Remembering Eamonn Boylan: Greater Manchester’s placemaker

Eamonn Boylan never sought the spotlight. Throughout his 45-year-career as a public servant, he seemed content to just get on with the actual doing of things. Rather than lead, he preferred to guide.

His impact was no less transformative.

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A Hartlepool boy who fell in love with Greater Manchester, Boylan spent his adult life making communities better in roles at Homes England, Manchester City Council, Stockport Council, Sheffield City Council, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority. A softspoken man in public, he advocated for the voices of others in shaping the areas they lived in.

“Honest, open, and early engagement” is critical in placemaking, he told Place North West in 2024. This goes beyond just saying “do you like this plan?” to asking people what they want their future area to look like and what outcomes they want to see prioritised, he argued.

Community-led placemaking was the heart of the 1990s Hulme regeneration project, which Boylan worked on during his time as deputy chief executive of Manchester City Council under Sir Howard Bernstein. He viewed the revitalising of more than 200 acres in the inner city as one of his proudest achievements.

Hulme would be the start of Boylan’s regeneration journey. He would take the principles he learned there and apply them to kickstarting Stockport’s own regeneration programme.

As chief executive of Stockport Council between 2011 and 2017, he spotted Stockport’s potential and played up its proximity to Manchester and London by rail. Leveraging that location, he would lead the local authority’s partnership with Muse to deliver the £145m Stockport Exchange business district.

An architect of devolution, Boylan set the course so many areas have begun to follow. He was Greater Manchester’s first chief executive, defining what was possible when Whitehall gave up some of its power to regional authorities. Alongside Mayor Andy Burnham, his trailblazing work would show the country the power of devolution and earn GM more and more powers as the years went by.

But Boylan was more than his achievements.

He was a family man who cited his wife, Maria, as the most important figure in his career in an interview with Place. He loved his two sons and his two dogs, Bruce and Shelia.

He enjoyed a good glass, or two, of wine. He valued his friendships. Former Manchester City Council chief executive Joanne Roney recalled how often Boylan and her would meet up for a drink after work.

“A glass of wine at Salut after work was a constant offer to talk through any problems,” she reminisced to Place.

She recalled how he was the first person to reach out to her when she took on the chief executive role – one that Boylan was known to have wanted. Despite that, he would become one of her staunchest supporters.

Boylan made time for people. That was what struck Capital&Centric founder Tim Heatley about him. Boylan always returned your call, he told Place. Boylan always had time to talk.

• READ MORE: Tributes paid to Eamonn Boylan

He loved poetry, with TS Eliot and Wallace Stevens as two of his favourites. Having studied American literature, he counted Herman Melville as one of the best authors. Moby Dick, he told Place, was one of the finest books ever written.

Boylan had a sharp dry humour which he deployed often and to much success.

As a journalist first meeting Boylan, he could be a tricky interview. During a roundtable or panel session, he would sit with his head looking down – almost appearing to fall asleep on stage before sharing the most profound statement about placemaking – proof that he was the most attentive person in the room.

He also never rushed an answer. He would make you wait a second or two, just long enough to convince yourself that you had asked the world’s dumbest question, before delivering a carefully thought out and gracious reply.

While he may have appeared grumpy and intimidating, Boylan always cared. He was warm. He encouraged those around him.

Back in 2024, we asked Boylan how he thought people would remember his tenure as GMCA’s chief executive.

“I’d like to think that they will remember me for a leadership style that isn’t standing out in front and pointing at things,” he said at the time.

“It’s about encouraging people to coalesce around shared objectives. I’d like to think that people will think of me as someone who nurtured organisations and people.”

Few have had the impact on Greater Manchester that Eamonn Boylan had. A trailblazer in devolution, a driver of regeneration, and a passionate public servant – but perhaps his greatest achievement was this: Boylan never forgot that people are at the heart of place.

Dan Whelan and Neil Tague contributed to this report.