Coventry City Council

Overview

Laura authored a business case to support Council decision-making in respect of the future ownership and management of the Lower Precinct and Coventry Indoor Market, enabling the wider regeneration of Coventry City Centre.

The Lower Precinct shopping centre covers 200,000 sq ft of retail space across more than 40 commercial units and an indoor market that has stood on the current site since 1958. The land surrounding the indoor market was required to unlock the early phases of the £470m Coventry City Centre South regeneration and the market building itself would facilitate the ‘opening up’ of the immediate area to create new vistas and positive place-making as a core part of the proposed scheme.

The Council was freeholder of the Lower Precinct Area and a third party asset management company was the long leaseholder. The arrangement meant that neither party had strategic control over the indoor market nor incentivisation to create a long-term plan for positive and sustainable change for the asset. Without Council intervention to gain full ownership of the indoor market and adjacent land, the first phase of regeneration could not progress.

The Council required independent and impartial advice to enable robust and confident decision-making. The business case explored different options for taking back control. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, Laura ensured that the business case reflected HM Treasury Green Book guidance and 5-Case Model methodology setting out the Strategic, Economic, Commercial, Financial and Management implications of proceeding with the intervention.

The business case was presented to Cabinet in March 2023.