemes are increasingly dependent on funding to bridge the viability gap, or to facilitate enabling development to kickstart these complex sites. Securing government funding can be the determinant as to whether regeneration can come forward.  Securing funding is one milestone, but key question many authorities are grappling with is how to plan development to meet funding criteria and spending the funds that have been allocated.  This webinar will look at:

• The role of funding in securing regeneration
  • With David Lewis, Executive Director, RivingtonHark
• Process and how to prepare a successful bid
  • Led by Bindu Pokkyarath, Director, Business Cases and Funding, Turley
• Case studies – Experience from local authorities and developer partners on the bid process, post-funding success, challenges faced and lessons learnt
  • Southport Town Deal – Stephen Watson, Executive Director (Place), Sefton MBC
  • Bedford College, Corby Town Centre – Atul Joshi, Associate Director, Town Centres & Economic Regeneration, Lambert Smith Hampton, Dr. Steve Norris, Executive Director, National Head of Planning, Regeneration + Infrastructure, Lambert Smith Hampton and Patricia Jones, Deputy Chief Executive, The Bedford College Group
• Followed by a Q&A

Registrations NOW open! Find out more and register HERE. 

Meet The Speakers:

Bindu Pokkyarath, Director, Business Cases and Funding, Turley

Bindu is an economic development professional with over 15 years’ of experience as business case specialist and economic appraisal lead. Bindu is a registered Better Business Case practitioner. Key areas of her work involve economic strategy development; funding support; business case preparation and due diligence; economic impact. assessments; economic programme design and evaluation and area-based economic assessments. Bindu leads large multi-disciplinary project teams and has managed complex project portfolios in both the UK and Ireland. She has also worked across several regeneration schemes which involve detailed demand assessments, market opportunity identification, forecasting and stakeholder consultations and management.

David Lewis, Executive Director, RivingtonHark

David is an urban development specialist and founder of Rivington Land. He currently provides strategic advice to Cheshire West & Chester, Swansea and Newcastle City Council’s on major mixed-use regeneration and placemaking projects. He has also recently advised and assisted Land Securities, Patrizia, AEG Europe and Nuveen on projects in London, Aylesbury, Edinburgh and Salisbury. Notably, David led the CPO and land acquisition teams in both Edinburgh and Chester, including standing as an expert witness.

Previously he spent 14 years at Centros, becoming a Board Director in 2009. In that period he delivered two Revo Gold Award winning retail led/mixed use schemes – Weavers Wharf, Kidderminster and Arc, Bury St Edmunds; 125 residential units as part of mixed-use schemes in Epsom and Bury St Edmunds and asset managed Houndshill Shopping Centre, Blackpool on behalf of the administrators and the bank. David sat on the Revo Advisory Board from 2006 to 2012 and was the founding chair of the New Generation Committee.

Stephen Watson, Executive Director (Place), Sefton MBC

Stephen Watson is Executive Director (Place) of Sefton Council, a role which includes leadership of economic growth and housing, highways and public protection, and commercial activities. This includes leadership of the council’s growth and strategic investment programme, of which the Southport Town Deal (including the Marine Lake Events Centre) and the future of Bootle town centre (including the Strand and Salt & Tar) are priority parts. He is also Chair of Sefton’s Corporate Equalities Group. His professional background is in corporate strategy, finance and investment, and mergers and acquisitions, having previously held executive roles and board positions in the private sector in both the UK and Canada.

Dr. Steve Norris, Executive Director, National Head of Planning, Regeneration + Infrastructure, Lambert Smith Hampton

Dr Steven Norris (MRTPI) has over 30 years’ experience advising the public and private sectors on the planning, regeneration and repurposing of Britain’s towns, shopping centres and high streets. He and his team have recently helped secure over £300m of Government-backed funds to help kick-start critical regeneration and infrastructure projects in centres across the UK. Steve is a member of Revo (sits on their Strategic Board & Regeneration Working Group); an Expert Adviser to the Government’s High Street Task Force; and a member of ATCM.

Patricia Jones, Deputy Chief Executive, The Bedford College Group

Pat joined as Executive Director of Finance in 2013 having worked in a range of public sector organisations. She is accountable to the Corporation Board for the Group’s Estate and has responsibility for maintaining the Group’s outstanding financial health grade. Pat’s specialisms include Leadership and Management, Identification and Application of Funding Streams as well as leading the Group in new ventures and developments.

Over the past ten years, she has continued to drive organisational change and played a critical role in the successful merger of Tresham College and Bedford College in 2017 as well as the acquisition of Aston Recruitment and Training, a Northampton-based Independent Training Provider. Pat’s  most notable professional achievements have included leading on bids which to date have exceeded £43m including securing £7.5 million towards a £10 million redevelopment of the Wellingborough Campus.

Cat White, Director, Planning, Turley

Cat is a Planning Director based in the South East team of national development consultancy, Turley.  She specialises in urban centres, retail, leisure and commercial development across the UK, with expertise in both the English and Scotland planning systems and recent focus in coastal locations.  Cat jointly leads on Turley’s Repurposing Town Centre offer and sit on the Revo Repurposing and Regeneration Committee, building upon her expertise in major urban regeneration, retail and urban living projects across the UK.  Cat is passionate about facilitating high quality placemaking and the importance of public and private sector collaboration to deliver regeneration within our urban areas.

Atul Joshi, Associate Director, Town Centres & Economic Regeneration, Lambert Smith Hampton

Atul is an Associate Director in the Town Centre & Economic Regeneration team at LSH. He has over 25 years’ experience advising on the planning, asset management and regeneration of UK town centres.  His wide-ranging expertise includes: preparing robust evidence-based strategies; submissions for regeneration funds and developing and delivering regeneration and place-making strategies. Since 2020, he has successfully advised on the preparation of Town Investment Plans (TIPs) for his clients to help unlock funding from the Government-backed Towns Deal Fund.  He has also advised on Future High Street, Welcome Back & Levelling Up Fund bids.