Experienced, eloquent, effective, executors
Introducing The Placemakers
As Placemakers, we do everything and anything that crafts place. We are curious and collaborative, combining creativity with a pragmatic ability to deliver.
Our unique family of multi-disciplined experts allow us to cherry pick the best line-up for the brief. From strategists, research connoisseurs and regional stakeholder gurus, to talented designers, video makers and storytelling PR’s, together we are The Placemakers.
Eddie McAtominey
Head of Placecrafting
An expat Geordie, although I have now lived longer in North London than the North East. Like my Father and Grandfather, I’m a keen gardener. Unlike them, I’m not very keen on racing pigeons, although I do love to travel to new and occasionally exotic places, seeing new things and meeting new people, is my number one passion.
Andrew Howard
Managing Director
E: andrew.howard@becg.com
T: 020 3697 7630
A big fan of anything that floats, I am now based on the Solent but I hail from the North. Born in Runcorn, the UK’s capital of chemicals, I’m a ‘plastic Manc’ with distant bargee heritage, my passion for water is a long way from the Bridgewater canal where I first learned to kayak.
I gave up rock climbing years ago when I discovered I was fragile and now focus on stomping around the woods, trying to keep up with my kids. A recovering local politician, I waste far too much time setting the world to rights, enjoying excellent wines and rambling on about development and how I could sort out the UK’s Planning system.
Chris Ricot
Senior Account Director
E: chris.ricot@becg.com
T: 020 3697 7656
I’m a rare breed – a born and bred Londoner still living in the city. I’m a massive fan of the history of architecture and a staunch defender of Brutalism – the Barbican is a masterpiece. The South Bank is my favourite place to be – where else in the world can you find skateboarders under a concrete theatre, next to a second hand book stall in the shadow of an exposed beach in low tide?
Samantha Clough
Director
E: samantha.clough@becg.com
T: 01962 893 888
A city girl at heart, I love nothing more than spending the day exploring the hustle, bustle and diversity that urban living offers, both at home and abroad. New sites, new sounds, new things to see and experience. … And when I need to switch off I escape to the quiet open rolling countryside or our gorgeous rugged coastline.
Charli Edwards
Head of Design
E: charli.edwards@becg.com
T: 01962 893 890
My base is and always will be Southampton, but my adventures have taken me from seasoned London commuter and Live event work around Europe to living in Las Vegas Nevada for almost two years.
As a creative I need variety for my inspiration, and living in such an accessible city means I can move from countryside to city life in no time at all.
Mark Darlington
Head of Video
E: mark.darlington@becg.com
T: 01962 893 893
Born in the North and bred in the South. I’ve tried the city life but always end up back in the comfort and quiet of the countryside. I like nothing better than a walk in the woods with the family but also partial to a sunny break away as long as it’s combined with adventure.
Matt Crisp
Associate Director (Midlands)
E: matthew.crisp@becg.com
T: 0121 728 3877
I’m at my happiest wild camping in the Scottish Highlands & Islands. When I’m not doing this, I’m travelling further afield, most recently to Oman and Sri Lanka. Born in the Midlands, I’ve lived in both Birmingham and Manchester sampling the food and drink hidden gems of both.
Rhiannon Thompson
Director
E: rhiannon.thompson@becg.com
T: 01962 893 858
Born in the hills of Mid Wales, I’ve been adopted by the English south coast, a clear passion for rural places, fresh air and memories. Swapping the River Wye and dams and reservoirs of the Elan Valley for the sublime Solent strait means I am never too far away from water. Even when commuting to London, my highlight is walking over the River Thames. Perhaps in my next life, I’ll come back as a fish!
Marcio Juarez
Head of Technology
E: marcio.juarez@becg.com
T: 01962 893 923
Just like a certain bear “from the deepest, darkest Peru…” I swapped my always sunny homeland for England, and loved it ever since. City breaks, green countryside and pebble beaches, we have it all here, however I still enjoy trips back to mother land and beyond, always looking forward to the next trip and place to explore.
Miles Willshire
Director
E: miles.willshire@becg.com
T: 01962 893 859
A Hampshire boy, born and bred, there is much to be revered about the place I call home. From coastland to forest, and our bustling capital city within an hour away – what is not to love?! When I am not enjoying quality time with my young family, I am eagerly partaking pursuits on Land, Air and Sea (but nothing too adventurous).
Emma Wilson
Account Director
E: emma.wilson@becg.com
T: 0161 359 4109
Born in Dublin, grew up in the Midlands, studied in Bristol and Duesseldorf, and now call Manchester home. I’m a keen traveller, musician, rock climber and houseplant hoarder. I’m happiest when I’m learning new things and meeting new people.
Our Associates
Lucy Lomas
B2B marketing specialist - Director at Luma Marketing
Lucy has been helping to shape places since the turn of the millennium. Whether that’s working with planners, engineers, developers, architects or regeneration experts, she is passionate about getting under the skin of a place’s true character. Lucy is passionate about amplifying places and communities through strategic marketing, authentic communications and beautiful graphic design.
Born in London, she has lived all over Europe, speaks many languages (only the French is fluent these days), and now works internationally from Manchester.
Lucy loves a city centre buzz but is equally happy to view that city from the top of hill. She avoids cars where she can, preferring to get around by bike, train, wind or leg power.
Luma Marketing
The Luma team has been working with places and property since 2001. We are passionate about B2B marketing, love to solve a problem and get a real buzz from helping others show their brilliance through branding, strategic marketing, focused campaigns and engaging communications. We understand that success is based on relationships, not Facebook likes. We understand what works and where to focus a marketing investment for measurable returns. We are led by our values and choose our clients, collaborators and team members very carefully. We can talk authoritatively about property, architecture, engineering, placemaking, business culture, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, technology, politics and much more. No fluff, just sensible, strategic marketing and communications.
Zoe Ellis-Moore
Commercial property specialist - CEO & Founder of Spaces to Places
Throughout Zoe’s property career, she has seen so much ‘hope marketing’, where a place is built without an understanding of demand or market needs. Her experience pioneering the first business improvement district in UK in 2005 taught Zoe how to avoid falling into that trap – she’s instead learned how to create compelling and relevant places that increase footfall and ultimately property value.
Her passionate belief is that places should be human with underlining long-term commerciality. She’s particularly interested in pioneering ideas to drive what she sees as the fourth industrial revolution – how we react to the fundamental changes COVID-19 has made to the way we live, work, and relate to one another.
Zoe has applied her ethos and experience in work with high profile clients including Derwent London, LandSec, and Savills. Her core skills are commercialisation, market research, revenue marketing, diverse stakeholder management, creation of partnerships/operator selection, and service design.
Spaces to Places
Spaces to Places helps clients navigate the shift towards building flexible service-led offices that better suit customers. Through a mix of research, placemaking, and marketing, we give you the power to capitalise on your space’s potential and create an office or flexible workspace that suits occupiers.
Placemaking can be a buzz word, but buildings need to have a sense of place to stay relevant and appealing in the current market. The team at Spaces to Places has delivered strategies that create real places of relevance and provide concrete ROI.
The way we use commercial spaces is changing rapidly – transforming with it is your way of leading the market. Spaces To Places is here to help you uncover disruptions in the commercial property market and adapt to them. With us, you can make the right decisions to turn your un-optimised commercial space into a flexible, profitable, human centric place.
Wesley Ankrah
Social value and community engagement specialist – Founder & Managing Director at SeerBridge
Following his degree in Criminology & Sociology at the University of Brighton, Wesley has worked for not-for-profits with a focus on creating and facilitating youth engagement initiatives including training and educational programmes for the most marginalised young people across London boroughs. Wesley then worked in house for a well-known residential developer, integrating social value principles and ensuring s106 contributions were secured for legacy projects across wellbeing, education, employment and apprenticeships. In 2018 SeerBridge was formed as a community benefit consultancy advising investors, developers, planners and key stakeholders across the built environment with regard to sustainable social value outcomes for communities.
SeerBridge
https://seerbridge.com
SeerBridge Limited is a social value and community benefit consultancy dedicated to real estate and the built environment. mission is to create a legacy of social value for our clients and the wider built environment.
Seer: a person of supernatural insight who sees visions of the future; and
Bridge: something intended to connect two previously separate things.
We are the ‘Seer’ that provides clarity and direction to our clients’ community engagements. Together with our clients, we ‘Bridge’ communities together by increasing their social, economic and environmental sustainability. We embody these two concepts by providing measurable and creative
community benefit whilst linking the spheres of the public, private and third sector.
Our Story
The Placemakers was born from a desire to bring together a team of experts with a passion for placecrafting. This passion coupled with depth of skills across strategy, stakeholder insights, design, video, digital, social media and traditional communications are the driving force behind The Placemakers.
Launched in 2020, The Placemakers is a service delivered by the Built Environment Communications Group (BECG), a communications consultancy helping public and private sector organisations across the UK with expert counsel and award-winning communications services. BECG is placed 55 in PR Weeks Top 150, has been awarded ICCO Independent Consultancy of the Year EMEA, and is the highest scorer, out of c2,500 communications consultancies across the UK, for client satisfaction. We are also ISO 9001 and 14001 certified and hold the PRCA Communications Management Standard.
The Placemakers is here to support clients as they begin their journey on crafting, and enhancing, new and existing places through research, strategy, design, activations, and communications.
Focusing on understanding what makes a place successful, The Placemakers enhances BECG’s consultancy offer providing a new sector specialism and an added dimension to a broad communications mix.