LG Challenge 2017 host's testimonial

Harrow Council hosted the third leg of the Local Government Challenge in April 2017. We were keen to get involved because it is a great way to support and encourage the future leaders of local government but it also meant we got to benefit from the collective brainpower of 10 of the best and brightest in local government. At a time when resources are shrinking and capacity is stretched in Harrow, the opportunity to have 10 people work on a project for us over two days was an offer we couldn’t refuse.



We set the teams to work on developing an action plan for growing Harrow’s food sector and ‘brand’ Harrow as a food destination as part of our Regeneration Strategy. It was good to have some fresh thinking and the contestants certainly gave us some new ideas and much food for thought. The two teams met with council officers, restaurant owners and talked to residents. They came up with some really interesting ideas, which included an ’around the world in 80 foods’ themed event.



Six months on from the LG Challenge, we are building on the ideas from the contestants and developing a plan to improve the way in which the council’s regulatory services work with local businesses and we have got developer interest in securing top restaurants on their sites.



We have also acquired private sector sponsorship to test a range of ‘pop up’ venues for events, and we have been invited by the Greater London Authority (GLA) to develop a full bid to create a pop up restaurant in Harrow Town Centre. The restaurant will provide opportunities for would be restaurateurs to run a business and test their menus, and also provide a chance for those living, working and visiting the town centre to try new cuisines.



Participation in the LG Challenge really helped us kick-start this whole agenda, which has been fantastic. If other councils are thinking about hosting, we would say “do it, you have nothing to lose!”

Michael Lockwood

Chief Executive

Harrow Council