right place, right time

Enjoy listening to the passion and ambition of Councillor Adrian Moss, the Leader of Chichester District Council on why Local Government Reorganisation is exactly the right time to ensure the Chichester voice is heard far and wide. Creating a narrative for a city and area has unleashed a wonderful collaboration of the asset organisations of this astounding yet undiscovered place; University, Chamb...

An absolutely fascinating conversation with Tarah Gear, Director of Brand and Place Futures (cue rock n roll job title!) at Milligan who revitalise towns and cities through creativity, innovation, curiosity and imagination.  In this episode we consider the importance of storytelling and brand in place creation, tapping into the DNA of places, always listening and how the story of a place constantl...

Episode 32 of 'right place, right time' Podcast is now live.... hear from Rachel Bayley, Burnley Place Brand Manager. It's not every day you meet a Place Brand Manager. So, catching up with Rachel is special in many ways, firstly Burnley have had a place-led, place brand approach way longer than most, nearly 20 years, secondly Burnley is bucking the trend in terms of investment, reg...

Dr Huw Bowen has been CEO of Chesterfield Council for 18 years and is stepping down from this role in May this year. Apart from driving a £2billion growth programme for the town he has always been a passionate advocate of a place led approach and was instrumental in Chesterfield developing a story, brand and Destination Chesterfield as the place marketing organisation. This approach was also succe...

On February 15th 2026 thinkingplace turned 20 and in this podcast John Till CEO looks back on a personal and professional journey that has seen the team work with over 100 places the length and breadth of the UK. thinkingplace has created place stories, visual brands, leadership groups, ambassador programmes and a whole range of implementation for regions, cities, towns, economic geographies and n...

Champion of place joins thinkingplace … a New Year place message from Dr Martin Reeves, CEO of Oxfordshire County Council.  As thinkingplace moves into its 20th year! we’re delighted to bring you an extended podcast with Dr Martin Reeves, CEO of Oxfordshire County Council and newly appointed Strategic Associate Director of thinkingplace.  Martin is bringing his much vaunted place insight and exper...

Empowering young people in their place: from tokenism to a shift in power through youth led social action … Saeed Atcha; MBE, DL, founder of Youth Leads addresses the important aspects of properly engaging young people in the future of their place; how and where to listen, engaging with purpose, hearing diverse views, examples of best practice and ensuring the thoughts and aspirations of young peo...

Hear how from Peter Anstiss, the CEO of Team Barrow, an innovative partnership between the UK Government, BAE Systems and Westmorland and Furness Council. This town is at the heart of keeping Britain safe as home of the nuclear submarine building industry and will need thousands more local and incomer skilled workers in the coming years with implications for housing, facilities and services. Learn...

Hear from Chris Wade , Director, The People & Places Partnership who reflects on placemaking, policy, pride, place branding and people. Chris is the author of the Local Government Association’s Revitalising Town Centres Toolkit and a former Expert Adviser for the Government-backed, High Streets Task Force.  In this and all his work, Chris seeks to join-up the dots of town centre practice and p...

Our founding Director John Till is delighted to be joined by Emma Drake, our new Associate Director for thinkingplace and founder and Director of Henbe Communications . Emma has over 30 years experience working with some of the most significant new communities in England. She is a strategic communicator, a specialist in stakeholder engagement and a great believer in creating social value as the he...

Hear how Matt Nicol, Chairman and his Place Board alongside Wychavon District Council are putting the spa rkle(!) back into Droitwich Spa .   For anyone who doesn’t believe a coalition of the willing can make a difference in a place just sit back and be inspired by Matt, a place force of nature!

Our Founding Director John Till talks to Nigel Wilcock, Executive Director at Mickeldore who has been involved in economic development for over 30 years. Nigel talks passionately about his belief that the economy of the UK would be more successful if each of the regions were enabled to play a more equal role.  This episode explores this and more in what is an extremely interesting and engaging lis...

Hear from Jane Hough, Deputy Director for Business Improvement Districts and Business Services for Groundwork Cheshire, Lancashire & Merseyside. Jane is leading the way in creating better places by working closely with people and businesses within the community. She is passionate about improving individuals prospects via education, training and work opportunities along with creating and protec...

Hear from Therasa Garrod, Tourism and Place Manager, Dragonfly Development (wholly owned company of Bolsover Council) who is masterminding the amazing place led journey of town and area. Learn what has been achieved in such a short time with a new narrative, visual brand, Place Board and more, along with some exciting implementation plans for the future.

Our latest episode is with the amazing Mark Foster, Director of OPEN (part of SLR) who shares his view on what constitutes successful place making, authenticity of design and future trends for place development.  

Corinne Day, Newhaven Enterprise Zone's Programme Director, provides a fascinating insight into the place led journey of this South Coast port town, near Brighton, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, as it makes the most of its industry and beauty as it carves out a new creative and marine future driven by the dynamism of its community.

Fresh from the tremendous success of We Are Staffordshire, which he initiated, Cristian Marcucci has recently taken up the role of Managing Director of Marketing Cheshire and he certainly has a wonderful set of assets and opportunities to work with! Hear about why We Are Staffordshire is such a success and his excitement about coming home to help put Cheshire on the map. 

Hear from our BAFTA award winning Creative Director, Peter Anderson as he explores the art of bringing your place story to life via photography, place making, use of colour and his pioneering visual language! 

Councillor Richard Morris outlines how Wychavon District Council have developed a place led approach for Droitwich Spa, Evesham and Pershore involving a stakeholder inspired narrative, the development of a Place Board and the production of an Investment Prospectus for each. This has brought distinctiveness to the fore as a way of attracting investment and creating local pride.

Hear from local entrepreneur Anne Wright, owner of Young Ideas and Henmores, luxury fashion shopping destinations in the town and Chair of Ashbourne Town Team. Anne epitomises a ‘get on and do it’ approach and with colleagues was successful in gaining over £13m of Levelling Up Funding for Ashbourne; listen and be inspired!

Muse is a nationwide placemaker with almost 40 years of experience creating mixed-use communities across the UK. Hear from their Managing Director Phil Mayall on what drives them and the values at the heart of their business that emphasise sustainability, community and quality. And if you didn’t know, find out why they’re called Muse!

From being the first Destination Development Partnership in England to Newcastle being in the Champions League it’s a busy and successful time, as the place passionate chief executive of NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Sarah Green tells us in this fascinating discussion. 

 Enjoy listening to Jim Parker, Chair of the Torbay Place Leadership Board and a highly respected journalist in the area for over 40 years. You’ll hear about the wonders of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham that make up Torbay and how creating the Torbay Story with a place led approach has galvanised stakeholders and got the message out. Not just about the stunning natural environment but also the hi...

Hear Chief Executive, Trevor Beattie, talk about the wonder that is the newest National Park. From cliffs to communities, partnerships to planning, heathland to health and well-being, from brand to biodiversity, from growth to great places to live and so much more. This is a large and diverse entity with unique challenges and opportunities.

Hear from Diana Taylor, the Managing Director of Future Humber, as she outlines the incredible assets the Humber estuary has and how a repositioned and rebranded Future Humber is leading the way in marketing and developing the place. Listen also to the importance of the Future Humber Bondholders who as businesses and other organisations are playing their part by telling and selling the Humber stor...