Revitalising our Town and City Centres 2026

Caring and collaborative in spirit, bringing people together is Chithra Marsh’s get-out-of-bed purpose. As former National Chair of Women in Property, she hopes to leave an indelible mark on the property industry with her commitment to “bringing people into focus”. With nearly three decades of experience as an architect, in her role as a director at Buttress Architects she leads on community regeneration projects, including those funded through Levelling Up alongside the “Community” and social value areas of the practice’s B Corp business strategy.

EDI principles are threaded throughout her career and in her volunteer roles with Women in Property and the RIBA (Regional and National Councils and co-chair of the NW EDI Committee), supporting an equitable profession. For the last fifteen years, she has also been a strategic ambassador for PLACED, a social enterprise specialising in place education and engagement. Most recently she has become a supporter and mentor with the Future of Greater Manchester and the Diverse Voices programme. Marsh was named EDI Champion of the Year at the 2024 Property Week ‘Inspiring Women in Property’ Awards.

Humphreys has built a reputation for joining the dots between brand narrative, place design and cultural transformation. With over 30 years’ experience and multiple industry awards, he creates people-centric environments that inspire collaboration and creativity, including the recent transformation of Manchester’s New Century Hall into a thriving creative ecosystem.

Swift is co-founder of landscape architecture practice, Planit, established nearly 30 years ago. He is a member of the B Corp Climate Collective, and a co-founder of Manchester’s Cyan Lines project alongside Tom Bloxham.

Ingall is the chairman, CEO, and founder of Allied London, an award-winning multi-platform real estate investment, development and services group. He has earned a reputation for tackling complex, difficult and pioneering developments, as well as the restoration of listed historic buildings and iconic landmarks. Ingall’s ability to blend vision with technical and financial skills has established Allied London as a leader and authority in the area of complex city centre redevelopment.

Watson is responsible for the leadership of economic growth and housing, property and strategic asset management, and health and safety. This includes leadership of the council’s significant growth and strategic investment programme, of which the Southport Town Deal (including the Marine Lake Events Centre) and the future of Bootle town centre (including the revitalisation of the Strand and Salt & Tar) are priority parts. His professional background is in corporate strategy, finance and investment, and mergers and acquisitions, having previously held executive roles and board positions in the private sector in both the UK and Canada.

Eatwell is founder and managing director of Font Communications and a passionate advocate for community-led placemaking. With over 20 years’ experience, she has led award-winning consultation programmes for major town-centre regeneration and housing schemes, helping communities shape successful places across northern England.

Osgerby has been a key figure in shaping the city’s landscape. With seven years at Hull City Council, her expertise in delivering complex capital development projects has driven transformational change across the city, particularly in the realm of preserving its historic assets. As Programme Director for the £70m Hull Maritime project, she oversees the restoration of six of Hull’s most significant maritime landmarks, including the Grade II* listed Maritime Museum, Dock Office Chambers, Queen’s Gardens, the North End Shipyard, and the historic ships – Arctic Corsair and Spurn Lightship. Her role involves providing strategic leadership to ensure the successful delivery of these high-profile projects, alongside a comprehensive community engagement programme that aims to connect the city’s rich maritime history with its residents and visitors alike. Osgerby’s leadership and passion for Hull’s heritage have been central to revitalising the city’s historic assets, ensuring they remain a central part of Hull’s future while honouring its past.

O’Neill is a highly accomplished public sector leader with over two decades of experience in economic development, regeneration, strategic planning and delivery of front-line services. Currently serving as the executive director of place at Barnsley Council, O’Neill provides strategic leadership across a wide portfolio including economic regeneration, planning, housing, culture, zero carbon initiatives, waste, neighbourhoods, highways, assets, environment, transport, communities and regulatory services.

Percy has over 18 years’ experience delivering major mixed-use regeneration projects across the UK and internationally. Renowned for leading complex public-private partnerships, she brings deep expertise in creating long-term value through design-led, commercially robust, and socially impactful places. Before joining Muse in 2025, Percy was senior development director at Landsec, where she led transformative schemes across the Northwest including the £1.7bn Mayfield regeneration and the acquisition of MediaCityUK. Previously, as head of development at Bruntwood, she directed nationally significant projects such as ID Manchester and Circle Square. Percy excels at navigating multi-phase developments, securing investment, and aligning diverse stakeholders to deliver sustainable, inclusive urban transformation.

Jonson is an innovative and passionate landscape architect and urban designer with over 25 years’ public realm design experience. He has overseen the design and implementation of several high profile public realm schemes including projects in Manchester, Sheffield, Salford, Liverpool and Birmingham. He has delivered a suite of public realm projects in Leicester City Centre, including transforming a road into a new £2m linear park with rain gardens, sustainable lighting and climate-focused materials. Jonson also led the Oakham town centre project, introducing shared pedestrian/vehicular surfaces in order to overcome conflict between vehicles and non-vehicle users. He leads LUC’s design projects in Ireland and is currently working on large public realm enhancement projects for Galway, Limerick, Sligo, Waterford and Roscommon Councils. He also has extensive expertise in higher education public realm projects.

Burns leads the establishment of the Ashton and Stalybridge Mayoral Development Corporation, a flagship transport-led regeneration programme within Greater Manchester. With significant experience in regeneration, economic development and placemaking, he has delivered major town centre, infrastructure and investment projects and programmes across the North West.