As Project Director, on behalf of the University of Northampton I led the design and delivery of the Silverstone 2035 Vision – a business-led, cross-sector strategy to position the Silverstone region as “the world’s premier destination for high-performance innovation”, where sport, science, engineering, technology and leisure could converge to drive sustainable growth.
The challenge was not a lack of capability, but fragmentation: multiple stakeholders with world-class assets (circuit, park, firms, skills and R&D partners) operating across local authority boundaries and sector silos. My role was to create the “backbone” conditions for collective action: convening senior stakeholders, developing a shared narrative, and transforming ambition into a deliverable platform that local authorities, anchor institutions cand key stakeholders could get behind and invest in with confidence.
Delivery approach
- Coalition-building: brought together 50+ organisations across business, academia and local government, shaping the 2035 Vision through a structured engagement process and workshops.
- Evidence-led strategy: ensured the 2035 Vision was underpinned by an explicit research/evidence base and aligned to national growth priorities, including the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor narrative.
- From document to delivery: established and mobilised six strategic groups to develop workstreams, costed projects and investment propositions.
Outcomes
- A credible, co-created regional proposition which was launched at the Silverstone Technology Cluster’s Innovation & Growth Conference, strengthening the region’s “investable” profile.
- The creation of Silverstone 2035 Ltd, a practical delivery architecture that supports infrastructure, skills, place-making and inward investment discussions at pace