References

Morecambe Bay Landscape Partnership

"Outstanding support"                               Susannah Bleakley, Morecambe Bay Partnership

Culture Cumbria Review

"Excellent, sane and intelligent".                     Adrian Lochhead, Chairman Culture Cumbria

"Fantastic"                                                                                        Kate Brundrett, Artist

"Bloody brilliant"                                                                  Steve Conor, Creative Concern

Queen Street Mill, Lancashire Museum Services

"I have worked with James for the past two years, in his museum development coordinator role for the Industrial Powerhouse project. From the start James has been a powerful supporter of our sites (Queen Street Mill and Helmshore Mill) and has gone out of his way to make positive things happen, including commissioning valuable research on the storytelling strengths of the sites, and persuading funders to invest in the development of Queen Street Mill. These have been difficult times in this sector, but having James on side been extremely valuable. He's highly motivated, passionate about the value of heritage, switched on to emerging opportunities, and a good communicator".

Elisabeth Chard

Forestry Commission

"Over the last 6 years I have contracted or been party to contracted work that James has undertaken - the outturn in every case was excellent. James has the ability to address old or new issues in new and creative ways and to formulate and synthesize fresh thinking which is easily understood by all. He is very quick to get to the essence of what's required. He has always delivered on-time and budget".

Keith Jones

Culture Cumbria

"James approached this project with a degree of critical astuteness that has really helped us to recognise and address the changing context in which we need to operate. He has in a very short space of time appraised us and our situation and presented us with some challenging recommendations. Our first discussion after the delivery of his report was the best and frankest discussion we have had. It was a first class service".

Christian Barnes, Vista Projects

Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston

"During the Industrial Revolutionaries project, James was always on hand to provide practical and moral support.  It was great to work with someone with perspective and a firm handle on today's heritage market".

Laura Briggs

Heritage Tourism Executive for the North West

"I have worked with James Rebanks over the last year and have found that his insights and knowledge of the best ways to make heritage work to increase visitor numbers and income are really usefully challenging and exciting. He is good at working with people to help them move forward, is an inspiring speaker, and a hard working thoughtful colleague who can deliver insights on heritage, tourism and economic development".

Hadrian's Wall Heritage Ltd

James’s presentation was both informative and fun. Delegates learnt a lot from the sessions and left with new ideas for marketing their businesses and the value of the World Heritage Site. Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Limited would have no hesitation to book James for future business sessions and conferences.

Julie Sloan

MLA

"I am pleased to be able to commend Rebanks Consulting for work James has supported within Industrial Powerhouse in the North West. James Rebanks brought expertise on industrial heritage along with a passion to make this heritage much more relevant to a wide range of audiences. His knowledge of best practice from across the world combined with consistently challenging the clients and sector to raise their aspirations and offer for visitors has helped us to access a range of sources of funding and to refocus many heritage attractions to meet the interests of their audiences better".

Nathan Lee

New Lanark Trust

"In 2010 James Rebanks was commissioned by the New Lanark Trust to facilitate some working group sessions with the members of its Board of Trustees. They wished to review the Trust's strategic priorities for the management of the historic mill village which is at the core of the New Lanark World Heritage Site. James's broad knowledge of the potential economic impact of tourism in World Heritage Sites provided a helpful framework for these deliberations. His personal enthusiasm and engagement with the project encouraged positive, constructive discussions amongst a group of people from widely varying backgrounds and with potentially conflicting views". 

Renaissance North West

“Renaissance North West developed a regional event in partnership with Industrial Powerhouse and European Routes of Industrial Heritage at Trustees of Industrial heritage sites and museums across the North West. James Rebanks contributed to the 'Trustees for the Future' event through the delivery of an inspirational presentation and practical workshops on sustainable business planning, advocacy and understanding audience needs. feedback from delgates was very positive with many individuals keen to review current plans when back on their own sites".

                                                                                         Kaye Tetlow

Nurture Lakeland

“Nurture Lakeland worked with Rebanks Consulting to develop a Sustainable Tourism proposal for the Eden Valley in Cumbria. We chose Rebanks Consulting to take on this work because of their strong track record in working with sustainable development initiatives and indepth knowledge of this sector. Throughout the process we found James to be not only very knowledgeable but also extremley accommodating of our tight deadlines. The final Business Plan which was produced was of an extremely high standard and we were delighted with the outcome"

Sue Savege

Cumbria Tourism Market Development Analysis 

Sheona Southern, Marketing Manager, Cumbria Tourism

World Heritage Site Socio-economic Potential Research 

“The research and analysis undertaken by Rebanks Consulting for the Lake District World Heritage Bid is excellent and incredibly useful. This piece of work is unique and I believe it has fundamentally changed for the better the debate about the socio-economic potential of World Heritage Site status. The work has attracted attention and praise from across the UK and Europe because of its insight and quality. I heartily recommend the team to anyone interested in the meeting point between cultural heritage and economics'.

Blackpool Council Project Development Support 

 "I have been very impressed by the breadth of knowledge of the team, and their ability to help people at different levels of seniority understand the strategic context for our applications, particularly in relation to how this applies to the creative and cultural sectors... I was particularly impressed with their ability to translate the complex and often intangible value of the cultural sector into the economic values recognised by the EU and regional development agencies. "

Polly Hamilton, Assistant Director Cultural Services,  Blackpool Council

Nick Stargardt - author         'Witnesses of War’

Our Green Spaces HLF Project Evaluation 

 “James Rebanks has been a valuable asset to the Our Green Space project”.

North West Development Agency

"James has carried out extremely valuable research for the Lake District WHS Partnership that has broadened our understanding of the ways in which World Heritage Sites can generate economic and social benefits, and identified a number of examples of how this has been achieved in practice... many of the case studies relating specifically to industrial heritage."

Phil Reddy, Head of Tourism Strategy, North West Regional Development Agency

Inward Investment Strategy 

“Invest in Cumbria, in partnership with the University of Cumbria and Carlisle City Council, commissioned James Rebanks to prepare a submission to the Northwest Development Agency, promoting the business case for Cumbria to attract a "Media Access Bureau" to the County. James put an excellent submission together which was approved by the Agency. Colleagues within the Agency commented that Cumbria's submission was the best they had received, in the region. In addition, James has prepared a comprehensive report for ourselves on the opportunities for attracting Inward Investment projects, in the Cultural & Creative sector."

International Dance Festival Birmingham 

 “DanceXchange and Birmingham Hippodrome recently commissioned James Rebanks to develop a fundraising strategy, as part of an intensive period of consultation intended to inform the strategic development of International Dance Festival Birmingham 2010. We have found James’ approach to be considered, responsive and constructive, and his report is proving incredibly useful in shaping our future planning.”