LEAD BEYOND BOUNDARIES
See what is possible for your place, and agree where to start
A short, fixed-price programme that brings your partners into the room, shows them what pioneering places are doing with the tools now available, and leaves you with tangible first steps.
For councils, combined authorities, BIDs, anchor institutions and their partners · From £6,500 + VAT
WHY NOW
A good moment to see what your place could do
Many places have new leaders with new priorities. The tools for local renewal have moved on too: purposeful capital looking for local partners, procurement rules that let public spending do more for local benefit, and partnerships that reach well beyond the council.
Every place holds more potential than it is using.
Leading Beyond Boundaries gives your officers and partners a quick, shared grounding in what pioneering places are already doing, so you can bring credible options to your leadership and choose where to start.
What you get
A beginning your partners can build on
A fast grounding in what is possible
Pioneering practice from other UK places, across spending, capital and partnerships, chosen for your priorities.
Your ecosystem in the room
Council, universities, investors, businesses and community organisations hearing the same ideas at the same time.
Tangible first steps
Opportunities you can act on now, with the people ready to take each one forward.
Whichever priority you start from, we draw on the three levers every place has: the money it already spends, the capital it could attract, and the partnerships that reach beyond any one organisation.
How it works
Bring your ecosystem into the room
You invite the partners who matter and we bring in others who can help: up to 30 people from councils, universities, investors, businesses and community organisations. We bring the examples, the structure and the facilitation, using the Stored Potential method developed by Recurve.
- 1PrepareWe learn your priorities and what is already under way. In Foundation and Plus, we hear from your partners before the day.
- 2Bring togetherA day with your partners (two in Plus): what pioneering places have done, what it could mean here, and what might hold you back.
- 3Agree first stepsA short write-up of the opportunities and first steps, with names against them. In Plus, a 90-day plan.
We fix the session date when you sign up. Getting the right people in one room is the hardest part, so everything else is planned around it.
Choose your starting point
Three ways to begin
Workshop
£6,500 + VAT · about four weeks
A first look at what is possible, with your partners in the room.
- A scoping call and a short pre-read for your place
- One day together for up to 30 people
- A short note of the opportunities and first steps
Foundation
£12,500 + VAT · six weeks
The day built on what your partners have told us beforehand.
- Everything in Workshop
- A partner survey and interviews before the day
- A written summary of priorities, each with an owner
- A readout with your leadership team
Plus
£24,000 + VAT · ten weeks
For partners ready to commit to a plan and see it through its first months.
- Everything in Foundation, with more partner interviews
- Scenarios to test your plans against what may change
- A second day with the people taking actions forward
- A 90-day plan, resources for your team and a check-in
You provide the venue and invite your partners, and you can share the cost with them. Anything that follows is scoped and priced separately, with no obligation to continue with us.
Request the prospectus
Who you'll work with
Sam Markey leads every programme
Sam brought the term place leadership into use at Connected Places Catapult, where he led the Innovation Places Leadership Academy for places including Cardiff Capital Region, Hull, Newcastle and South Yorkshire. He was lead author of the Social Impact Investment Advisory Group's final report, Mobilising the impact economy as partners in national renewal, and Founding Chair of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre. In 2008 his essay on quantum models of government won the Institute for the Future's MindStruct prize, at the close of its SuperStruct forecasting exercise.
Associates join where a place needs specialist investment or sector expertise. We name them in your proposal.
More about Sam
FAQs
Who can commission it?
Any organisation working for the future of a place: a council or combined authority, a BID, an anchor employer, a university or a developer. You can share the cost with partners.
Can it help us respond to new political leadership?
Yes. New leaders seeking fresh ideas will find credible options, drawn from pioneering practise and from your own partners, and a first set of steps to take in applying them to your own priorities.
How is this different from an away day?
Your partners are in the room, the examples come from other places, and the day ends with first steps that named people have agreed to take.
Do we need money of our own to invest?
No. We look at all the resources around your place, including what your partners hold and the spending already under way.
How do we buy it?
Each option is a fixed-price piece of work with a set timetable. We send a short scope and quote that you can take through your own procurement route.
Does it work outside England?
Yes. We work anywhere in the UK, and tell you which national schemes apply where you are.
