The UK’s premier event for place branding and place marketing
The sixth City Nation Place UK conference brought together the leadership teams of local authorities, LVEPs and destination marketing organisations, BIDs and economic development teams in Lichfield for a day of ideas sharing and thought leadership.
Here’s just some of the key takeaways…
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A great conference and good to meet a range of people from a variety of place representatives. A lot of learnings to take from the event.
Good range of speakers and approaches. Always enjoy the collaborative and open atmosphere amongst the delegates.
Host Partner
2024 Partners
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Carolyn has worked in the BID industry for 14 years beginning her career in the Midlands, moving into UK wide consultancy, then management of a town BID and now heading up FOR Cardiff the UKs 5th largest BID after working there for the last 7 years. She is also the Vice Chair of ATCM Wales, recently taking part in meetings with Welsh Government about business rate reform and a member of the Leadership Board for The BID Foundation. In her spare time is passionate about empowering women and does this via volunteering as a trustee for Wales’s leading gender equality charity Chwarae Teg, creating and leading the Cardiff Women’s Safety Network and mentoring young women looking to move into the world of business.
Adam joined Medway Council on 14 August 2023, becoming the Director of Place, having been the Chief Executive at the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, overseeing significant regeneration projects across the region.
Adam has previous experience working in regional development and in Local Government, having held a number of roles at Essex County Council, including the Head of Place Partnership Integration.
Adam studied a degree in German at University of Nottingham, has a Masters in Management from the Nottingham Business School and is a committed Nottingham Forest fan. Adam also enjoys cricket and exploring the UK on family holidays with their dog.
As Director of Place, Adam Bryan has responsibility for Frontline Services, Culture and Community and Regeneration.
- The Frontline Services division provides essential services for our customers and residents, such as Waste, Safer Communities, Highways and Transport
- The Culture and Community division is responsible for a variety of service areas including Medway’s cultural offer, libraries and community hubs, planning, housing, sport, leisure, tourism, heritage and building control
- Regeneration this division is responsible for leading our ambitious programme of physical regeneration across Medway as well as our developing our 5 main town centres into vibrant hubs for our communities. Our Skills agenda also falls within this division, including our Adult Education offer and our established skills hub based in Gillingham Town Centre.
The Directorate’s aim is to establish Medway as a great place to live, to work, to learn and to visit, drawing on our rich heritage to deliver a great future for Medway.
Adam is a Board Member for Locate in Kent, Visit Kent, Kent Chamber of Commerce and Medway Place Board.
Clare is the Founder and Director of City Nation Place, the global forum for the people and stories behind places.
City Nation Place creates connections and shares best practice between country brands, regional brands, and city brands around the world through articles, interviews, surveys, white papers, the advisory group network, and conferences.
Clare’s interest in the complex area of place branding was sparked whilst working on a series of Nation Branding Masterclass events, led by Simon Anholt, one of the first thought-leaders to speak about and promote the concept of place branding. Having listened to Simon address audiences in Accra, Delhi, Dubai, London and Singapore on how policy, governance, and symbolic actions need to combine with branding and marketing to create a competitive identity and drive economic growth, she continued to follow the growth in this sector.
Clare launched the first City Nation Place Global conference in London in 2015. CityNationPlace.com has been steadily building followers and in 2017, the first City Nation Place Americas conference was launched. In 2018 City Nation Place Asia Pacific took place in Singapore, and 2019 saw the first City Nation Place UK, specifically for towns, cities and regions across the UK, and the launch of the first City Nation Place LatAm & Caribbean event.
Clare manages the small team at City Nation Place alongside providing event consultancy and management for a number of clients in the publishing and trade association sector, including running the World Media Awards for the World Media Group and event consultancy for the UK Association for Online Publishers.
Alex Harvie is Head of Marketing, Communications and Destination Marketing at Glasgow Life.
As one of Scotland’s largest charities, Glasgow Life is dedicated to improving people’s lives through culture and sport, operating the city’s cultural venues, sports centres and events; as well as supporting the city’s economy by running destination, tourism, and conferences.
Alex is passionate about Glasgow’s marketing, brand and place, and recognises its important role at the heart of Scotland’s economy.
Formerly Head of Communications at Wembley, Alex has thirty years’ experience delivering complex communications projects, from creating the first definitive cultural study of Iran to setting the UK Government’s language of mourning after 9/11.
Maria recently took up the position of Chief Executive at Cambridge BID after nine years in Watford, seven of those as Chief Executive of Watford BID. Before returning to the south Maria worked for Newcastle City as a Senior Regeneration Manager and in Northumberland as a Head of Service responsible for Tourism, Economic Development, Town Centre regeneration, Arts & Culture and Sports Development. She led on and managed a number of capital and revenue projects, including managing a regeneration programme across the rural coalfield, development of a long distance walk route, a new build Tourist Information Centre, car park and toilet block and the restoration on ancient listed monument.
In between Northumberland and Newcastle Maria worked in Italy renovating a villa and as a business development consultant, where she identified a site and managed the development of a Youth Hostel in Alnwick, securing £500,000 grant funding for it’s development. The YH was opened by HRH Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
In her spare time Maria enjoys swimming, cooking (and eating), trips to the theatre, travelling and painting (very badly).
Kirsty McLean is the Executive Director Policy, Strategy and Government Relations for Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. Kirsty is responsible for ensuring the CA’s work is underpinned by a strong evidence base, robust economic analysis and timely engagement of stakeholders. She is also responsible for developing our overall strategy and policy priorities and engaging Government to influence national policy and secure opportunities for the city region.
Kirsty was previously Area Director for the North West in the Cities and Local Growth Unit, a joint unit between the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, leading work with places on local growth and devolution. Kirsty was also responsible for delivering the Government’s Northern Powerhouse agenda.
Prior to that Kirsty was an Executive Director in the Shareholder Executive with responsibility for the strategy of the Public Data Group; a non-Executive Director position on the Land Registry Board; and the digital transformation of the Business, Innovation and Skills Department and its partner organisations. Kirsty previously led on a range of skills and education policies in the Business and Education Departments. Kirsty was also Private Secretary to two successive Education Secretaries; Charles Clarke and Ruth Kelly.
Miriam was one of the first people to join the the Delivery Team for Bradford 2025, working with Dan Bates, Executive Director and Shanaz Gulzar, Creative Director, to build a team to build the delivery team, create the programme and ensure that Bradford 2025 is the most incredible year for everyone in Bradford and across the world. Bradford 2025 is the largest City of Culture to date and includes the whole of Bradford District from the Victorian city centre to the moors that inspired Emily Bronte, and the market towns of Ilkley, Shipley and Bingley.
Miriam has 30 years of experience in arts, broadcast media, talent development, grant-making and charity administration. She led the BBC Performing Arts Fund for 13 years, awarding £5.5m in bursaries and grants to the music, dance and theatre sector. She has been an external assessor for the Clore Fellowship, PRS for Music Foundation and the Radio Academy.
Her role at Bradford 2025 includes Guest Services and she is working closely with colleagues in the Bradford Council, WYCA and the LVEP to welcome three million extra visitors to the district in 2025.
Martin has been Chief Executive of Oxfordshire County Council since March 2023. He was previously Chief Executive of Coventry City Council for over 14 years and was also the Chief Executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority from March 2016 to September 2017. He had previously been with Bedfordshire County Council for three and a half years as Assistant Chief Executive and Chief Executive.
Martin has held strategic leadership roles in a District and an outer London Borough and was Programme Director for Work Smart, Westminster City Council’s flagship transformation programme.
Martin spent much of his early career as a lecturer and researcher and has a PhD in applied economics.
He has an Honorary Doctorate from Coventry University in recognition of his service and commitment to the City of Coventry and is the first Honorary President of LARIA (Local Area Research and Intelligence Association).
He is a former President of SOLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives & Senior Managers) and is the current Local Government Association (LGA) National Procurement Champion.
Louisa Shaw is the Place Brand Manager at We Are Staffordshire, a new approach to promoting and marketing the county, funded by Staffordshire County Council.
Louisa is working with Staffordshire’s Place Board of business leaders and partners to develop and promote a vibrant new place brand and narrative for Staffordshire, maximising opportunities to promote inward investment, support visitor economy, and generate economic growth across the county.
With over a decade's experience in destination marketing, Louisa has led complex marketing and community engagement programmes for major infrastructure and regeneration developments in the Midlands and wider UK.
Boyd Sleator is a dedicated advocate for human rights, equality and freedom of expression. His work as coordinator of Northern Ireland Humanists and as co-founder of Free The Night has led to significant steps forward for many marginalised voices in Northern Ireland.
Boyd has immersed himself in the music industry for over a decade as a DJ, record store manager and promoter of electronic events across Northern Ireland and Manchester. His passion for music led him to pursue formal education in Music Production & Development at Spirit Studios in Manchester (formerly The School of Sound Recording), with his abilities soon being recognised by Fergie on BBC Radio 1. With nationwide radio play and residencies across Northern Ireland, England and Ibiza, Boyd was hailed as one of Mixmag's Future Heroes in 2003. Today, he continues to produce electronic music as a dedicated enthusiast in his personal home studio, inspired by the intricate and experimental sounds of Chris Clarke, Com Truise and Max Cooper.
This deep connection to the dancefloor led him to found Free The Night with local DJ Holly Lester in early 2021; a charity committed to progressing nightlife in Northern Ireland following a lack of change to archaic licensing policy that affects dancefloors across the country. The pair has been working tirelessly on issues affecting the nighttime landscape, and they have had several major accomplishments since forming, most notably the publication of the first comprehensive study on Northern Irish nightlife in their 2022 research paper Transforming Nightlife in Northern Ireland.
Outside of his work for Free The Night, Boyd is recognised for his achievements in advocacy for human rights and equality and has contributed to several legal and societal advancements in Northern Ireland. His efforts have been pivotal in a Supreme Court case that marked a substantial legal victory for bodily autonomy in Northern Ireland and he championed the cause for legal recognition and equality for non-religious humanist ceremonies, advocating for inclusive practices across various sectors. His contributions to education reform are noteworthy, stressing the importance of inclusive and diverse schools that respect and reflect a broad spectrum of beliefs and values.
With a wealth of experience in policy development, community building and advocacy, Boyd maintains a profound commitment to instigating positive changes in Northern Ireland and beyond.
Kate is Director of the GREAT Programme, the UK government's flagship marketing campaign, designed to encourage an international audience to visit, study, trade, invest, live and work in the UK. In FY22/23, the GREAT programme returned on average £15 to the UK economy for every £1 spent.
Kate joined government in 2020 and within 6 months led the successful refresh of the GREAT brand, which has since been rolled out to over 150 markets, promoting everything from UK science and technology to the arts and values.
Prior to joining Government Kate held a variety of marketing and leadership roles in the private sector, developing award-winning marketing for Heinz, Mars, Sainsbury’s, House of Fraser and The Metropolitan Police Service among others.
Ian has worked in the tourism industry since 2001, starting at Northumbria Tourist Board as research assistant. Since then, he has held a range of roles at One North East and NewcastleGateshead Initiative.
Over the 20 years Ian has worked in tourism, he has supported destinations across the country to develop destination management plans, strategize, implement change, and conduct large scale research projects. For the last 10 years Ian has been the regional research lead for tourism in the North East, and he sits on the VisitEngland Research Group. He also sits on the board of Beamish Museum.
As founding Director of thinkingplace, John has directed the development of over 80 place brands over the last 16 years across the UK. He is active in promoting and implementing this best practice approach of creating a shared place story, widening place leadership and creating active collaboration as a key part of growing a place’s economy and promoting local pride. He has led projects for places as diverse as Hampshire, Nottingham, Torbay, Harrogate, North Cambridgeshire, Newhaven, Medway, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Harrogate, Perth and all three UK Cities of Culture.
John has also been working with places to help them develop their response to the Towns Deal, Future High Streets Fund, Levelling Up Funding and Shared Prosperity Fund and is a Mentor to the High Streets Task Force helping to support local authorities and communities to transform their places.