What should a regenerated New Town look and feel like? How do you preserve its unique character at the same time as making it fit for 21^st century businesses, visitors and residents? And how do you guide a diverse group of investors, residents, councillors and businesses through the turbulence caused by the global financial crisis?

As regeneration lead, these were the pressing questions that I grappled with over the 17-year period of the development of Bracknell town centre. But short of making a grand tour of regeneration schemes across Europe (and at a busy local authority there just wasn’t the resource) – there were few places to turn for guidance.