Supporting the revitalisation of Britain’s Town Centres and High Streets
Town centre regeneration consultants
Museum Cafe Feasibility Study
New park feasibility study
Museum income generation

Town Deal Business Case Consultants

There continues to be a renewed policy and programme impetus to support town centres thrive, becoming vibrant hubs where people live, shop, use services and spend their leisure time. Programmes such as the Future High Streets Fund and the Towns Fund (which will provide £3.6 billion to help fund projects to support the regeneration of 101 town centres across England) aims to support towns to adapt to new challenges and thrive.

The Town Fund will support a range of projects which will drive economic regeneration, help communities to work together, generate employment opportunities and act as a catalyst for private sector investment.

Investing in towns can take a range of different forms such as, for example, supporting heritage or cultural assets, enhancing greenspaces, developing a strong sense of place and turning former industrial sites into leisure or tourist experiences.   This will take place alongside investing in connectivity in terms of transport infrastructure, skills development and broadband technology.

Together this ‘investment package’ can:

  • Help to change peoples’ perceptions of place
  • Make places more attractive to live in and visit
  • Draw in new residents
  • Attract new businesses and inward investment

The first stage is to develop the Town Deal Board leading to the development of a Town Investment Plan, which in turn leads to the agreed production of the Town Deal.   A key element is to develop a Town Deal business case to test the financial viability of the proposals being put forward.

How can we help?

Our specialisms are in tourism and heritage-led regeneration and how these can be structured and delivered in different ways to support economic growth

Town Investment Plans

We can help to shape the Town Investment Plan – with a focus on heritage-based initiatives, visitor facilities, parks and leisure projects.   The Town Investment Plan will set out a clear vision, identify key challenges and opportunities which the town faces and set out investment priorities to drive economic growth.

An important element of this will be to ensure that the Town Investment Plan is able to deliver outcomes from key policies and strategies.   One of the key considerations is how can the Town Investment Plan support the Government’s objective of ‘net zero’ by 2050.

Preparing the Town Deal Business Case

We can provide technical expertise to develop the supporting Town Deal Business Cases.  Our specialism is in working on the reuse and transformation of heritage assets, the development of parks and attractive greenspaces and leisure-based projects.

We have prepared a number of development investment plans and supporting business plans support the development of town based “assets” to ensure that they are financially viable.

  • Warwickshire County Council: Working with the Council and two trusts to prepare a business plan to develop a George Eliot Visitor Centre / Literary Hub
  • High Peak Borough Council/Staffordshire Moorlands District Council: Buxton Pavilion – operational review to identify approaches to increasing financial resiliance
  • Rushcliffe Country Park: Carrying out a feasibility study to assess the opportunity to introduce a café within Rushcliffe Country Park
  • Hartlepool Borough Council: Preparing two business plans to test the financial viability of a coastal watersports centre and also a heritage based visitor attraction
  • Shropshire Council:  Business case to support the development of Ditherington Flax Mill in Shrewsbury

Working together

We specialise in heritage, visitor attractions, parks and leisure-based regeneration projects.  We recognise that Town Investment Plans encompass much more than this and will require specialist teams including architects, landscape designers and economists to work together to develop Town Investment Plans and supporting Town Deal businesses cases.  We are very happy to collaborate with other specialist consultants and work on specific elements for Councils developing projects.

Contact us

If you would like to talk through a potential project please don’t hesitate to contact either Kevin Brown, Managing Director (kevin@pslplan.co.uk) or David Howells, Associate Director (david@pslplan.co.uk)