Socius has launched a new place management company called Populate.
Populate will apply an “outcome-focused approach” to place management and will provide specialist consultancy through the design and development phase of projects.
The new company will be led by Olaide Oboh (pictured) – who will retain her position as a board director of Socius – and Socius managing director Barry Jessup, who will be chairman of Populate.
Populate has appointed Joss Taylor from Bow Arts Trust as head of activation and enlivenment. The Populate team also includes Neil Barber, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the retail and leisure sector; Claire Cockerton, co-founder of Level39 in Canary Wharf; Jupiter Lee-Butz, who led the creation of the co-working community Factory Berlin; and Ray Cliff, who has extensive experience in shopping centre management on behalf of Hammerson, CBRE, Lendlease and Realm.
Populate will advise on place management for mixed-use projects delivered by Socius and will also partner with other investors and asset owners across the UK.
Oboh, managing director of Populate and executive director at Socius, said: “We are passionate about addressing local needs through development but one of the fundamental challenges the industry faces is ensuring the operational infrastructure and expertise is in place to realise the true value of projects over the long term.
“That is why I am proud to launch Populate. Our multi-disciplinary team will pick up the baton from the development process and take a long-term approach to creating vibrant and sustainable places that support communities and provide a platform for businesses to collaborate, innovate and grow. We are here to ensure that all of the good intentions when a development is designed and delivered translate into tangible social and economic benefits for communities, occupiers and investors for years to come.”
Jessup added: “We are strong advocates of placemaking but the term has become over-used and as a result difficult to define. Populate is outcome-focused, we want success to be clearly measurable in terms of social value, economic impact, environmental benefits and ultimately investment returns. Socius is delivering over 2m sq ft across the UK’s fastest-growing cities and we can see first-hand the opportunity to create a bridge between development and long-term place management that ensure places are set up to succeed.”
