How successful private partnerships drive placemaking across the UK

Across the UK we have a track record of delivering high-quality, sustainable new places which bring real value to communities. Yet, we recognise despite our capability, experience, local insight, and resources, it is working in partnership which delivers the greatest results.

We’re working with partners in nearly 40 places across the UK from Bradford to Brentford, from Salford to Lewisham. Many of these places are being delivered with public sector partners, but many are also the result of private partnerships.

Shared values build strong partnerships

For example, New Victoria, in Manchester, is being delivered in partnership with the Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), along with Manchester City Council, Homes England, and Network Rail.

PIC invested £130 million to regenerate a former car park, which had been viewed as undeliverable for decades. Working together we delivered 520 new Build to Rent homes alongside some of the best amenity space in the region, including a state-of-the-art gym, communal lounges, co-working space, cycle storage, and a rooftop garden.

For us, PIC was the ideal partner. A specialist UK insurer, the company’s values and ambitions aligned with our own. The business provides security, embraces new ideas, works as a team, and strives to be the best and do the right thing.

This alignment with our own values was critical, as it is to any successful relationship.

Investing in long-term thinking

Working in partnership with Rolls-Royce, we delivered a new neighbourhood at Hucknall in Nottinghamshire. We created a new community with 650 new homes, community facilities, a public park, a new school, along with logistics and industrial space for businesses.

This built on nearly a century of Rolls-Royce ownership, so the importance of long-term thinking, legacy-building, and supporting innovation was the foundation of our approach.

Our partners trust us to deliver

We have the commercial approach needed to create and deliver value. However, we can also leverage a deep understanding of public sector priorities because of our pedigree in public-private partnerships.

We know what local authorities are looking for, we understand the public sector finance landscape, how to unlock complex regeneration, and we have local teams embedded in regional economies.

Because we are embedded in the regions we operate, we take a responsibility to deliver for communities seriously. We are only as good as our last job.

The importance of social impact

We, along with all the private sector partners we work with, recognise that regeneration must be a catalyst for social impact, as well as support sustainability.

For example, in Bristol we have worked with landowner and partner, Umberslade, to deliver Wapping Wharf Living, a vibrant new neighbourhood overlooking Bristol’s Floating Harbour.

We worked with Umberslade to deliver 450 new homes and restore the Grade ll Listed City Goal Gate, preserving the structure while making sure it fit seamlessly with the new buildings. Wapping Wharf is now home to a mix of independent shops, and cafés and is part of a unique food scene which attracts visitors far and wide.

Whilst we have a strong focus on commercial success, we also recognise that delivering means more than the bottom line. That’s why private sector partners work with us, and that’s why our partnerships are successful.

When our values and ambitions align, and we play to our strengths, together with our private sector partners we make things happen. We deliver.