Unlocking Heritage Value: A Marketing Opportunity for Built Environment Firms Through the Heritage Revival Fund

In a time when purpose-driven business is more than a trend, it’s a competitive differentiator, built environment firms have a unique opportunity to align commercial goals with community impact.

The newly announced £5 million Heritage Revival Fund, launched by the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) in partnership with DCMS and Historic England, creates the ideal platform for this alignment.

This fund is designed to help charities and social enterprises rescue, repurpose and reimagine at-risk historic buildings across England for community benefit. For architects, engineers, planners, and other professionals in the built environment sector, it presents a timely opening: not just to deliver high-impact projects, but to reposition your firm as a partner in social value creation.

As a marketing consultant, my message is clear - this isn’t just a funding pot. It’s a brand opportunity, a pipeline builder, and a visibility play.

Why This Matters Now

Publicly funded initiatives like the Heritage Revival Fund signal a broader shift in the built environment. Procurement decisions are increasingly influenced by ESG credentials, local legacy, and demonstrable impact. Firms that can clearly communicate how they contribute to community transformation and show they understand the language of public funding gain a tangible competitive edge.

With the Heritage Revival Fund, built environment firms can work alongside charities and community groups to unlock grants, deliver compelling regeneration stories, and boost their market profile through purpose-led partnerships.

Strategic Collaboration: Where Business Meets Purpose

The fund is aimed at not-for-private-profit organisations taking on ownership or long-term leases of heritage assets. These groups often lack in-house capacity for technical design, planning, and construction management, creating a natural point of entry for commercial firms.

Your strategy? Become indispensable. Offer services that go beyond transactional delivery. Position your firm as a strategic partner that understands heritage-led regeneration, community consultation, funding compliance, and long-term stewardship.

Ways to collaborate:

• Proactively engage with local charities or civic groups exploring building reuse.

• Offer feasibility support as part of early-stage grant development.

• Provide discounted or phased services tailored to small, resource-limited organisations, this builds goodwill and future referrals.

This approach doesn’t just fill your pipeline. It builds your reputation as a firm that invests in place, not just projects.

Position Your Expertise as a Catalyst for Community Impact

The built environment is full of technically brilliant firms. What sets you apart isn’t your capability - it’s your story. Community-led heritage projects provide ready-made narratives full of emotion, place identity, and transformational potential.

Use these projects to:

• Build social proof: Create case studies that show not only what you built, but why it matters to people.

• Engage new audiences: Community groups can become future advocates, introducing you to other funders, councils, and partners.

• Elevate your content strategy: Document the journey from dereliction to revitalisation through blog posts, videos, and social media updates.

Heritage projects are inherently visual and emotive. They offer a storytelling goldmine, if you’re bold enough to own the narrative.

Marketing Tactics to Maximise Your Involvement

Once you’re actively involved in Heritage Revival Fund projects, here’s how to ensure your marketing reflects the value of that work:

1.Content Creation

Produce content that educates and inspires:

• Behind-the-scenes project updates: Share the progress of heritage sites under development.

• Expert insights: Write about technical challenges in adaptive reuse, listed building constraints, or community consultation best practices.

• Partner spotlights: Collaborate with community groups to co-author blog posts or videos, demonstrating joint ownership and values alignment.

2. Media and PR

These projects often attract local and regional media interest. Use this to your advantage:

• Pitch human-interest stories: “Local firm helps rescue derelict town hall for arts hub” is a headline you want to see.

• Offer expert comment: Become a go-to voice on heritage regeneration for local press, industry publications and planning newsletters.

3. Award Submissions

Heritage projects are prime candidates for regional planning, conservation, and architecture awards. These accolades boost your firm’s credibility and are ideal for business development.

4. Partnership Marketing

Leverage joint marketing opportunities with the community organisation:

• Co-brand project boards on site hoardings.

• Jointly host open days or virtual walkthroughs.

• Celebrate milestones together on social media, tagging relevant stakeholders and funders.

This reinforces your brand as collaborative and community-focused.

Commercial Benefits of Participating

This is not about charity work. It’s about smart business development:

• Portfolio diversification: Community-led heritage projects offer a rich layer to your firm’s project mix, particularly if you’re moving into public-sector frameworks.

• Reputation building: Public bodies and grant funders look favourably on firms with heritage and social impact experience.

• Network growth: These projects connect you with new networks - local authorities, cultural organisations, funders, and planners.

The relationships built through one community project often lead to future consultancy work, larger public realm schemes, or even private sector referrals.

Practical Steps to Get Involved

Here’s your action plan:

1. Research: Identify underused heritage buildings in your operating region. Check local authority heritage at-risk registers or Historic England listings.

   
   

2. Engage early: Contact local community groups, town councils, or social enterprises to understand who’s seeking funding.

   
   

3. Offer value: Position your firm as a partner that understands not just design, but funding, compliance, and impact delivery.

   
   

4. Collaborate on bids: Help your partner organisation shape a strong application with professional input—feasibility, costing, programme, and sustainability measures.

   
   

5. Promote your role: Once a project is underway, capture and communicate your involvement with strategic intent.

A Final Word: Purpose is the New PR

The Heritage Revival Fund is more than a grant. It’s a signal, a call to action for firms ready to lead with purpose, not just projects.

In a competitive, price-sensitive market, what differentiates your firm isn’t your ability to draw plans or manage budgets. It’s your ability to co-create stories of transformation, regeneration, and legacy.

Heritage-led community projects are rich in narrative and impact. With the right marketing strategy, they become more than portfolio pieces, they become proof points for who you are as a business.

Now is the time to align your commercial ambitions with community purpose. Be visible. Be valuable. Be part of the revival.