Ian Thorn
Director

Ian is Director and owner of Meeting Place Communications. He has a wealth of experience of public engagement and political liaison. Ian has been a councillor in East Anglia and London and has stood for Parliament on two occasions.

Before founding Meeting Place Communications in 2006 Ian was a Director of a large public affairs consultancy. He is the author of And you thought planning wasn't about politics?

Anna Sabine
Director

Anna has a degree in P.P.E. from the University of Oxford. She has worked as a constituency organiser for her party and has experience from her work in both the business and voluntary sectors.

Anna is a Director of the company and leads on our public consultation and participation, particularly in relation to major strategic sites such as the Rackheath Eco-Community and the proposed development at Shinfield, near Reading.   She also manages our events, administration and company finances.

James Barry
Senior Account Manager

James joined Meeting Place Communications with 15 years commercial and project management experience.  

He recently moved from Cornwall, where he lived for 8 years whilst working at the Eden Project.   James helped develop it from a building site through to the internationally renowned iconic symbol of sustainable regeneration it is today, as well as one of the country's most visited destinations.

James will be managing many of MPC's major projects, with a particular focus on the renewable energy sector.

Theo Butt Philip
Account Manager

Theo is a city councillor in Somerset and a member of his party's national policy body. He has considerable experience of working with politicians at all levels. He also appeared three times on University Challenge.

Theo is a local councillor and has significant experience of politics and the planning process. He leads on much of our political engagement activity, and is currently working on projects for Leicester University and the Diocese of Bath and Wells.

Nick Webb
Account Manager

Nick joined Meeting Place after five years working in the public sector. He is a leading figure in his local party, having been a local councillor in both England and Wales and currently sits on a target seats campaign team.

Nick is working on expanding Meeting Place's presence in areas covered by the devolved administrations.   He is also leading on a major scheme at Wallingford on behalf of PRUPIM, and schemes at Princes Risborough and Sedbury.

Ruth Burnip
Practice Manager

Ruth has worked in a wide variety of administrative roles for companies including Procter and Gamble and the BBC.

Her role as Practice Manager at MPC will entail managing all administrative aspects of the business, from organising our ambitious programme of events through to keeping track of all our internal processes and procedures.

Gareth Capner
Advisory Board member

After a career spanning 40 years in town planning, Gareth recently retired from Barton Willmore, the firm he led as Senior Partner or Joint Senior Partner for a decade. Gareth's career started in the late 1960's with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government before moving to strategic planning in the West Midlands, Kent County Council and latterly Berkshire County Council. In 1979 he joined Barton Willmore as the firm's first single-qualified Chartered Town Planner, leading the establishment of Town Planning services within the Practice and becoming a Partner in 1981. Gareth became Senior Planning Partner in I986 as the firm expanded its planning work and Senior Partner in 1996. Since the inception of the Planning Consultants Survey Barton Willmore has consistently been rated the top independendent planning consultancy with a membership of over 300 people operating from ten locations throughout the UK. Notable projects handled by Gareth include the 13 million sq ft redevelopment of the Ebbsfleet Valley for Land Securities, the West Stevenage extension for a consortium of national housebuilders and the Homes and Community Agency and acting as the Home Office lead planning witness on the asylum seekers accommodation programme.

Gareth is a hugely respected industry figure and is giving MPC invaluable advice on growing a successful consultancy.

Baroness Liz Barker
Advisory Board member

Liz is a Life Peer in the House of Lords. Baroness Barker has been commissioned to undertake a nationwide review of consultation best practice and is developing a training programme for the company. Liz also provides Meeting Place Communications with a monthly review of relevant Parliamentary news.