Plymouth reimagines its city brand

10th September 2025

Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City, has reimagined its city brand to showcase its strengths and seize a once-in-a-generation opportunity for growth, backed by unprecedented government investment.

This refreshed approach – unveiled this week – follows 18 months of consultation and engagement across the city with key partners and the local community, led by Destination Plymouth and a broader city business and community team chaired by Professor Paul Fieldsend-Danks, Vice Chancellor of Arts University Plymouth.

A citywide collaboration

Plymouth as a city is seeing significant investment in regeneration, including an unprecedented multi-billion-pound government backing into the dockyard and naval base to support the UK’s national defence. This once-in-a-generation opportunity is expected to create up to 25,000 new jobs in the city over the next decade.

Babcock’s Business Planning Director, Brendan Staniforth said:

“We are proud to have supported the campaign to redefine Plymouth’s marketing and brand strategy. This is a vital step in shaping how we attract people to live, work and invest in our city which has bold and inclusive growth ambitions, and one we are excited to be part of.”

The Destination Plymouth team has taken time to consult broadly with local businesses, residents and students, commissioning two specific pieces of work which have helped to inform the new strategy and key storylines for the city. The work has been funded by key city partners, including Babcock, Princess Yachts, University of Plymouth, The Box and UK Shared Prosperity funding via Plymouth City Council.

Reflecting on the process, Professor Fieldsend-Danks commented:

“We commissioned consultants PRD and DNCO to explore how Plymouth is perceived beyond the city and how we compare with similar places when it comes to attracting new talent. The findings reinforced what many of us instinctively knew, but now we have the evidence to back it up. Plymouth’s strengths are clear, and this research gives us the tools to tell our story with greater confidence.”

Plymouth’s unique narratives: building on a strong foundation

The research identified four key opportunities to distinguish Plymouth from other cities across the UK:

• The Ocean is Plymouth’s most recognisable and powerful asset, and the full potential of this special connection has yet to be realised.
• Plymouth’s Quality of Life is greater than other similar cities, with evidence to prove it.
• Talent all over the UK is looking for opportunities for growth, and the city is at the forefront of innovation in many fields but not yet known for it.
• Plymouth’s cultural offer and creative industries have huge potential and can shift the perception of the city.

Plymouth’s ‘Britain’s Ocean City’ branding was originally launched in 2013 and has successfully raised the profile of the city for over ten years, particularly highlighting its significance as one of the leading visitor destinations in the South West and boosting growth in the visitor sector by over 25% since then.

Strengthening the brand strategy

Using the research as a sound evidence base, the team worked with global branding consultants DNCO to create new ways of thinking about the city, which form the key storylines in the brand strategy. The narratives include:

• ‘We’re charting an exciting future’, highlighting the current city centre transformation alongside a broader £6 billion pipeline investment into the city.
• ‘Over 500 years of innovation’, to reflect the city’s heritage and its evolution from port town to leading centre for marine research, marine autonomy and naval defence, with over 38% of employment in England’s marine industries in the city.
• ‘The horizons are bigger here’, showcasing the huge growth potential and career opportunities with over 25,000 jobs over the next decade in the city.
• ‘Plymouth’s creativity knows no bounds’, highlighting the city’s growing creative industries and production sector, cultural renaissance and the role of creativity and culture in driving innovation across sectors.
• ‘The city wild about nature’ – the only UK city to be between a national park and national marine park with multiple designations of protected marine and green spaces. Plymouth has a much better quality of life and work-life balance than comparator cities, based on ONS data on happiness, wellbeing and activity levels.
• ‘A community that goes beyond’, nearly one third of the city’s population are active volunteers. Plymothians are welcoming, supportive and fiercely loyal to each other. There are multiple grassroots organisations and a real community spirit across the city.

Voices of the partners

Joy Nazzari, Founder of DNCO, explained:

“The six storylines reflect what we saw and heard when we spent time in Plymouth, a city of remarkable heritage, world-class natural assets, economic potential and a community that is both warm and forward-looking.

“DNCO has worked in cities across the world, but Plymouth is distinctive, a city of substance and opportunity with growing national and international relevance. We wanted to capture that with authenticity, which is why we ran a series of co-creation workshops and open sessions — to listen carefully to the people who know it best and to reflect what they value most about the place they call home.”

Cllr Jemima Laing commented:

“We’re charting an exciting future with an impressive pipeline of capital investment from government, local authority and private sector of £6 billion over the next 10 years. Plymouth is in an enviable place as a growing city with long-term employment opportunities. The government has also just announced a further funding commitment to help the city deliver over 10,000 homes over the next ten years to support the growing community locally, with many of them in the heart of the city centre.

“Plymouth has always been a very special place with its world-class waterfront and iconic heritage. We have ambitious plans to bring economic growth to the city and provide high-value employment for our local community. The new storylines will build on our existing heritage and will help position us globally as the innovative, welcoming and creative city we are, raising our profile and creating positive perceptions to attract the new talent we need while at the same time helping us to retain more of the talented young people already here.”

More information

For more information on the Plymouth city brand, narratives and visuals and how you can use them, go to: Plymouth: Brand home