Tim Hancock chairs the Regenerate South Action Group. He is Executive Chairman of Terence O’Rourke Ltd and his career has seen him working both in the public and private sector.
Tim Hancock’s measured approach to tackling situations has served him well. Rather than getting hot under the collar about the challenges potential investors and developers in our region faced when they struggled to get their schemes off the ground, he decided to take a more constructive approach.
Having worked as a Principal Planning Officer at East Dorset District Council, he understood the pressures local authorities were under but in his role with Terence O’Rourke, the award-winning planning design company, he understood the frustration of investors and developers
“My motivation for getting involved with Business South and the Regenerate South Action Group in the first place was to find out how others felt about the situation and if there was anything that we could do about it.
“One of the first things we did as a group was to conduct a survey to discover what members thought were the key issues facing our region.
“The need to promote the region in a more positive way chimed with a lot of us. We have so many well kept secrets in our region like the Lloyds Register collaboration with the University of Southampton and the success of Gunwharf Quays for instance.
“We started to pull the threads together and get behind the idea of promoting the Central South as a great place to live, work and invest.
“Just a month ago we attended MIPIM in Cannes, the world’s leading property event. It was the first time the Central South had been represented there and there were a great deal of positive conversations that we had out there that will hopefully bear fruit.
“There is still a lot of work to do and the challenge is to build on the momentum that has been established so we can start to communicate a vision for the region that will gain buy-in from government, local authorities and LEPs.
“As a next step I think we need to be looking at a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the region as a whole.
“Central South as a concept is beginning to gain traction and we can see what can be achieved if we work together. We need to ensure business is involved and engaged in the future discussions so the vision accurately reflects the opportunities that are available,” he said.
