Preston Tithebarn Partnership (a JV between Grosvenor & Lend Lease)

In February 2008, following a five-way pitch, Roland Dransfield was appointed by the Preston Tithebarn Partnership (PTP - a joint venture between Grosvenor and Lend Lease, in partnership with Preston City Council) to handle the public relations and community consultation for the £700m regeneration of Preston’s Tithebarn district; the creation of 1.5million sq ft of retail, leisure and residential space in the heart of Preston City Centre.

In February 2008, following a five-way pitch, Roland Dransfield was appointed by the Preston Tithebarn Partnership (PTP - a joint venture between Grosvenor and Lend Lease, in partnership with Preston City Council) to handle the public relations and community consultation for the £700m regeneration of Preston’s Tithebarn district; the creation of 1.5million sq ft of retail, leisure and residential space in the heart of Preston City Centre.

The brief was to implement a PR and media management campaign, organise a public consultation and drive people to the PTP Exhibition Centre during a one-month consultation period, to view the plans. Roland Dransfield implemented a proactive PR campaign which centred on building a strong relationship with the local media, in particular the principal newspaper the Lancashire Evening Post, and communicating with stakeholder groups. A public exhibition was also organised in a specially fitted-out shop unit, for which leaflets, exhibition boards, a website and questionnaires were produced to enable dissemination of information and feedback from the public on the proposals.

The objectives of the consultation and PR programme were to:

• help secure consent for the scheme’s planning application
• minimise negative press coverage
• raise awareness of the proposals and the opportunity to help shape them
• generate footfall at the Exhibition Centre
• establish Tithebarn as a positive catalyst for wider regeneration
• Reinforce Lend Lease and Grosvenor as leaders within the development market

Implementation

Press – The first step was to establish a relationship between PTP and the Lancashire Evening Post. Roland Dransfield met with key reporters and arranged an exclusive viewing with the LEP of the Exhibition Centre. A great relationship with the press office at Preston City Council was also established so that sign off would be as quick as possible.

We also introduced Roland Dransfield to all other media and drafted a media briefing kit and FAQ document to ensure that we could publicly respond to enquiries as quickly as possible. Press enquiries were managed surrounding issues regarding the threat to markets, an onsite archaeological dig, appointment of agents, bat survey, rumours about a second anchor, details on the proposed cinema, timescales for the planning applications, security issues and the impact of Grosvenor’s Liverpool One on the regional economy.

Stakeholders – Roland Dransfield advised on the content of consultation and publicity materials which were issued to key stakeholder groups (including elected Council members and local businesses) and members of the public to inform them of the Tithebarn proposals and the consultation events. A presentation on the proposals and a preview of the plans was arranged for the Council and briefing kits for all council members were also written. Copy was drafted for an information leaflet that was delivered to local households, a consultation feedback form and a project website. Furthermore, Roland Dransfield organised for distribution of the information leaflets to community facilities across the town, including the Town Hall, local libraries, doctors’ and dentists’ surgeries, leisure centres and Preston bus and railway stations.

A presentation for members of Preston Vision Board was also organised, taking place straight after the preview for Council members, and Roland Dransfield organised a series of one-to-one evenings for interested local groups including taxi drivers, architecture students from the university, and the local Women’s Institute.

Exhibition Centre – A specially-fitted exhibition centre in an empty shop unit in Preston City Centre opened to the public on June 17th for one month. In order to attract as many visitors as possible, Roland Dransfield implemented an advertising and marketing campaign, which included:

• A series of advertisements in the LEP
• An advert in Asian Image magazine
• An advert in the Preston Citizen
• Editorial in The Prestonian (The city council’s magazine)
• A pre-publicity press release
• Leaflets and feedback forms at Preston Train Station
• A press briefing with LEP, including an exclusive preview of the exhibition centre
• The exhibition centre was officially opened by Preston Town Crier Frank Barton. Promotion girls wearing Tithebarn branded T shirts distributed leaflets in Preston City Centre, encouraging people to visit the exhibition centre and to fill in consultation feedback forms. A locally sourced breakfast was also laid on and people enjoyed croissants, fruit and juice as they viewed the plans. The senior team undertook a radio interview with BBC Radio Lancashire.

The exhibition centre, which Roland Dransfield helped to shape with the PTP team, featured some innovative feedback mechanisms including a peg board where people could jot down brief comments on post-it notes and pin up for all to see, a touch screen video vox-pop booth where people could record their opinions, and on-line access to the Preston Tithebarn website.

Results – Over 1000 people visited the Exhibition Centre in the first week alone of it being open and a target of obtaining 1500 completed feedback forms during the one-month consultation period was exceeded with over 2100 completed forms being received. Letters of support for the project were also received, including from Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board.

Press coverage was achieved in the Lancashire Evening Post, Preston Citizen, Planning Magazine, NW Business Insider, Place North West, Estates Gazette, NW Property News, BBC Radio Lancashire, NW Property News.

Praise from Grosvenor and Lend Lease - The PTP team was delighted with the work of Roland Dransfield and Development Manager Richard Coppell from Lend Lease commented:

"We were impressed at the pitch stage that Roland Dransfield could offer a combined Public Affairs and PR service and they had a strong track record of working with other major developers and we felt they were the best team to help us introduce our vision for Tithebarn to the public, councillors and press. We are delighted with the results which exceeded our targets."