Unlocking growth through partnership
On Wednesday 25 January, industry veterans and fresh-thinkers alike met to discuss the future of public private partnerships (PPPs) following the launch of our report Unlocking Growth Through Partnership.
With a panel drawn from across the world of what was once called regeneration, and more recently called place-shaping, the audience followed the journey of the evolution of public and private sector partnerships. This spanned from the early days of Michael Heseltine’s tenure at the then Department of Environment – a man who was dubbed the great grandfather of PPP - right through to current efforts to unlock private investment and unleash patient capital through “levelling-up”.
Central to the discussion was an exploration of the pitfalls and challenges that can arise during a PPP and the need to learn from not only successful schemes, but also successful places. This was interspersed with practical advice and insights from some of the most significant projects, including the re-development of Earl’s Court and the early days of the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) to name but two.
The objective, which was undoubtedly achieved, was to provide not only a stimulating and thought-provoking session but especially to launch our report, which has been produced to provide a useful source of information to help both BPF members and wider partners deliver successful and dynamic public private partnerships in the future.
The event also marked the tenth anniversary since we first published a report on public private partnerships in partnership with the Local Government Association. In the intervening years the need for the two sectors to work constructively together, to not only deliver quality places but also deliver social value and mitigate the impact of climate change, is greater than ever.
Introduced and chaired by Patricia Brown, the vice chair of the BPF Development Committee and the report’s co-author, the panel comprised Matthew Sampson (Regeneration Director, Crown Estate), Jackie Sadek (Director, Urban Strategy), Jo Negrini (Director of Cities, Planning and Design, Arup), Ken Glendinning (National Director, Acquisitions and Partnering, Homes England) and Rob Heasman (CEO, Earls Court Development Company). The panel took the audience through the challenges and opportunities commonly associated with PPPs.
First off was Matthew Sampson who, as one of the report’s authors, offered some key lessons, with some astute observations around the need to understand the business model of a would-be partner from the outset and for any partnership to be able to manage uncertainty and change over the medium to long-term. This could be economic change driving market sentiment, consumer and occupier demand-led change, or in many cases, political change.
Speaking with the experience of leading Lendlease’s Elephant Park as well as more recently Earl’s Court, Rob Heasman proffered some fundamental pieces of advice to anyone considering entering into a public private sector arrangement. These included the need for clear lines of communication alongside an effective governance model and not viewing the securing of planning consent as the end game.
Next up was Jo Negrini, who based her advice on years of experience within local authorities. Naturally PPPs were not a new model, though had evolved as the changing nature of funding requirements for local authorities had changed, forcing many of them down the route of partnership place working. This evolution could especially be seen in the emergence of local authority development companies, which had now become the norm across London. Also fundamental was the fact that for many councils social care budgets dominated with little remaining to focus on non-statutory “place based” priorities such as economic development, regeneration, and tackling climate change. Essential, however, was the need for partners to gain a greater understanding of local government finance, as increased financial stability bred an increased appetite for risk.
Ken Glendinning offered a broad perspective from that of a public sector investment partner that could bridge the sectors, applying Homes England’s regional and local knowledge to help drive peoples’ shared ambition. He explained the increasing role played by the agency in deploying patient capital to overcome barriers to delivery and unlock private investment, putting an emphasis on placing investment in partnerships they can trust.
Trust was a word that resonated throughout the discussion, sitting alongside vision and leadership as key ingredients.
Jackie Sadek picked up on the theme of leadership with a look back in time to the genesis of the current model of PPPs, from the early days of Heseltine’s intervention in Liverpool back in the 1980s, through to the development of the LDDC and beyond. Different times and different personalities, but it was clear that many of the same challenges remain constant. Like the need to avoid the “corporatisation” of partnerships and a requirement to avoid creating partnerships just to attract government funding, but with no real purpose.
Unsurprisingly all the panellists agreed that it was important to strive to achieve political consensus as part of any successful PPP, given the long-term nature of regeneration that often carried across a number of political and market cycles.
Whilst only a summary of the issues relating to successful PPPs it was enough to provoke a number of thought-provoking questions from the audience. These centred around the need to ensure social value and opportunity was hard wired into each project from the outset, through to successful community engagement. On that it was clear that many believe that engagement should be done “in-house” to ensure genuine skin in the game and effectively manage corporate risk.
Other key themes included the potential of the devolution agenda to accelerate partnership working and the effective “capacity add” of combined authorities, through to the need for the Local Government Association to build capacity and enhance expertise at local authority level.
We also heard from Kemi Oguntoye, an Associate from SAY Property and a member of BPF Futures, our network of young professionals, who gave a powerful account of how regeneration in her native Woolwich transformed not only her community but also led to her making a career in the property sector.
Overall, this was a highly thoughtful, entertaining, and often challenging session that gave some excellent insight and guidance into the issues that will help partnerships fly or fail. In summing up Patricia had a request to attendees and members - to help take this work, the lessons and BPF member’s expertise, in to areas where partnerships can help make a difference in bringing forward positive change. All in all, very fitting to mark the tenth anniversary of the last big debate.
You can download a copy of the report here.
