Case studies

Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council launched the Workshop, an Employment, Training and Skills Hub in the town centre. Utilising its successful bid for Accelerated Town Deal Funding the council repurposed a vacant shop situated in the town centre to create the hub. Through this space, local residents are provided with personalised career support to help them access training, employment or education advice to facilitate their ambition to deliver an economically prosperous and inclusive borough.

The Economic Strategy sets out a clear direction of travel for North Warwickshire, providing a long-term framework to deliver positive, focused interventions to secure a more sustainable economy.

To support businesses and protect jobs in the face of restrictions and some customer concerns, post-COVID 19 lockdown, Oxford City Council worked with Oxfordshire County Council as the highways authority, and with its hospitality sector to create an on-street outside tables & chairs offer. This successful approach, which has helped safeguard jobs and maintain the vitality of the city centre, has now been extended into the autumn and winter.

Post-COVID 19 lockdown, Colchester Borough Council faced reduced use of its long-stay car parks and pressure for increased pedestrian and cycle access to the town centre. The solution was to enable a Park Active site for Colchester to encourage motorists to park in peripheral car parks more often and actively complete their journeys by walking or cycling.  The approach is part of a national pilot programme being led by the BPA and supported by the UK Government.

Central to the Taunton Deane Borough Council’s ambition is the priority of economic growth and regeneration of the borough and this is clearly set out in its Corporate Business Plan. This priority is important not only to guarantee the future local economy of the borough but also to address pockets of deprivation and to meet the health and housing needs of an ageing population.

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council developed a bespoke website for local residents to showcase local employers, promote local opportunities and the benefits of living and working locally. They also customised an existing product for schools, providing careers advice with details of key local industries and employers.

In summer 2020, Selby District Council faced the challenge of combining the immediate requirements for reopening Selby town centre as part of COVID 19 recovery planning, with delivering existing long-term priorities for revitalisation.

As in many areas of the country, in summer 2020 East Suffolk Council faced the challenge of helping its town centres trade successfully and safely. This case study summarises the approach adopted through a combination of delivering targeted, practical improvements and continuing to boost the capacity of local town partnerships to deliver long-term town centre revitalisation. 

Holly Garner and Parveen Devi, communications officers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, share their innovative approach to getting people back to the high street, and boosting the local economy, as part of the post-pandemic recovery.

Essex County Council has developed an interactive, engaging card game aiming to start challenging conversations about where the public sector could – or should – be investing.