Luton
Rising
Luton Rising is on a mission to lift up one of the UK’s most economically challenged towns. As owners of London Luton Airport, the Luton DART, and other strategic assets, they’re uniquely positioned to drive transformational change – not for private shareholders, but for community benefit through their sole shareholder, Luton Council. Hope has worked with Luton Rising since 2020 to tell the story of how community-owned infrastructure can become a powerful force for social and economic transformation.
Learn more about the projectContext
When Luton Rising approached Hope in 2020, they were preparing a Development Consent Order application to expand London Luton Airport from 18 million to 32 million passengers annually. This £2.2 billion project would create 11,000 new jobs and introduce the UK’s most comprehensive environmental controls for airport expansion. However, their existing corporate identity failed to communicate their distinctive community ownership model or remarkable social impact.
The Challenge
Luton Rising faced significant brand confusion with the airport operator, which shared a nearly identical name. More critically, their corporate identity didn’t reflect their authentic role as a community-owned enterprise that invests 20 times more per passenger in local organisations than any other UK airport. They needed communications that would overcome aviation industry cynicism while articulating their groundbreaking Green Controlled Growth framework and genuine social purpose.
Our solution
We created the “Luton Rising” brand with the strapline “Our airport. Our community. Our planet.” – encapsulating their community ownership, social impact, and environmental leadership. Our comprehensive rebrand included visual identity, website, and communications strategy that positioned them as a social enterprise rather than a corporate entity. Since then, we’ve delivered integrated campaigns spanning consultation materials, national advertising, social media, and stakeholder communications, helping secure strong community support, and ultimately Government approval, for their expansion plans.
Close
The Consultation
A public consultation is a statutory requirement for any large development, and developers typically see this is an unfortunate necessity for which they have to go through the motions. Luton Rising’s saw this stage in the opposite way – as an opportunity to maximise the degree of engagement and involvement with the public.
Related Work
