partners

The Centre for Cities works closely with a range of public and private sector partners to support positive urban growth and change.

Funding partners

In addition to our core funder, the Gatsby Foundation, the Centre has a wide network of funding partners to support its research mission. Our partners share our commitment to helping cities thrive, and we are very grateful for their support.  In 2011, our partners included IBM, the Local Government Association, KPMG, ICAEW, Bircham Dyson Bell and Network Rail.  2012 partners to date include PwC, GVA and Sunderland City Council.

We work with funders in several ways.  There are opportunities for corporate sponsorship of research, working within guidelines which protect our independent, non-partisan charitable status.  This can range from associating with a short report on a particular topic, to sponsoring an entire research strand.  For details on sponsoring research, please contact Andrew Carter.

The Centre runs a series of public events throughout the year, involving high profile and Ministerial speakers, and there are opportunities for corporate sponsors to host and have branding association at events.  We have a particularly strong presence at all three party conferences - 2011 speakers have include Eric Pickles MP, Vince Cable MP, Mark Prisk MP, Angela Eagle MP and many more. For further information on our events including party conferences, please contact Niamh Sands.

We also consider consultancy partnerships, where our analyst team addresses a bespoke issue on behalf of a funding partner.  The Centre works within strict guidelines on propriety and independence, as we are an independent and non-partisan charity.

For more information on corporate partnerships, please contact Rachel Tooby. 

Cities

The Centre for Cities partners with a range of cities - recently Derby, Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool and the Partnership for Urban Southampshire - working directly with them on policy ideas to improve their economic performance.  Our associate and partner cities attend workshops, receive tailored policy advice from our team of analysts, and feature as case studies across a wide range of the Centre's research and external outputs. 

In 2011, the Centre's Cities Network brought together cities, employers and central government for a series of private policy-based discussions.  Meetings took place in Leeds, Manchester, London and Warwick and topics covered include unemployment and worklessness, LEPs and business support, and infrastructure and local government financing.  Cities Network will be running again in 2012 - contact Niamh Sands for further details.  Cities Network is supported by IBM.

The Centre also recently ran a series of "LEPs on the road" roundtables in a number of cities, with a view to finding out what progress was being made by LEPs in different cities.  The series was supported by Bircham Dyson Bell.

For more information on our Partner City programme, please contact Andrew Carter.