Blue Earth Summit

When you meet Gareth Bradford, Director of Strategic Business Development at The Crown Estate, you quickly realise this isn’t just a story about property, planning or policy.

It’s a story about places, the towns and cities we live in, the offshore wind farms powering our homes, the rural landscapes that feed and restore us, and how you design them with people, nature and long-term prosperity in mind.

In our latest Blue Earth Podcast, Will Hayler sits down with Gareth to explore a journey that runs from lifeguarding in Exmouth, all the way to the Cabinet Room in Downing Street and now into one of the most influential organisations in land and seabed management in the UK.

Here’s the story behind the conversation.

• Listen to the podcast on Spotify
• Watch the podcast on YouTube

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Roots on the coast: growing up with nature

Gareth grew up in Exmouth, on the Devon coast, the kind of place you fully appreciate once you leave and realise what a special example it is of town planning and community.

His childhood was steeped in the outdoors:

• Grandparents who were farmers in nearby Lympstone.

• A family that spent holidays outside, walking and camping.

• Swimming in the sea from the age of two.

That early connection to the natural world has never really left Gareth. It’s also a thread that runs neatly into Blue Earth’s belief: people who spend time in nature are far more likely to want to protect it.

From rugby and geography to town planning

Like many good stories, Gareth’s career didn’t follow a straight line. Gareth went to Swansea to study Geography and, as he jokes, possibly to play rugby as much as to read physical and human geography. A serious injury in his final year forced Gareth off the pitch and into the library, and he graduated with a strong degree but no clear plan.

So he did something simple and powerful: volunteered.

A short placement in a local council planning department in Devon turned into paid work, then into a permanent job. That led to a Master’s in Town and Country Planning at Cardiff, and eventually into a role designing two new towns in the South West. Here, Gareth discovered the thing that would shape everything that followed:

Planning, done well, is about vision, not just process. It’s about how a place feels, and how it changes people’s lives. This idea, that planning is as much art as science, came from mentors like Professor Stephen Crow at Cardiff, and it’s one Gareth carries into every role.

From the outside, planning is often seen as a blocker. A hurdle. Something you “have to get through”.

Gareth sees it differently.

For Gareth, planning is where you:

• Start with a clear vision of what a place could and should be.

• Think deeply about how people will feel moving through that space.

• Balance competing land uses and interests in a transparent, honest way.

• Explain decisions clearly, so even if people disagree, they understand why.

It’s not about saying no. It’s about asking better questions:

• What do we want this town,  city or region to look like in 20–30 years?

• How do housing, transport, nature, jobs and culture fit together?

• How do we design places that genuinely improve people’s lives?

That mindset took Gareth from the South West to the heart of national decision-making.

From a small town in the West Country to Number 10

A standout project put Gareth into the final of “Young Planner of the Year”, which in turn caught the attention of the national government.

Soon, the kid from Exmouth found himself:

• Working in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

• Shaping the Localism Act, legislation designed to give communities more power over local decisions.

• Spending his days in Parliament progressing bills and his evenings watching his own village develop a neighbourhood plan based on those very policies.

Then came an invitation that still feels slightly surreal: a role in Downing Street.

As a policy advisor to the Prime Minister, Gareth worked across:

• Housing and communities

• Transport

• Energy and environment

Gareth was at the centre of key changes like:

• The Localism Act.

• The National Planning Policy Framework, slimming thousands of pages of planning guidance down to something usable.

Throughout this time, three skills kept Gareth grounded:

1. Straight-talking communication: Saying what he really thought, clearly and honestly

2. Connecting big ideas to real lives: Always asking “so what?” for a town, a family, a citizen

3. A love of teams: Shaped by a childhood of sport and carried into modern cross-Whitehall teams

Devolution, combined authorities and a bigger canvas

After Number 10 came another shift: this time into the West Midlands Combined Authority, where Gareth worked as Director of Housing and Regeneration.

It was a new experiment in devolution: mayors, combined authorities, and a more place-based approach to growth. Here, Gareth led work on:

• Large-scale regeneration

• HS2 growth

• Housing and asset strategies

• Devolution deals with central government

Once again, the theme was the same: connect national ambition to local reality, and build teams big enough to handle both.

Finding the “only place to go”: The Crown Estate

After years in local and national government, Gareth wanted to work in a more commercial setting, but without losing the public-purpose DNA that had driven his career.

That search led to what Gareth describes as “the only place to go”: The Crown Estate.

The Crown Estate is a unique hybrid:

• An independent commercial business established by Act of Parliament.

• Responsible for an extensive portfolio including urban property, rural land, and the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

• Returning its profits to HM Treasury for the benefit of the nation.

What drew Gareth was the chance to:

• Think truly long-term, beyond political cycles

• Work evidence-first, grounded in data and analysis

• Combine four strategic priorities in one place: Energy security and decarbonisation, Social and economic impact, Nature and biodiversity and Economic prosperity.

It’s also an organisation whose DNA is partnership, a perfect fit for someone who has spent his career working across national, regional and local boundaries. 

A place-based approach: from Humber to Regent Street to Cambridge

One of Gareth’s proudest achievements at The Crown Estate so far is helping deepen its place-based approach.

Rather than focusing on managing individual assets, the organisation looks at whole places, asking how its land, buildings and seabed can support local and national ambitions together.

A few examples from the conversation:

1. The Humber: offshore wind, skills and nature

In the Humber, The Crown Estate:

• Owns rural land, coastal assets and the seabed.

• Works with local councils and combined authorities on the Humber economic growth strategy.

• Uses offshore wind as a lever for:

• Local jobs and skills

• Nature recovery

• Infrastructure improvements

Crucially, the approach is not “a London organisation arriving with a plan”, but a national body working with the Humber to achieve its ambitions.

2. Regent Street: urban greening and inclusive public space

In central London, the focus is on the future of Regent Street, one of the most recognisable streets in the world.

Here, The Crown Estate is:

• Consulting on public realm improvement.

• Exploring how to make Regent Street more inclusive, more nature-rich (urban greening), more welcoming for different communities and uses.

• Working with the GLA and partners to connect the street to the wider West End and London story.

It’s about more than a famous retail destination. It’s about designing high-quality, resilient urban public spaces that support wellbeing and prosperity.

3. Cambridge: science, innovation and social impact

In Cambridge, The Crown Estate is developing a 1.6 million sq ft science and innovation hub at Cambridge Business Park.

But the ambition goes beyond real estate:

• Collaborating with the Combined Authority, City and County Councils, and Cambridge Impact

• Asking what the site can do for the UK science and innovation ecosystem, local communities, housing and skills, and broader social challenges in the Cambridge area

Again, the theme is connecting world-class innovation with local impact.

Rural innovation and regenerative farming

The Crown Estate’s rural business is another area Gareth is clearly proud of.

Highlights include:

• A new model of farm business tenancy that puts farmers first and supports regenerative agriculture.

• Close collaboration with the Tenant Farmers Association.

• A growing programme of nature-positive interventions, from hedgerow planting to wider nature recovery plans.

It’s another example of The Crown Estate using its assets not just to generate income, but to change how land is used and valued.

Nature, wellbeing and the economic case for urban greening

One of the most compelling parts of the conversation is Gareth’s take on nature and wellbeing.

For Gareth, it’s deeply personal: when life is stressful, he walks in the countryside with his dog. It works. And he believes that connection scales.

Gareth says that:

• Better access to nature brings huge social and wellbeing benefits.

• A healthier, happier population has a clear economic upside.

• Therefore, investing in urban greening isn’t just an environmental “nice to have”, it’s an economic no-brainer.

 The challenge is to:

• Make the evidence easy to understand.

• Tell compelling stories and case studies.

• Communicate not just the benefits of action, but the cost of inaction.

It’s a perspective that sits neatly alongside Blue Earth’s own framing: wellbeing for everyone, forever.

Inequality, skills and the role of business

Looking ahead, Gareth sees two big shifts in how businesses are thinking:

1. Skills: More companies are recognising a direct role in:

• Training

• Reskilling

• Supporting inclusive economic transitions

2. Inequality: There’s a growing acceptance that commercial organisations:

• Can’t just be neutral observers.

• Have a role in improving access to opportunity: jobs, housing, affordable energy, great places.

For The Crown Estate, that means using its assets to improve access and opportunity in very concrete ways.

AI, emotional intelligence and the future of leadership

Gareth is optimistic about the potential of AI, but in a grounded way.

For Gareth, AI offers:

• Knowledge: New insights about places, communities, ecosystems.

• Time: Freeing people to focus on human, creative and strategic work.

In that future, he believes one skill will become even more important for leaders: emotional intelligence.

The ability to:

• Connect with people from different backgrounds.

• Bridge national and local perspectives.

• Lead teams through complexity and change.

In ten years’ time, Gareth predicts:

• More power in the hands of mayors and combined authorities.

• A premium on high-quality, inclusive public spaces.

• Less rigid separation between “public” and “private” sectors – and more deep, long-term partnerships focused on shared outcomes.

A purpose that runs through it all

Towards the end of the episode, Gareth comes back to something simple: purpose.

Gareth feels privileged to work for an organisation whose purpose is to drive lasting and shared prosperity across the nation, and to work with people who are genuinely committed to that.

The challenge, Gareth says, is to:

• Deliver in the short term

• Stay humble enough to admit mistakes

• Keep adapting

• And never lose sight of the long-term vision

It’s a mindset that fits naturally with Blue Earth’s mission: backing businesses and institutions that use their power, assets and creativity to build a better future for people and the planet.

Listen to the full conversation

This article only scratches the surface of a rich, wide-ranging conversation between Gareth and Will.

Listen to “Will Hayler in Conversation with The Crown Estate” to hear Gareth tell the story in his own words – and to dive deeper into how one of the UK’s most important landowners is thinking about nature, people, energy and prosperity in the long term.

• Listen to the podcast on Spotify
• Watch the podcast on YouTube

It’s a conversation about planning, yes. But more than that, it’s about what it really means to design a future that works for everyone.