Antony Lockley OBE

Director of Strategy and Assistant Chief Executive at Blackpool Council

Antony is the Director of Strategy and Assistant Chief Executive at Blackpool Council and has both a professional and academic background in housing, regeneration, local governance and place leadership.

As part of his role, Antony has been a key member of the team that has secured £300 million plus of public funding for the renewal of Blackpool’s famous tramway and promenade, its new Conference Centre, the country’s largest Town Deal and the construction of almost a thousand new social and affordable homes. Under Antony’s leadership, Blackpool won Council of the Year for 2021/22 at both the national Inside Housing Awards and Northern Housing Awards.

As Assistant Chief Executive, Antony is the Council’s lead for sub-regional partnerships and the interface with national government, to include achieving Blackpool’s status as a national levelling up pilot area in early 2022. Antony also leads strategic oversight of the Council’s wholly owned companies – key components in Blackpool’s highly entrepreneurial approach to the delivery of housing, regeneration and wider public policy objectives.

Antony has a personal passion for the role of education and housing in tackling entrenched disadvantage, and holds a number of non-exec roles for large organisations in these sectors.