Mark has worked for over 30 years in commercial real estate, town centre regeneration, and placemaking, at the intersection where public, private, and community interests meet.
Over the past seven years, after a leadership role at Revo and chairing the government’s High Streets Task Force, he has increasingly focused on public policy, systems change, promoting partnerships, and leadership.
Mark successfully built and sold two commercial real estate businesses, most recently Ellandi, which was sold to NewRiver REIT in July 2024. Over 16 years, Ellandi undertook projects worth over £2 billion, gained B Corp status and won awards for inclusion, public-private partnership and entrepreneurship.
He now chairs the Hartlepool Development Corporation and is studying for an MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology at LSE, alongside his ongoing consultancy work with NewRiver.
Breaking the Systemic Inertia: Community Health on the High Street
We all seem to agree that putting health services at the heart of communities is a good idea. From Lord Mawson to Sir Michael Marmot, from developers to council leaders, there’s near-universal support for making prevention, wellbeing, and local access to care part of our town centres’ fabric. And yet, despite this consensus, progress is glacial.
Why? Because the system designed to deliver it is stuck in neutral.
Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with senior leaders across the NHS, local government, private investment, and regeneration. What emerges is not a lack of ambition, but a wall of institutional and systemic inertia that prevents the change we all claim to want.
First, leadership and decision-making are fragmented. Across Integrated Care Boards, Trusts, and councils, there’s often no one with the mandate or authority to say “yes.” Acute services dominate decision-making, drawing capital and attention back into hospitals, despite national strategies calling for community care. Targets and incentives often undermine the very goals they are supposed to deliver.
Second, risk-aversion and a defensive culture persist. Bold decisions that benefit communities rarely offer personal reward for those trying to lead them, only risk. The governance and scale of NHS bodies, especially when decisions about local land and estates are made remotely, are ill-suited to fast-moving, place-based regeneration.
Third, the economics are broken. Private capital is ready to invest billions in health-led regeneration. But viability is routinely torpedoed by rent-setting practices that benchmark to outdated, underperforming local markets, not the actual cost of delivery. Meanwhile, funding rounds open and close with tight timelines, and the capital approval process is labyrinthine. Large schemes can take six to seven years just to get through business case stages.
Most frustrating of all is the way community voices are overlooked. Across the UK, there are brilliant micro-examples of what works, genuinely co-created, locally rooted health solutions that improve outcomes and restore purpose to our town centres. But they remain isolated. There is no system to scale or replicate them.
And don’t get me started on the “Community” Diagnostic Centre over 5 miles out of Birkenhead on the motorway junction…
This is not a plea for another grand vision or another glossy strategy document. The vision already exists, and so does the demand. What’s needed now is unblocking: removing the friction points that stall delivery. That means visible national leadership that empowers local action, reform of the capital approval system, and a cross-sector focus on viable delivery.
Health services on the High Street should not be seen as “nice to have” extras. They are core infrastructure for healthier lives, more resilient communities, and stronger local economies.
If we are serious about prevention, productivity, and place, then we must stop treating this as a marginal reform and start seeing it as central to the future of public service delivery and regeneration.
Let’s move from applause to action.
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