Cathy Parker is Professor of Retail and Marketing Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University and Chair of the Institute of Place Management. Cathy is regarded as an international expert and leader in place management and is the research lead for the Government's High Streets Task Force. She is frequently asked to commentate on place and retail related topics, while she has contributed to many broadsheet articles on the high street.

Steve is a Director and Reader at the Institute of Place Management, Manchester Metropolitan University. Steve guides the Institute's work on place making and planning. He is a Trustee of the Manchester Geographical Society. Steve has also conducted academic research on lighting and public space, place and creativity, and place-making and football. Steve is currently the placemaking programme lead for the High Streets Task Force.

Gary Warnaby is Professor of Retailing and Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University, based in the department of Marketing, Retail and Tourism and the Institute of Place Management. He is a Senior Fellow of the IPM, where his role is research-focused, contributing to various projects for the IPM and the High Streets Task Force. His personal research interests focus on the marketing of places (particularly in an urban context), and retailing (specifically pop-up retailing). 

Joe Barratt is a Fellow at the Institute of Place Management and the Expert Co-Ordinator for the government’s High Streets Task Force. He has been involved in place-management for over ten years, having co-founded The Teenage Market, an award-winning national initiative which gives young people a free platform to showcase their creative talents. 

Matt Davis is Head of Membership and Engagement Lead for the Institute of Place Management and works across IPM, the BID Foundation and the High Streets Task Force, where he leads on communication. Matthew looks after marketing, membership, policy and public affairs for IPM and holds an MSc in Place Management.

Cionna is Projects and Operations Manager and supports operational delivery at the Institute of Place Management and The BID Foundation. Cionna programmes work and manages resources across a number of academic and practitioner led projects, including the High Streets Task Force, ensuring we can meet the needs of members and stakeholders.

Mihalis Kavaratzis is Professor of Place Marketing (Manchester Metropolitan University) and holds a PhD on City Marketing. Mihalis is Senior Fellow of the Institute of Place Management and has co-founded the International Place Branding Association.

Afroditi is a research assistant at the Institute of Place Management. She works across different projects, including the government funded High Streets Task Force. Afroditi participates in the Developing Place Leaders (DPL) webinars and leads the DPL post-event reports. She is currently studying a PhD in regional economic development through tourism innovations and stakeholder participation.

Iain is an experienced place manager, having worked with BIDs, councils and town teams. He is also Founder of The Vacant Shops Academy. Iain's focus is on building and supporting the IPM’s membership and continuing the work it is doing to develop its governance, code of conduct and standards protocols.

Nikos Ntounis is Senior Research Associate at the IPM. He joined IPM in 2014 and has worked and contributed in numerous IPM projects such as High Street UK 2020 and Bringing Big Data to Small Users. He is responsible for research and project delivery, and the development of products and services related to ongoing IPM projects. He has contributed to several IPM reports including 'Markets Matter', 'Multifunctional Centres', and most recently 'High Street 2030: Achieving Change' report.

Gareth has been working with IPM since it launched in 2008, and latterly with TBF. As well as overseeing the day-to-day operations and activity, Gareth is responsible for managing the various research projects that run at any given time. An Associate Editor of the Journal of Place Management & Development, Gareth has completed an MSc in place branding, and is currently studying for a PhD in the analysis of cultural events.

Michael is a Research Associate at the Institute of Place Management. He completed his PhD in History at the University of Essex where he focused on how different communities in Colchester used the town’s Civil War history to understand the contemporary world that they lived in, and how local stakeholders in the town used the past to reinvent Colchester throughout the last three centuries.

Gaz is IT Manager for the Institute of Place Management. He joined IPM in 2019 and will develop IPM's digital systems. With a background in web development and digital marketing, Gaz previously worked for Manchester Metropolitan’s marketing team, leading on the promotion of research and knowledge exchange output for the Faculty of Business and Law. Gary also has an MA in Sport History and Culture from De Montfort University.

Christian is an economist and data scientist with a passion for (and over 13 years' experience in) public policy, particularly local government finance and devolution, industrial strategy and urban economic development, specialising in using data analytics and visualisation tools to improve the public understanding of economics and economic data and to support policy-making and evaluation. He has worked in local government, think tanks, business and academia and in September 2022 found his own consultancy, Economic Analytics.

Dr Chloe Steadman is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University and a researcher at the Institute of Place Management. She has a PhD in consumer research from the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on consumer culture and people's lived experiences of places, as well as lecturing in consumer behaviour, research methods and being the Programme Leader of the Place Management and Leadership postgraduate courses.

Ben Stephenson is a place professional with over 20 years’ experience. He is Chief Executive of angel.london BID, led the WeAreWaterloo BID until 2019, and prior to that role worked in senior place management roles across the capital, most significantly as Head of Policy at South Bank Employers Group, a membership organisation driving forward the regeneration of the South Bank. Ben is bringing his experience to towns and cities through the UK High Streets Task Force, as a Task Force Expert.