Adam Jacobs signs off as REDA Chair

9th October 2024

After an eight-year tenure as Chair of REDA, Adam Jacobs has announced he is standing down. His time as Chair coincided with hugely important developments in Reading and a global pandemic. He leaves REDA and Reading in good health.

Adam was elected Chair of the REDA Board in September 2016, having previously been a member of the Board in his capacity as Chair of Reading Business Improvement District (BID). Adam has been a champion for Reading, and in particular our town centre, throughout his time on the BID and REDA Board and as the owner of Jacobs the Jewellers, the award-winning, independent jewellers on King Street. A new role as Chair of the UK’s National Association of Jewellers will take up a lot of his time in the future, though he will stay involved with Reading as a REDA Board member.

As REDA Chair, Adam has overseen an impressive portfolio of projects and developments, from a recognition that we need to invest in growing the profile of arts and culture in Reading to the launch of the Reading 2050 Smart and Sustainable City Vision; achieving two more terms of Reading Central Business Improvement District and launching a new Abbey Quarter Business Improvement District; developing a new dedicated visitor website for Reading to complement REDA’s growing work in the leisure tourism sector; developing new film and green skills initiatives to support these increasingly important areas of the Reading economy; rebranding Reading UK as REDA, Reading’s Economy and Destination Agency, alongside a new place brand for the town; and most importantly supporting the Reading economy and our businesses through the pandemic and developing the Reading Economic Recovery and Renewal Strategy to help lead us into a post-COVID world.

Adam Jacobs said: “It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to serve as Chair of Reading’s Economy and Destination Agency (REDA) for the last eight years. I am proud of the work we have done to raise awareness of Reading as a place to work, do business and visit. Looking back at recent years, I am most pleased with the breadth of work delivered – the list demonstrates specific positive economic, cultural and social changes in the region that we’ve been central to. A testament to this work was the resounding support from town centre businesses for our two new BIDs earlier this year and the fact that Reading was one of the first economies to bounce back strongly.

“Reading is in relative good health. Of course there are issues that we need to keep working on, but compared to many of our competitors, our economy is strong – the recent Good Growth report ranks Reading as the fifth healthiest economy in the UK. We have benefitted from incredible investment such as the Elizabeth Line and Lincoln’s Station Hill development which will see its first tenants very shortly and exciting plans for the former prison site are emerging.

“REDA’s role has been vital in championing Reading for nearly 20 years. Reading is unusual in having a community interest company that is separate to, but working closely in partnership with, the local authority to lead business, skills and tourism development and marketing. Reading is in safe hands and I look forward to REDA taking a lead on promoting Reading as an emerging cultural centre including an international film hub as well as a city that puts the green agenda at its core, maintaining its focus on improving our town centre, developing data and resources to help businesses make a positive decision to invest in Reading and driving an increasingly positive reputation for Reading as THE place to work, visit, live and be happy in the south of England.

“Finally, I would like to thank my fellow Board members for their support over the last eight years and all the REDA staff in their passion for Reading.  I wish my successor Scott Witchalls of Stantec all the best for his term as Chair of REDA. His wealth of experience will serve Reading well.”