About the Cambridge Growth Company

Cambridge Growth Company (CGC)

History

The Cambridge Growth Company (CGC) was established by government in 2024 to address barriers to growth and help unlock Greater Cambridge’s full potential.

As a subsidiary of Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, the CGC works to unlock and accelerate development and deliver the homes, jobs, and infrastructure needed for long-term, sustainable growth.

On the 30 October 2024, the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, appointed Peter Freeman to chair the CGC. At the same time, the government also committed £10m of funding to enable the CGC to develop an ambitious plan for the housing, transport, water, and wider infrastructure Cambridge needs to realise its full potential.

The CGC is guided by an Advisory Council consisting of local leaders and experts who providing insight, challenge and guidance to ensure our work reflects local priorities. (see the signed Memorandum of Understanding between CGC and the Advisory Council).

What we've achieved so far

Working alongside partners, we are advancing near-term priorities to accelerate and ublock key development opportunities already identified.

This includes:

Working with Homes England, government departments, local partners and the Cambridge Water Scarcity Group, we have helped unlock planning applications for over 9,000 homes and 528,000 sqm of commercial space.
Coordinating investment and enabling infrastructure to accelerate progress on key stalled sites, including:
- £3 million to support a new model of emergency care and preparatory work for a future acute hospital at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
- £23 million in recoverable funding (via Homes England) for the relocation of Waterbeach Station.
- £7.2 million to advance the Cambridge South East Transport (CSET) project.

Alongside near-term delivery, the CGC has commissioned Buro Happold and Prior + Partners to develop the evidence base for a long-term strategy for housing, employment space and infrastructure across Greater Cambridge.

Next Steps

In October 2025, government anounced its intention to consult on the case for a centrally led Development Corporation as one potential route for delivery. This will be the subject of a statutory public consultation, offering local partners, residents and businesses the opportunity to help shape what this could look like. The government will publish further infromation on the consultation in due course.

The announcement also included an initial £400 million in government funding to support the work of the CGC and a future delivery vehicle.

Alongside the government's announcement, we have published an overview of the positive interventions made to date and outlined how we intend to work with partners to support communities and businesses across Greater Cambridge in the future.

The Board

The CGC Board will comprise of six officers. These include the CGC and Advisory Council Chair, Peter Freeman, and Director, Beth Dugdale, a senior officer at Homes England.

Additional members are drawn from senior positions at the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government.

Biographies of Peter Freeman and Beth Dugdale can be seen below. Further Biographies will be added in due course.

Peter Freeman CBE
Chair of Cambridge Growth Company

Peter Freeman CBE is a respected leader in urban regeneration and place-making, best known as co-founder of Argent and a key figure behind the transformation of King’s Cross - widely recognised as one of the UK’s landmark regeneration projects. Over his career, Peter has consistently championed mixed-use, infrastructure-led development and collaborative, inclusive approaches to creating vibrant, economically resilient places. He is passionate about creating public open spaces where people can come together. He served as a Director of Argent from 1981 to 2024 and of the Kings Cross Central Partnership from 2008 to 2024.

From 2020 to 2025, he served as Chair of Homes England, the government’s housing and regeneration agency, where he encouraged an increased focus on “place” and regeneration. He now chairs the Cambridge Growth Company, where he has been actively engaging with local stakeholders to help fulfil the government’s vision for the long-term future of Greater Cambridge - with a strong focus on supporting its communities and ensuring the area’s continued success.

Beth Dugdale
Director, Cambridge, Homes England

Beth Dugdale is a Director at Homes England, where she oversees the Cambridge Growth Company and leads efforts to support the city’s future growth. With over 20 years of experience in land, infrastructure, and regeneration, and as an accredited project manager, Beth brings extensive expertise in delivering complex development projects and supporting places to grow in a sustainable and inclusive way.

Before taking on this role, Beth held senior leadership positions at Homes England, including Director of Delivery Enabling Services and Director of Land Business Management. She has led the design and delivery of national development and investment programmes, managed significant public land portfolios, and worked with government and local partners to bring forward housing, infrastructure, and regeneration projects.

In the interests of transparency, Cambridge Growth Company Board members are required to declare gifts or hospitality of any kind. Please see the Gifts Declaration form in the library (here)

Similarly, Board members are required to declare interests they have in connection with CGC operations of any kind outside the scope of their work for and on behalf of the company. Please see the Declaration of Interests form in the library (here).

The Advisory Council

The Cambridge Growth Company has established an Advisory Council to be a key mechanism in ensuring there is a collaborative and shared vision for the future of Greater Cambridge.

The Advisory Council guides the CGC to ensure that plans and projects benefit from the knowledge of elected officials and experts.

Meetings are held quarterly, and intermediate meetings are scheduled with the Chief Executives of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, the city, county and district councils to agree the upcoming agenda for the Advisory Council.

Advisory Council members and the Chair of the CGC have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which sets out agreed areas of focus and actions between them. For political figures, as is usual it is the ‘office’ they represent that is the member, rather than the named individual. This ensures continuity.

Current Advisory Council Members are:

Peter Freeman	Chair
Paul Bristow (assumed)	Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Cllr Cameron Holloway (assumed)	Leader, Cambridge City Council
Cllr Bridget Smith	Leader, South Cambridgeshire District Council
Cllr Lucy Nethsingha	Leader, Cambridgeshire County Council
Dr Paul Leinster	Chair of the Water Scarcity Group
Baroness Sally Morgan	Master, Fitzwilliam College (and) Chair, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Sir John Aston (assumed)	Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, University of Cambridge

It is intended to select further experts to join the Advisory Council as and when required. The Advisory Council is currently considering potential candidates for the role of Transport Advisor.

Peter Freeman CBE
Chair

Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough

To be updated.

Leader, Cambridge City Council

To be updated.

Councillor Bridget Smith
Leader, South Cambridgeshire District Council

Councillor Bridget Smith has served as Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council since May 2018. In this role, she provides political leadership for the council and works with local, regional, and national partners to deliver services and support communities across South Cambridgeshire.

Her responsibilities include overseeing the council’s work on housing, environmental services, economic development, and community wellbeing. Councillor Smith represents the Gamlingay ward on the district council.

Councillor Lucy Nethsingha
Leader, Cambridgeshire County Council

Councillor Lucy Nethsingha has served as Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council since May 2021. In this role, she provides political leadership for the council and works with councillors, officers, and partner organisations to deliver services and priorities for communities across Cambridgeshire.

Her responsibilities include overseeing the council’s work on education, transport, social care, public health, and environmental services. Councillor Nethsingha represents the Newnham division on the county council.

Dr. Paul Leinster CBE
Chair, Water Scarcity Group

Dr Paul Leinster CBE is Chair of the Water Scarcity Group and a leading expert in the water industry. He served as Chief Executive of the Environment Agency from 2008 to 2015. Dr Leinster holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Imperial College London and brings extensive experience from both academia and industry.

Baroness Sally Morgan
Master, Fitzwilliam College (and)
Chair, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Baroness Sally Morgan has been Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge since 2019 and Chair of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust since 2025. A former Minister of State, she also served as Political Secretary to the Prime Minister and Director of Government Relations at 10 Downing Street. Her previous roles include Chair of OFSTED, board member of the Olympic Delivery Authority for London 2012, and board member across business and charitable sectors.