Dr Nikos Ntounis

Nikos Ntounis

Dr Nikos Ntounis

Senior Lecturer in Marketing

My profile

Biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at MMU and part of the Academic team at the Institute of Place Management - the international professional body that supports people committed to developing, managing and making places better. I joined the Marketing, International Business and Tourism team on a permanent basis in January 2021, having worked in previous years as an associate lecturer. My main areas of teaching are around place management, place leadership, research methods and alternative forms of marketing. 

Editorial Board membership

I am the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Place Management and Development, the official journal of the Institute of Place Management. 

Membership of Professional Associations

Member of Regional Studies Association 

Senior Fellow of Institute of Place Management

Interests and expertise

My research interests revolve around place management theory and practice; place marketing and place branding; town centre management; Business Improvement Districts; retailing; urban studies and sustainability

Get in touch

0161 247 2797
2.12 Business School
by appointment only

Projects

Current Projects

Starting in October 2024, I will be a Co-I on a 3 year ESRC funded project exploring Circular Society Innovations for place-based equitable, inclusive & environmentally sustainable living  (ES/Z502820/1).The interdisciplinary and international project team includes researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University, HU University of Applied Sciences, University of Turku and the Illinois Institute of Technology. Using Greater Manchester as a test bed, the Place-based CSI team will explore the processes by which places can become more equitable, inclusive and environmentally sustainable.

The project’s focus goes beyond traditional notions of the circular economy to explore the development, implementation, and scaling-up of circular society innovations, where social justice and wellbeing are central and where outputs, outcomes and approaches are inclusive and participatory. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Manchester City Council, and Stockport and Oldham Metropolitan Borough Councils will collaboratively participate in the development and delivery of the project, with additional support and input from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies and ReLondon. The CSI team will develop recommendations for UK policymakers, practitioners and civil society organisations to stimulate place-based CSI. Findings from across the project will be shared internationally through an international conference, handbook and virtual futures-thinking international workshop.

Previous Projects

I was a Researcher for the High Streets Task Force (HSTF) from 2019 to 2024. The Task Force was set-up to strengthen local leadership in high streets and town centres in England, by providing information, advice, training, knowledge and data - helping people to make a positive difference to their local communities. It was led by the Institute of Place Management on behalf of government, and brought together a range of expert organisations on reinventing and restructuring places. 

I was Co-Investigator on the British Academy project “Making and managing Ljubljana’s urban squats: inclusive and participatory practices” (SRG1819\190400), alongside Dr Jenny Kanellopoulou (PI). The project investigates the way Ljubljana’s squatted areas are used and managed by both the official institutions and their communities of users, aiming to understand the power dynamics that emerge in their everyday running and the plans for their future. 

As a researcher for the Institute of Place Management, I have also worked on many place management projects, such as: 

Bringing Big Data to Small Users (BDSU) - Innovate UK (2016-2018)

High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020) - ESRC (2014-2015)

A state of the art review of the BID industry - The BID Foundation (2019-2020)

An independent review of the Scottish BID industry - Scotland’s Town Partnership/Scotland’s Improvement Districts (2018)

An independent review of the Welsh BID industry (2020)

Vital and Viable Manchester (2016-2019)

Vital and Viable Stockport (2019-2023) 

Teaching

My teaching philosophy revolves around co-creation of knowledge and a participatory and engaged approach towards learning, that combines new and up-to-date knowledge with the students’ direct experiences and interests. I am a member of the teaching team around the MSc Place Management and Leadership.  I am the Unit Leader of the introductory unit “Place Management and Leadership”, and also deliver lectures and workshops on the “Place Research and Data Analysis”. I am also part of the teaching team of the unit “Branding International Places and Destinations”. I have taught on the Level 4 unit “The Responsible Marketer” for a number of years. I have also delivered seminars, workshops, and CPD courses to a range of learners, mainly practitioners. 

Courses

MSc/PgDip/PgCert

Place Management and Leadership

Postgraduate
MSc

International Marketing Management

Postgraduate
MSc

International Tourism and Hospitality Management

Postgraduate

Supervision

Supervisory Expertise

As an expert in the broad topic of place management and its adjacent fields, I am able to supervise students who prioritise a place-based approach to their research project, both in theoretical and methodological terms. As my personal research interests are mainly rooted between geography, urban/area studies, and business studies, I am more comfortable to supervise PhD students whose topic warranties an interdisciplinary supervisory team that requires my specific skillset. 

Currently Supervising

I am currently supervising five full-time and part-time PhD students in different stages of their journey. Their topics include: 

  • Regional development and hidden innovation in wine-tourism stakeholder networks
  • Exploring locational decisions and their rationality 
  • Revisiting law’s dimensions from a place-based lens  
  • Understanding what constitutes sustainability in the context of the UK High Street

  • Understanding place leadership in the context of Business Improvement Districts

Currently seeking PhD candidates in the following areas

I am happy to discuss and guide students through their doctoral application process in the following areas (list is non-exhaustive): 

Place Management, Place Branding/Marketing, Retailing, Business Improvement Districts, Sustainable/Resilient Tourism, Critical Marketing, Sustainable Development, Resilient Towns, Urban Studies (with emphasis on Subversive/Temporary Urbanism)

Research outputs

I have published in journals such as Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, Current Issues in Tourism and Safety Science. As part of the research team of the Institute of Place Management, I have also led or co-authored more than 20 reports that are focused on the future of the high street and its adjacent industries (such as Business Improvement Districts).