St. Modwen 

Our role

Cavendish supported St Modwen on planning communications and stakeholder engagement for outline applications covering the MG and West Longbridge sites, which together would deliver more than 1,000 homes and over 5,000 jobs. 

Working across two local authorities, multiple council wards and a broad stakeholder environment, we developed a communications strategy designed to strengthen local understanding of the proposals and support constructive engagement around the future of the site. 

During Covid-19 restrictions, we delivered a digitally led consultation approach combining a bespoke engagement platform, live digital engagement and offline consultation materials to ensure broad community participation and accessible engagement. 

Alongside community consultation, we led engagement with political stakeholders across the region, helping build support and alignment around the long-term regeneration vision for Longbridge. 

The challenge

For St. Modwen, the regeneration of Longbridge represented one of the UK’s most symbolically and politically sensitive brownfield redevelopment projects. 

Following the collapse of MG Rover, the future of the site carried major economic, political and community significance for Birmingham and the wider West Midlands. Delivering the next phase of regeneration depended not simply on securing planning consent, but on navigating a highly complex stakeholder environment shaped by local identity, political scrutiny and strong community interest in the future of the area. 

The business needed to build support across multiple political and community audiences while demonstrating that regeneration plans reflected the long-term interests of local people.