Specialist destination marketing hires for The Howard de Walden Estate

The Howard de Walden Estate is the freehold owner of 95 acres of Marylebone, central London. The business is firmly rooted in the local community and is fully committed to a long-term investment strategy, with an unrivalled portfolio mix of five key sectors: residential, office, healthcare, retail and education. 

Their marketing team plays a key role in bringing Marylebone to life. They’re responsible for shaping destination strategy, activating the area through large-scale public events, and driving engagement among residents, visitors and occupiers.  

To achieve their goals as a marketing team, the Head of Marketing & Communications needed marketers who can operate across destination marketing, campaign delivery, and high-footfall public events. The brief required a very specific combination of: 

• Destination marketing experience 
• Exposure to large-scale public events 
• Campaign planning and activation 
• Stakeholder management across estates, tenants and local partners 
• A mindset suited to community impact and placemaking 
• Strong understanding of how to drive footfall, vibrancy and local engagement

This blend of skills is rare and almost exclusively found within the property, estate, placemaking and cultural activation sectors.  

The narrow talent pool meant the recruitment process required deep sector knowledge and access to a trusted network within this niche. 

Having worked in the sector over the past eight years, Charlotte’s specialism in destination and placemaking recruitment means that she is already deeply embedded within this talent community. This insight proved critical in identifying candidates with the blend of creativity, event expertise and place strategy experience that the Estate needed.  

We partnered with The Howard de Walden Estate on an exclusive basis, allowing us to: 

• Map the market thoroughly 
• Engage highly relevant destination marketing talent 
• Pre-interview and curate a shortlist of only the strongest candidates

Charlotte personally interviewed each profile before introduction, meaning the hiring manager only met a very small, highly qualified group of marketers. This saved them time, ensuring cultural alignment, and keeping the process efficient. 

During the search, we advised on widening the remit slightly to include specialist marketing agencies with placemaking experience. This ultimately led to the successful hire, demonstrating the value of agility and deep sector understanding. 

The candidates placed have made a fantastic start, joining the business just ahead of one of the most important moments in the annual marketing calendar – The Estate’s large-scale Christmas activations. They have quickly added value, bringing fresh energy, creativity, and hands-on experience to the team.