Homes England – the government’s housing and regeneration agency – was delivering phases two and three of Northstowe in Cambridgeshire, the largest development site in its portfolio. The agency wanted to raise the profile of the emerging town and its cohesive community, while making its own role in realising that vision clear and visible.
What We Did
With any development, and particularly one of this scale, getting both public-facing and B2B communications right is paramount to avoid misinformation and promote the positive impact of work being delivered. To support Homes England’s objectives, we designed and delivered an integrated communications programme that put the agency at the forefront of the story of Northstowe.
Our Campaign
Working with Homes England’s central press office and the project team – and in partnership with housebuilders and developers including Keepmoat, Capital&Centric and TOWN – we ensured consistent, proactive communication across public-facing and B2B audiences. This included B2B and B2C media relations, strategic consultancy, crisis communications support, social media content creation and community management, stakeholder engagement, website content creation and management, photography, creative design work, and the Northstowe Neighbours campaign.
The results
Between February 2023 and April 2026, we:
Media Visibility
- Secured 130 pieces of coverage, with a total estimated reach of over 674,636,400
- Coverage appeared across national, regional, property, housing, planning and built environment media
- Highlights included MSN, Daily Express, The Sun, BBC, Property Week, Estates Gazette, Inside Housing, Housing Today, The Planner, Construction Enquirer, Housing Executive, BE News, Green Street News, Architects’ Journal, Horticulture Week, Cambridge News, Cambridgeshire Live and Cambridgeshire Independent
Digital Authority and Website Performance
- Secured 27 links back to the Northstowe website
- Achieved a strong average domain authority of 53 across linked coverage
- Managed content and updates across the Northstowe website, supporting 101k website visits across 79k unique visitors (10% of website visits were driven by social media)
- Published over 60 blog posts
Social Media Growth and Engagement
- Published c. 900 social media posts across LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X
- Grew the following and engagement of the Northstowe Town social channels, with LinkedIn seeing a 2,040% increase in followers during one 365-day period
Brand Awareness and Search Demand
- Deployed cross-channel communications to enhance awareness of the town, supporting growth in average monthly branded searches for ‘northstowe’ (based on available Google Keyword Planner data)
- Average monthly branded searches increased from c. 2,500 between June and December 2022 to 6,008 in 2023, 10,933 in 2024, 10,525 in 2025 and 10,550 between January and April 2026
Stakeholder and Community Advocacy
- Established strong connections with key local stakeholders who play a critical role in supportive messaging and delivery
- Built local advocacy through the Northstowe Neighbours campaign, helping turn stakeholders into brand champions for the town
