Who to know in the public sector

When it comes to making the most out of relationships it is as much about who you know as it is the skills, passion and investment you have to offer. EG provides 20 must-have connections to enable the most powerful public/private partnerships. Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities Love him or loathe him, Gove is the man with the direct line into Number 10 and 11 and tasked with leading the current government’s levelling up campaign. Having him on speed dial definitely wouldn’t hurt. Photo © Mark Tomas/Shutterstock Peter Denton, chief executive, Homes England Denton is desperate to work closer with the commercial real estate sector and turn Homes England into an agency of change, moving from delivering programmes to delivering places. With a background in banking, he knows how to get finance flowing. Photo © Roland Bakos Lord Dominic Johnson, minister for investment, Department for Business and Trade Lord Johnson has the unenviable job of attracting investment into the UK in a post-Brexit environment. While some may question his choice in partner, running a £5.7bn investment firm with Jacob Rees-Mogg, Johnson does bring decades of experience in finance to the role. – Tim Newns, managing director for levelling up, Department for Business and Trade Newns was chief executive of Manchester’s inward investment agency MIDAS for more than a decade and was instrumental in helping pull some £6bn of investment into Greater Manchester. At DiT his focus is on driving investment across the UK and overseeing the regional expansion of the Office for Investment. – Jessica Blakely, director of levelling up major programmes, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities A decade in the private sector delivering strategic corporate finance advice at Citi and Macquarie Group has surely given Blakely enough of an understanding of the role enterprise has to play in levelling up. After gigs at the BEIS and the Cabinet Office, she’s now tasked with delivering the major programmes within the levelling up plan, including freeports and doling out Levelling Up and Towns funds. – Lisa Nandy, shadow secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities Depending on which side of the table you sit, Nandy is potentially the most important person to know on this list. If the idea behind levelling up remains for the (next) government, making sure Nandy is on your speed dial is vital too. Photo ©Shutterstock/James McCauley Lara Newman, chief executive, LocatED Like Denton at Homes England, Newman is all about working with the private sector but instead of homes and communities, she Is looking to develop a sustainable educational estate. A champion of diversity – using the LocatEd programme to bring more people in to property – Newman has acquired more than 200 sites for schools and believes school-led mixed development has a key role to play in levelling up. – Pat Ritchie, chair, Government Property Agency Ritchie, with chief executive Steven Boyd, has the job of modernising the government’s sprawling estate, from ensuring better ways of working, more valuable ways to spend taxpayers’ cash, offloading surplus sites and teaming up with the private sector to deliver fit-for-purpose hubs across the country. – Catherine Davies, head of DIO estates, Ministry of Defence If you are a surveyor, looking after the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s estate is a dream job. A portfolio that has every kind of asset you could dream of, in every kind of location and a million and one opportunities to make it better. Working closely with director of infrastructure Sherin Aminossehe, Davies has responsibility for maintaining, improving, disposing and modernising the MoD estate. – Deborah Cadman, chief executive, Birmingham City Council A degree in politics, a masters in economics, 30 years in public services, the first permanent chief executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority – Cadman is a force to be reckoned with. Smart, passionate and intent on delivering for Birmingham, Cadman delivers. And you’d better too. – Joanne Roney, chief executive, Manchester City Council The first female chief executive of Manchester City Council and successor to Sir Howard Bernstein, Brummie Roney has a track record of getting stuff done. She knows housing and regeneration inside out. Prior to the Manchester gig she was instrumental in saving Sheffield Park Hill estate and at Manchester has pushed the Mayfield and Angel Meadows projects forward. Your go-to, if you want to get it done. – Mark Bourgeois, interim director of city, Liverpool City Council The private sector man gone public. With tough stints at Capital & Regional and Hammerson, Bourgeois quit the listed sector to run his own consultancy. First big job, interim director of place at Liverpool City Council. No rest for the wicked there then? Bourgeois is passionate about delivering complex urban projects and has first-hand experience of what the private sector can and cannot do to help. – Michelle Percy, director of place, Newcastle City Council With a background in real estate, leading the initial phase of the £200m Stephenson Quarter project next to Newcastle central station, Percy is tasked with delivering a major change programme to “challenge and shape Newcastle City Council’s approach towards becoming an enterprising council”. She is passionate about delivering a fit-for-purpose portfolio for Newcastle Council and ensuring the development has a positive effect on the city’s people’s lives and the civic environment. – Paul Kitson, director of place, prosperity and sustainability, Birmingham City Council Former Homes England executive director Kitson joined Birmingham City Council in 2021 with the remit to oversee the long-term strategy for the city. That strategy is about making Birmingham a global leader in showcasing “how new development and regeneration of places can benefit the whole of the city, helping to provide new places to work, live and play in, whilst also bringing significant new employment to the city”. – Andy Burnham, mayor, Greater Manchester Dubbed the “King of the North” during the pandemic, Burnham is seen as a Labour leader in waiting. He’s a strong voice for devolution and has an open door for the private sector if it wants to help him make Greater Manchester even greater. – Steve Rotherham, mayor, Liverpool city region One of eight kids raised by a single mum, who began his working career as a bricklayer, Rotherham is a politician that can empathise. There’s a big job to do in restoring faith in Liverpool’s politics but Rotherham is committed to the city and region. “Devolution is our chance to deal with the things that matter most to our city region and create a future rooted in our shared values and aspirations, “ he says. “It’s about taking back control, making decisions in our own interests and releasing the potential of a region with a rich history and extraordinary character.” Photo © Paul Greenwood/Shutterstock Andy Street, mayor, West Midlands Former John Lewis boss and one of the loudest champions for the West Midlands, Street knows how to work a room full of private sector players. If you’re keen to invest and Street thinks you can bring benefits to the West Midlands, you’re pretty much guaranteed a moment of his time. – Ben Houchen, mayor, Tees Valley Pushing forward mayoral development corporations to cut red tape and speed up development, Houchen could be a developer’s dream. He is focused on creating a local economy that creates quality jobs, underpinned by an even stronger private sector. – Tracy Brabin, mayor, West Yorkshire The UK’s only female mayor, Brabin is a politician with a showbiz background (with roles in Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale). She is on a mission to deliver 5,000 sustainable homes, make sure West Yorkshire’s creative industries form part of its wider recovery and ensure infrastructure sits at the heart of the region’s renaissance. – Nik Johnson, mayor, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough No pressure being mayor for a region that has one of the most talked about new sectors in real estate at the core of its growth. If a region wants inward investment, whisper the words “life sciences” and it will come. But balancing that with housing need, cost of living and infrastructure woes? Tough. Johnson is committed to getting more houses built, fixing transport issues and doubling the local economy by 2041 – pledges that all require public/private partnership. – To send feedback, e-mail newsdesk@eg.co.uk or tweet @EGPropertyNews