Stantec business cases bring £51.24 million for town centre change

Leading engineering and design firm Stantec has helped six local authorities secure £51.24 million through the Government’s Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) to help deliver transformational development and regeneration plans in their town centres.

The £1 billion FHSF aims to renew and reshape town centres and high streets in a way that drives growth and ensures future sustainability. Administered by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), the fund co-funds successful Local Authorities supporting transformative and structural change to overcome the challenges facing local high streets.

The Stantec planning teams worked with Chatham, Newcastle under Lyme, Somerset West and Taunton, Portsmouth and South Somerset Councils and their partners to develop, design and deliver comprehensive projects and business cases for regenerating their town centres.

They successfully secured a combined £51.24 million of funding from MHCLG and are now engaging with each local authority to revise project submissions to match the value of funding awarded. The funding will not only drive forward the delivery of these infrastructure projects but will also drive economic growth in these areas by creating vibrant hubs for the communities alongside thousands of jobs.

Co-ordination of the bids required extensive consultant management and stakeholder engagement to build robust, persuasive and captivating bids. Across each town centre, Stantec’s team partnered with, co-ordinated and reviewed inputs from design agencies, quantity surveyors and local estate agents. Stantec also hosted and attended multiple stakeholder events to engage local communities and town centre organisations, ensuring their views and ideas were reflected in FHSF projects and programmes.

The Future High Streets Fund is a key part of the Government’s plan to revitalise our town centres – making them attractive, dynamic and fit for the future. Our team bought a wealth of development management and plan-making experience in helping our clients secure the funding. In all areas, the Strategic and Economic Cases developed from our in-depth understanding and appreciation of each town centre’s socioeconomic drivers, opportunities and constraints.

Ian Timms, Yeovil Refresh Project Manager, South Somerset District Council said, “Stantec has been a key part of our team, bringing extensive practical knowledge and expertise on town centre and related infrastructure issues. I think their assistance and advice, collaboration with Council partners and management of inputs from others, was an important part of the success of our submission. Their expert understanding of the business case process was clear as we developed each project, ultimately resulting in a £9.8 million funding award for South Somerset District Council.”

These are challenging times for the public sector and the infrastructure funding landscape can be complex to navigate. Stantec have a solid track history of identifying and securing Government grant or loan funding for clients, to support the delivery of their development and infrastructure projects. In response to these challenges, they have developed a new tool to help identify funding opportunities.

Stantec’s GIS-enabled Funding Opportunities Database helps clients to identify and unlock funding opportunities by detailing available sources, matching their project against the eligibility criteria, keeping up to date with application deadlines and sharing valuable intel on fund administrators and successful projects to help create successful funding submissions. The database is complemented by an interactive funding map which displays statistics by region and real-time data highlighting funding that Stantec has been instrumental in securing.

About Stantec
Communities are fundamental. Whether around the corner or across the globe, they provide a foundation, a sense of place and of belonging. That's why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind.

We care about the communities we serve—because they're our communities too. This allows us to assess what's needed and connect our expertise, to appreciate nuances and envision what's never been considered, to bring together diverse perspectives so we can collaborate toward a shared success.

We're designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers, innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Balancing these priorities results in projects that advance the quality of life in communities across the globe.

Stantec trades on the TSX and the NYSE under the symbol STN. Visit us at stantec.com or find us on social media.

Media Contact
Jody Prescott
Stantec Media Relations
Ph: (44) 1189-520670
jody.prescott@stantec.com