Former Number 10 speechwriter returns to Nottingham to boost Nextdoor

An University of Nottingham graduate and former speechwriter for David Cameron was back in Nottingham last week to talk about a new project he’s working on.

Max Chambers, who once penned speeches for the former Prime Minister, is now director of communications at Nextdoor, which calls itself a “private social network”.

The free network, which launched in the UK just nine months ago, has seen the most widespread use across Nottingham in the East Midlands. Residents in 118 communities have come together at a time when one in five Brits feel lonely and one in three blame technology for stopping them getting to know their neighbours, says Nextdoor. Sneinton, Colwick, Mapperly and Wollaton are among the fastest-growing areas for uptake of the network.

Chambers says Nottingham residents are using Nextdoor to get to know each other and the private social network is being used to organise street parties, share local advice and recommendations for babysitters or gardeners, for neighbourhood watch efforts, to find lost pets and start community fitness clubs.

Nextdoor was founded in San Francisco in 2010 and it has had huge success in America which sees Nextdoor in almost 80 per cent of all US neighbourhoods. Following its 2016 launch in the UK and Netherlands, there are now 12,000 (45 per cent) of all UK neighbourhoods connected – and most recently it expanded in to Germany.

Chambers says there are plans in place to monetise the model in the UK. He told TheBusinessDesk.com: “Monetising the network is something that we’re looking to do in the US right now and the UK will follow further down the line.

“We want to give local businesses a cost-effective way to promote their services direct to neighbourhoods in a way that they probably haven’t been able to since the demise of Yellow Pages, which itself hasn’t translated into the digital world successfully. We see big opportunities in the future for this kind of model.”

He added: “We believe that when neighbours start talking, good things happen. And we know from our research that 96 per cent of Brits are craving a sense of community . But today, people are more likely to follow the activities of someone they already know on social media than to get to know their neighbour.

“The desire for a close-knit community is still there and we’ve created a safe space with Nextdoor, where people can rediscover that sense of community spirit that is too often hidden or dying away.”