Helen Brownlie has been Conservation Officer for Allerdale Borough Council since 2006. She has overseen the conservation and restoration of the historic environment in Allerdale damaged in the 2009 floods. Previously she was a Planner at Eden District Council and Newcastle City Council.

Rob Burns is Liverpool City Council’s Urban Design Manager. He previously worked for English Heritage where he was directly involved with many regeneration schemes and Townscape Heritage Initiatives across the northwest. On behalf of English Heritage he played a major role in establishing the design principles for Liverpool One through his input to the master plan. After moving to Liverpool City Council he ensured that all components of the development were designed and implemented to the highest standards.

Paul Drinnan is currently the Regeneration and Urban Design Manager with the Lancashire district of Fylde. Formerly the Council’s Head of Development Control he was asked by the authority in 1999 to spearhead the regeneration of the Coastal resort town of St. Anne's on Sea. The town had seen major decline with widespread high street vacancies in the town centre, serious deterioration within the built fabric, poor public space design and very low business confidence. A ten year vision was created and a vigorous approach to physical regeneration was undertaken. The work has seen whole scale changes to the town and the won various national awards.

Ged Gibbons is the Chief Executive of the Liverpool City Centre Business Improvement District (BID). He is on the national select committee for BIDs, and is a former Chair of the Association of Town Centre Management. He is responsible for: safety; environmental and enhanced management; events and animation and; marketing and promotion in the Liverpool BID area. Through these activities he aims to make the city centre a more successful place for the benefit of businesses and visitors.

Daniel McGrath is a Project Manager at the Association of Town Centre Management coordinating all members’ evening and night-time economy activities, including the Purple Flag programme. Purple Flag is the national accreditation scheme for town centres at night, which recognises excellence in the management of town & city centres at night, providing significant recognition for people, businesses and organisations who coordinate and deliver the evening and night-time economy.

Wendy Morgan is Principal Conservation Officer with Liverpool City Council. She trained as an architectural historian and taught for several years at Keele University. Her practical experience includes working for a Building Preservation Trust, and also in estate management. Wendy has provided conservation advice on many major restorations in Liverpool city centre, including Lewis’s department store, which is currently on site.

John Pal is a Senior Lecturer in Retailing at Manchester Business School. A town planner by education, a retailer by profession and an academic by accident. Prior to joining MBS in John spent his early management career with C&A, before working at MMU teaching the pioneering Sainsbury’s Open Learning degree. He is also a Co-Director of the Retail Research Forum. He regularly provides comment for the BBC, ITV, Sky News and the Guardian.

Anne-Marie Piedot is a Development Control Officer at Liverpool City Council, having been in the Council Planning Service for 18 years. She has dealt with a large and varied case load, including many large scale retail and commercial developments in the city centre, including the conversion and restoration of the Lewis’s department store, which is currently on-site.

Stephen Proudley is a partner at Tushingham Moore, one of the UK’s leading retail and leisure property consultants. The practice has been involved in significant developments across the north west including Liverpool One and Manchester Arndale and is currently advising the Co-operative Group on the retail and leisure strategy for the NOMA 53 development in Manchester. Stephen has significant experience in juggling the competing priorities for the historic environment and retail development, successfully placing clients in historic properties and areas.

Kelvin Reynolds is Director of Operations and Technical Services at the BPA. Kelvin joined the BPA in March 2004 where he took on responsibilities for managing the Safer Parking Scheme and Approved Operator Scheme for the Association.

Christine Russell has been actively involved in planning and development issues in Chester for over 30 years. She was Chair of the Planning and Development Committee of the former Chester City Council, a City Centre councillor 1980-97 and MP for City of Chester Constituency 1997-2010. Whilst she was MP she Chaired the ODPM Select Committee Inquiry into the Evening Economy and was Chair of the All-Party Retail Group in Parliament. Christine is currently a member of the Chester Civic Trust Council

Mike Stubbs is the Director of FACT, the UK's leading organisation for the commissioning and presentation of film, video and new media art forms. Jointly appointed in May 2007 by Liverpool John Moores University he is Professor of Art, Media and Curating. Encompassing a broad range of arts and media practice his arts management, curating and advocacy has been internationally acknowledged. He is currently leading a new development, Ropewalks Square, a creative and digital hub for the city of Liverpool.

Pete Swift is one of the three founding Directors of Planit, an urban design consultancy. He has over ten years of management experience in private practice, gaining particular expertise in the fields of landscape planning and urban regeneration. He was the Project Director for the Poynton Public Realm Scheme, helping to regenerate the high street. He also lead the Blackpool Winter Gardens Scheme, again with significant benefits for Blackpool’s retail sector.

Ian Wray is Visiting Professor in the Department of Civic Design, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Liverpool, and former Chief Planner, Northwest Development Agency. He chairs the Liverpool World Heritage Site Steering Group and is a TCPA Trustee and member of the RTPI General Assembly.

Graeme Vout is a qualified landscape architect and planner. In 1997 Graeme led on the development of the Stockport Council’s successful District Centres Strategy and Local Centres Strategy which became known as ‘The Stockport Model’; recognised nationally as an example of good practice.
Graeme also worked on the Government’s ‘Business and Town Centre Partnerships (BTCP) project’ sponsored by the Department of Communities & Local Government (DCLG) which included supporting the update on the DCLG guidance document ‘How to Manage Town Centres’. In 2005 he became Stockport Council’s Team Manager for Stockport Town Centre Management and has more recently become the Town & Districts Centres Manager. In addition to his other roles Graeme is also part of the team managing and delivering the Stockport Portas Pilot.