Hadrian's Wall Sprint

Overview

​Suggested by Hadrian’s Wall Country and commissioned by Northumberland Small Business Service, the Hadrian’s Wall Design Sprint 2024 focussed on providing an opportunity for Northumberland-based small businesses and entrepreneurs to develop an idea for a brand new, sustainable product or service focussed on boosting awareness of, engagement with, and visits to the 72-mile Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage site.  

For small businesses it presented a unique opportunity to have significant financial contribution towards a creative solution, and to see it come to life on a global stage. 

The sprint was delivered by the Rural Design Centre working with NICRE under the single banner of Rural Catalyst.

Rural Catalyst Composite Logo

The offer

This creative communications project and process was open to up to 15 individuals working for small to medium-sized businesses that are based in Northumberland with a £10,000 fully-funded prize for the winner - watch the promotional film, left. 

The opportunity was to work up an existing idea for a new tourism project or service or to generate and develop ideas for a new or existing business. This could be anything from entertainment, leisure, food, to visitor experiences. It could be an app, a culinary tour, a blog series, an immersive experience, an event – literally anything that’s inspirational that will benefit the Hadrian’s Wall visitor economy. 

​The commitment for participants was, throughout August and September, to think about and prepare to attend the two-day Design Sprint on 25 and 26 September at Eastburn Enterprise Hub in Hexham. 

In the six weeks leading up to the sprint, support was provided to businesses with four, one-hour question and answer Zoom meetings, which took place 5-6pm on 28 August and 4, 11 and 18 September. 

Hadrians Wall

The winner

The winner of the Hadrian’s Wall Design Sprint was Tyne 2 Summit - a community interest company founded by Steph Robinson and Scott Gillan to create a safe, welcoming space where like-minded people can enjoy being in nature and connect with fellow adventurers who share a passion for the outdoors.

Scott said: "We’re looking forward to making hiking cool again, making adventure cool again and making rambling cool again.

"One preconception, narrative and stereotype is that it’s for an old people’s generation and we’re looking forward to changing that and ripping up the script through thriving, exciting adventures in Northumberland and on Hadrian’s Wall and beyond."

Watch the film, right, to gain an overview of the sprint and hear from the winner Tyne 2 Summit.

Steph Hadrian's Wall Winner

Key successes

 

  • ​The winner - Tyne 2 Summit - enhanced its national profile on social media and gained local coverage on BBC before and after sprint.
  • Moved ‘narrative’ about Hadrian’s Wall on from the felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap - this was the driver behind the request to run the sprint.
  • Successful partnership working.
  • ​Created an identity for the design sprint.
  • Businesses engaged with local support, fellow firms and mentors. 

Key challenges

 

  • The subject was sensitive as the request to run the design sprint was driven by the need to move the ‘narrative’ on from the felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap. The challenge brief was refined over a number of months in collaboration with stakeholders.
  • Establishing the judging criteria was a critical element:
  1. Potential effectiveness/impact. Will the idea for a brand new, sustainable product or service actually work? 
  2. Value. Is the money being spent well? Is any additional value being added? 
  3. Realistic. Do we think that this can actually happen, quickly and in an organised way? 
  4. Quality. Can the winning team execute to a world-class standard?
  5. Distinctiveness and creative bravery. Is the idea unique, interesting and bold? Will it get noticed, remembered and chosen? Is there a ‘wow’ element?
  6. Longevity. How likely is this idea to keep on working, over many decades? 

The USP

 

  • ​Developing and delivering the bespoke design sprint approach. This involves the ability to develop a bespoke approach to a challenge, i.e. collaboratively develop the brief using design research and discovery focussing on people, place and problem. The leads into developing an experience that engages people to define and develop ideas and ultimately deliver creative solutions. 

Top tips

 

  • ​Spend time understanding and developing the brief, good brief = good project. 
  • ​Involve the right people, subject matter experts, creatives and inspirational individuals. 
  • ​Resource the whole project for development and profile-raising. 
  • ​If you are asking people for their time make it worthwhile. 

Future plans

 

  • Winner Tyne 2 Summit is investing in its tourist offer increasing reach, awareness and frequency across Hadrian’s Wall. 
  • ​​Following this design sprint, Rural Catalyst has been asked and are developing two more design sprint-type projects tackling different issues across rural Northumberland in 2025. These are local people, place and problem-based challenges that a custom-designed approach will enable collaboration and consensus to solve. 

​Nick Devitt, Head of Design at the Rural Design Centre, said:

“The process helped move the Hadrian’s Wall narrative on from Sycamore Gap, through the development, promotion and implementation of the design sprint. Tyne to Summit is reaching new audiences and creating memorable experiences across the 72 miles of Hadrian’s Wall. Other participants, although not winning the ultimate prize, have developed ideas and tourist propositions that are now being developed and realised.” 

Contact Details 

​Nick.devitt@ruraldesigncentre.com 

 

Partners

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