Matthew Hill

Inward investment officer, IWEP

Matthew Hill, 35, is inward investment and regeneration officer at the Isle of Wight Economic Partnership (IWEP). He works on the economic strategy for the island and is responsible for managing the physical regeneration of Cowes Waterfront.

What has been your most beneficial career experience to date?
Managing the Cowes Waterfront Initiative - a substantial physical and economic regeneration project. Because it's been so complex, it's opened up a world of opportunity for me. I've learned how private developers work and how different professionals interact. It's given me a broader understanding of regeneration.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
My manager at Rochdale Development Agency told me to always stay close to my clients and understand their expectations. It's tempting with inward investment to only consider your own organisation and its requirements. But unless you understand the clients' requirements too, it can cause problems.

What's the best training experience you've ever had?
While at Rochdale, I went to Leeds University for a week-long course on economic modelling. It gave me a good understanding of how local economies work and how they're structured.

What book would you recommend?
The Watts Pocket Handbook, which is an essential guide to construction. For someone like me who isn't professionally qualified, it's a useful reference tool. It helps you understand the lingo and offers lots of practical guidance.

What do you wish you'd known when you started out?
How much a change in local politics can affect your work. Major projects can take ten years or more to deliver, but if you get a change in local authority administration during that time, you often have to reappraise what you're doing. I realise now that it's best to plan in detail only for the foreseeable future rather than for the lifetime of a project.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

1994: Graduates from Manchester University with degree in economics and urban geography.

1996: Becomes economic development officer at Rochdale Development Agency.

1999: Appointed economic development officer at Isle of Wight Council, which sub-contracts this function out to newly-formed IWEP in 2001.

2003: Begins working on large-scale regeneration projects.