ED WATSON & ASSOCIATES

PASSIONATE ABOUT DELIVERING SUCCESSFUL PLACES; PLACES THAT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT, WANT TO BE PART OF and want to Invest in.

ROLE

We provide strategic Planning and Place advice alongside a comprehensive understanding of Local Government. We help to articulate the value that a thoughtful approach to place can add to a scheme and the benefit it can deliver for communities, businesses and developers. The benefits of this approach are significant in delivering positive outcomes and real returns for all.

WORK

PRIDE OF PLACE

In developing the right proposals for future change in an area we help teams think differently about their design response; not just to the physical context but social and political. and its potential; We help navigate this - building on our reputation for quality and supporting the right ideas as well as our extensive network.

Our work has covered a range of contexts and clients in both the public and private sectors. These include British Land, Cambridge Biomdical Campus, Stories, Arup, LinkCity, Plus X Innovation and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. We have helped with shaping the narrative around development proposals both in site selection and bidding as well as at through the planning process. We are also deeply involved in Life Sciences in London and Cambrdige and helped shape a new approach to the future of High Streets and Town Centres - advising Council’s, consultancies and regional Government.

SCALEABLE SOLUTIONS

Over 30 years Ed has developed an extensive network of senior practitioners from both government and private sector.

EW&A provides a tailored and scaleable solution that works in step with the changing needs of clients. This enables EW&A to operate as consultants, to be part of in-house teams or provide a fully outsourced solution.

TANGIBLE BENEFITS

We know that by thinking differently at the outset the ‘right’ scheme has the best chance of success - delivering the best holistic value and saving abortive work and associated costs.

From the start EW&A will ensure that opportunities are developed in the context of what we know works and will deliver sustainable value for all stakeholders.

ABOUT

ED WATSON

Set up by Ed Watson in Spring 2018 EW&A offers hands on, senior level, strategic consultancy to those involved in delivering regeneration and development opportunities.

In the last decade Ed has played a pivotal role in a number of high profile projects that have seen the transformation of London’s urban landscape. This includes facilitating the delivery of Kings Cross Regeneration project and securing the arrival of the Francis Crick Institute to the area. He developed a highly successful partnership on behalf of Camden Council with Argent to help them deliver homes, jobs and infrastructure culminating in the investment of £1 billion by Google in its new offices. Kings Cross and the relationship with the Council is now widely seen as an exemplar of long term regeneration and place making.

He also headed-up Camden’s own development programme, the Community Investment Programme and established the Euston Strategic Board generating the principles for wider regeneration of Euston linked to the arrival of HS2. Moving to Westminster City Council he established a sustainable place based approach to managing change and development. He then moved on to head-up the high profile West End Partnership championing sensitive projects including the creation of a strategic approach to managing change in the Oxford Street District including the potential pedestrianisation of Oxford Street.

Ed left Westminster in April 2018 to set up Ed Watson & Associates.

Clients include British Land, Cambrdige Biomedical Campus, Arup, Bristol City, BoonBrown Architects and Be First. Ed is a member of The London Collective and has also provided strategic advice on a pro-bono work for the diocese of Chelmsford.