The council 'ringmaster' who helped revive Stockport town centre said he has no regrets as he leaves the borough with a 'heavy heart'.

Paul Richards, current deputy chief executive at Stockport Council, is leaving the borough in November to help drive forward plans to regenerate parts of east Birmingham. While he said he is both excited and terrified, he would not be drawn on whether Birmingham or Manchester is the UK's second city.

Mr Richards grew up in Timperley in Trafford and visited Stockport a lot as a child. However he first joined Stockport Council in 2017.

He later became the first chief executive of the Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) in 2019 and became the council's deputy chief executive in 2024. The MDC was the first of its kind to look at regenerating a town centre and has since been hailed as a blueprint for reviving towns across the UK.

A partnership between Stockport Council and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the MDC helps attract funding and encourages strategic thinking to drive growth.

In the town centre, the MDC has helped deliver major projects such as Stockport Exchange where over 2,000 people now work in new offices or the Stockport Interchange, a 'gamechanger' bus depot that some have nicknamed 'The Tissue Box' due to its unusual shape.

Over a decade ago, Stockport had one of the highest rates of empty shops out of any town in the UK. Now it's seen as a go-to destination with a growing number of independent shops, bars, cafes, and restaurants while footfall is bucking national trends.

Mr Richards' move away from Stockport is a big moment as the council moves forward its £2bn regeneration plans. To replace him, key figures within the town hall have been promoted to continue the progress seen in the town centre.

Speaking in his first interview ahead of his departure, Mr Richards told the LDRS: "What we set out to do over that 10 year period is just bring pride back to the town and make people feel really proud about being a resident and living and working in Stockport.

"It doesn't always appear that way and you can't please all the people all the time but that's absolutely what we have tried to do. When I walk around the Underbanks now, Weir Mill, or Merseyway [shopping centre] even on a weekday, there's definitely something going on.

"A sense of people talking positively about what has gone on in the town. That's what we are trying to do – make life better."

Mr Richards says the success of Stockport is the result of 'a lot of hard work by a lot of people' across the council, borough, and region alongside local businesses and charities. He said: "I've been ringmaster of the circus but it's happened in spite of me rather than because of me some might say."

Before he worked for Stockport, Mr Richards had jobs at Natwest, Orange, and many years in property. One person who has worked with him positively described Mr Richards as 'quite a bullish character' which was 'absolutely necessary' to get stuff done.

Another praised his business background, telling the LDRS: "You do need someone who can actually count and remember what stuff costs." On a personal level, he was described as 'just very kind' and supportive.

He told the LDRS: "The bullish thing comes from having a really clear end point. How do we get to this?

"It's dead easy to let problems get in the way, dead easy to say it's just too hard but we've never taken that position."

Looking back, he said: "There were days that were tougher than others. It sounds a bit hackneyed but it has been a real privilege to have been involved in this. I'm grateful.

"My overwhelming sentiment isn't pride. It's gratitude I've been able to play a part in this and as I've said, I leave with a really heavy heart because there's a lot of me in Stockport."

Asked if he has any regrets, Mr Richards said: "The cards you get dealt are the cards you've got to play. Could things have gone quicker?

"With hindsight, there's always things you could have done differently. Could we have done more? Again with the resource we had available to us both people and cash, I think we've done pretty well."

He added: "We've had a pretty good go and there's loads more to come. This isn't the end. God no, far from it."

While some might feel Stockport is losing its identity particularly as blocks of flats go up around the town's iconic viaduct, Mr Richards said: "You only need to look seven miles up the road [in Manchester] to see the identity of a place changing.

"That's just how it is. Stuff changes all the time but we absolutely as a town and a borough value our heritage. I suppose you have always got to think about what you are protecting."

While some of the views of the viaduct have been obscured, he said the new homes, restaurants, bars, new park, and public spaces had been upsides and does not think 'doing nothing to protect that view would have been the right solution'.

Like the iconic view of the Washington Bridge in Dumbo, New York, Mr Richards views the future of the Stockport Viaduct in very much the same way with new developments contrasting with the old. He said: "It works for New York. Why wouldn't it work for Stockport?"

While some people just outside the town centre have fears about being pushed out by rising prices and gentrification, Mr Richards argues a lot of the regeneration is for everyone. There are the plans for a new town centre station, promises of Metrolink, the popular Stockroom library, improved bus services, new jobs, new shops, affordable and social housing, and free events for families.

He said across the board the situation was more balanced, adding: "We just need that range of things. If all we were doing was building market products in the town centre, I could take that argument a little bit more about gentrification but that's not all we are doing."

He added: "All you can do is put the right ingredients in the cake. What comes out of the oven is a bit out of your hands. Having the right sort of development, quality is really important so it lasts a long time."