Uniting stakeholders to drive progress. Real urban progress happens when business owners, civic leaders, and property owners get into the same room and pull in the same direction. First Retail Group’s Town and City Centre Summits bring stakeholders together to learn from fresh market insights, share on-the-ground realities, and get inspired by practical possibilities for their local area.
Rather than just another talk shop, these summits are designed to build clear consensus and real momentum. We facilitate open, grounded discussions that connect wider economic trends with local priorities – turning diverse perspectives into a unified, actionable blueprint that communities can actually get behind.
How we help
Outreach & Consultation
Through interactive sessions and public opinion research, we capture true community sentiment and aspirations. From surveys and focus groups to collaborative workshops and larger-scale events, we facilitate open dialogues that help you understand local needs and establish a strong foundation.
Mapping & Analysis
We help project leaders navigate diverse environments through comprehensive stakeholder identification and strategic engagement. By developing tailored communication strategies for businesses, residents, and government agencies, we address specific concerns and foster positive relationships
Expert Facilitation
Lasting success depends on finding common ground and building genuine trust. We provide skilled mediation and neutral platforms to guide constructive dialogue, identify collaborative solutions, and manage differing perspectives - ensuring your infrastructure, regeneration, or community projects move forward smoothly.
Case Studies
Porirua City Centre Summit
Leveraging Regeneration. Working on behalf of Porirua City Council, FRG delivered the Porirua City Centre Summit by bringing together businesses, property owners, and community groups to develop shared objectives and understanding. Throughout the high-energy event we aligned these different voices around common growth goals. This practical approach established clear, immediate priorities to boost the local economy and created a straightforward roadmap for the city’s long-term development.
Wellington BID Summits
Building Capability and Collaboration. We have partnered with Wellington City Council to deliver three BID summits, strengthening capability and alignment across the district's seven business improvement districts. Through these half-day events, we brought together community leaders, precinct managers, and commercial stakeholders to tackle evolving retail and urban challenges. These initiatives provided the BIDs with practical toolkits, fostered cross-district synergy, and delivered an actionable roadmap to drive vitality, business resilience, and long-term economic growth.
New Plymouth City Centre Summit
Inspiring Bold Changes. We partnered with New Plymouth District Council to deliver the CBD2050 Summit with a goal to forge a bold, sustainable vision for the city’s evolution. By bringing together local businesses, civic leaders, and the community, we moved beyond past challenges to map a new urban blueprint. This collaborative engagement established actionable frameworks to prioritise pedestrian-friendly streets, integrate vibrant public green spaces, and catalyse inner-city apartment living, successfully reimagining the CBD as a dynamic, experience-driven destination.
Gore District Summit
Leveraging Provincial Strength. FRG worked with Gore District Council to deliver the Gore Economic Summit, an initiative designed to energise the local economy. By bringing together business operators, civic leaders, and community stakeholders, we facilitated a united approach to regional development. This focused engagement helped break down silos, identifying key opportunities to strengthen the district's commercial resilience. The summit equipped Gore’s leadership with a shared vision and a plan to drive sustainable, community-led economic growth.
Masterton Town Centre Summit
Injecting Commercial Momentum into Masterton's CBD: Seeking to bring fresh commercial momentum to their city centre, Masterton District Council, the Masterton Alliance, and Tupu Ana – Masterton Chamber of Commerce – brought in First Retail Group. Through a highly targeted town centre summit, we translated wide-ranging feedback from civic and business leaders into a unified, fast-moving economic blueprint. This effort successfully fostered a busier, more resilient CBD, seamlessly underpinning the district’s ambitious Masterton 2050 "Our Future Our Story" vision for sustainable, long-term prosperity.
Nelson City Centre Summit
Nelson City Shaping Summit: FRG's Chris Wilkinson featured as a keynote speaker presenting on "Opportunities in a Changing Marketplace" - a theme developed around our work in the city centre's evolution as a leisure destination and its future potential for increased inner city residential activity. The summit brought together business and community leaders to chart a path forward for Nelson’s CBD as part of the Bridge to Better regeneration project.
Stakeholder-Centric Engagement
Shaping Invercargill’s Vibrant Future. Facing significant spending attrition, Invercargill City Council partnered with First Retail Group to develop a plan for central city revitalisation that launched with a comprehensive stakeholder summit and culminating with a major event to celebrate the city's new brand, plan and aspirations. This targeted blueprint was designed to align stakeholders and provide investors with the certainty required to commit capital to key areas. By pairing this commercial roadmap with a transformational new city centre brand, the initiative successfully restored confidence among councillors and businesses. The strategy effectively shifted the city away from economic vulnerability, inspiring major inner-city investment and revitalising Invercargill's regional identity.
Town & City Centre Summits