Sir Michael Lyons to retire
The chair of ECF, the joint venture partnership between Homes England’s National Housing Bank, Legal & General, and Muse, is stepping down at the end of January after 25 years of leading regeneration projects across the country.
Since Sir Michael Lyons became chair in 2002, the JV formerly known as English Cities Fund has delivered 50 homes and three Grade A workspaces at St Paul’s Square in Liverpool, the mixed-use transformation of Rathbone Market in London, and the £130m Merchant Gate neighbourhood in Wakefield.
ECF’s crown jewel is, perhaps, its work with Salford City Council to deliver a £1bn regeneration programme. So far, this has seen the building of 1,000 homes and 770,000 sq ft of commercial space in Salford Central.
Continuing the partnership, ECF and Salford City Council have teamed up with the University of Salford for the £2.5bn Crescent project, which hopes to create 2m sq ft of public realm, 1.5m sq ft of commercial space, and more than 3,000 homes on 240 acres in the city.
Current ECF projects include a 10-year regeneration programme in Wolverhampton, the transformation of St Helens town centre, and the delivery of up to 850 homes in Hull.
“Sir Michael has been the driving force behind some of the most significant regeneration projects the country has seen over the past few decades,” said Tom Roberts, head of investment and development at L&G.
“His belief that lasting change requires patience, partnership, and a willingness to invest over the long term has shaped ECF’s approach from the very beginning.”
Homes England chair Pat Ritchie said: “Sir Michael’s leadership, experience and commitment to long-term investment in regeneration have been central to ECF’s success in creating thousands of new homes and thriving places from Wakefield to Plymouth.
“He has been a committed champion of partnership and placemaking, and his influence will be felt for many years as ECF continues its long-term regeneration ambitions.”
Muse managing director Phil Mayall added that working alongside Lyons had been “an incredible honour”.
“His leadership has left a real mark on ECF and on the places we’ve worked together in partnership to shape,” Mayall said. “His experience, judgment, and genuine commitment to getting regeneration right have been inspiring.”
Beyond his tenure at ECF, Lyons is known as a place-shaping champion and a public sector heavyweight. He is a former chief executive of Wolverhampton Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, and Birmingham City Council.
He led the Lyons Housing Review in 2013 and, more recently, co-chaired the government’s New Towns Taskforce. Outside of the world of property, Lyons was the chair of the BBC from 2007 to 2011.
While he is retiring from his role at ECF, he will continue to work as the chair of SQW Group, a company that provides research and analysis around economics and government policy.
Lyons said: “It has been an enormous privilege to serve as chair of ECF and to have worked alongside three great partners throughout that time.
“We have brought together public purpose, long-term investment and delivery expertise and that approach has allowed us to take on challenges that no single organisation could have addressed alone.
“Government deserves credit for taking early risks when the partnership was established. At a time when many public-private partnerships were being swept away, ECF survived because we were determined that there should be a return on the public investment.”
He added: “I step down with great confidence in the partnership to continue driving positive change in towns and cities across the country.”
