Our Team
Expertise from the committee room to the data lab
FOUNDER
ROWAN COLE
Founder & Director
Rowan Cole is the founder of Coalface Engagement Ltd. He has extensive experience across planning consultation, political strategy, local government governance and community engagement. His work spans planning policy reform, consultation on major development programmes, and advisory roles for councils facing significant organisational or political challenges.
Learn More About RowanOUR NETWORK
Coalface operates a senior network of planning, governance, and political economy practitioners. Each consultant brings extensive experience across local authorities, planning reform, strategic communications, and public-sector advisory work. This collective expertise enables us to approach challenges from multiple perspectives and deliver solutions grounded in political reality, analytical rigour, and practical implementation.
SENIOR CONSULTANTS
OLIVER DEED
Senior Practitioner on community participation & grassroots engagement
Olly is the Managing Director of ECF, a specialist communications and engagement agency. He is a senior adviser specialising in community engagement and participation, along with reaching seldom-heard voices. He brings a wealth of experience in building local trust and fostering positive stakeholder engagement. With a strong track record in community engagement across a range of projects, he excels at creating constructive dialogue and delivering outreach strategies that align with the Coalface commitment to meaningful participation. Find out more about Oliver: www.engagecf.co.uk
Areas of Expertise
TOBY COPE
Senior Practitioner & Adviser on sustainable marketing & built-environment communications
Toby is a senior adviser specialising in sustainable marketing and communications for the built environment. With experience spanning architectural practices and in-house roles for a property developer, he is skilled at translating complex sustainability and ESG messages into clear, relevant communications for specific audiences. He now supports built-environment businesses as a fractional marketing and communications director, helping them sharpen their offer, focus on the right clients and projects, and deliver lower-impact, more authentic marketing that aligns with Coalface's commitment to meaningful, politically aware engagement. Find out more: www.dosustainablemarketing.co.uk and www.sustainablemarketingguy.co.uk
Areas of Expertise
SPECIALIST PARTNERS
Coalface collaborates with a network of specialist partners who provide additional depth in digital engagement, research methodology, and sector-specific advisory work. This enables us to assemble tailored teams for complex or multidisciplinary programmes.
DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT SPECIALISTS
Partners delivering advanced consultation platforms, online engagement design, demographic analysis, and digital-first community engagement tools.
RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
Social research specialists with expertise in qualitative and quantitative methods, evidence synthesis, policy evaluation, and governance research.
SECTOR-SPECIFIC ADVISORY
Experts in housing, regeneration, infrastructure, and public-sector service planning, offering deep sector knowledge to support complex projects.
Join Our Team
We are always looking for talented planning professionals, analysts, and engagement specialists who understand the political realities of planning decisions.
View Open Positions