Member Article

Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners lands Thames Valley deal to bolster ambitious growth targets

Planning, design and economics consultancy, Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP) has secured a major commission to deliver in-depth sub-regional analysis designed to support the growth of the Thames Valley economy.

The Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (TVBLEP) and its six partner councils have set ambitious growth targets, with the aim of providing a £700m boost to overall wages and profits generated through the region’s businesses by 2020.

The partnership appointed the consultants to determine the future housing needs of the area to help achieve these targets and has now focused its efforts on determining the future industrial and office land requirements needed to match its ambitions.

It is widely acknowledged that local economies do not necessarily adhere to administrative boundaries, so the NLP research will aim to identify the various Functional Economic Market Areas (FEMAs) and relationships that exist across the six authority areas of Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham.

NLP, which earlier this year opened a Thames Valley office in Reading, secured the contract based on its strong track record in such in-depth analysis in other locations around London including Surrey, Sussex and Hertfordshire.

The head of the Thames Valley office and NLP senior director Daniel Lampard said: “NLP is delighted to have been chosen to carry out this important evidence base work which will support these authorities and the LEP to plan positively for economic growth and development over the coming years.

“Thames Valley Berkshire recognise the need for economic evidence to inform local planning and are one of the first LEPs in the south of England to have taken a lead in driving forward the growth agenda in this way.

“We look forward to working alongside the Berkshire authorities and the LEP to demonstrate our continued commitment to ensuring that the growth potential of Thames Valley’s dynamic economy can be realised.”

The study will focus on a number of sub-regional factors and emerging trends such as; travel to work areas, projected employment and population growth and commercial property markets.

The key findings from the study will be used by each Berkshire local authority to develop economic policies and strategies and will provide the TVBLEP with the evidence they need to drive forward growth throughout the sub-region.

Tim Smith, Chief Executive of Thames Valley Berkshire LEP said: “The geography of economic activity is increasingly complicated.

“The six Berkshire authorities together with the LEP need to establish the functional economic market area that each of the authorities sit within, which is Part 1 of the study.

“Part 2 of the study will be to carry out an Economic Development Needs Assessment for each of the FEMAs identified. This will identify the future quantity of land or floor space that will be required for economic development uses in each Unitary Authority area in each of the defined FEMA(s).”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .