Leeds

2014 is going to be a good ‘un

2014

Unemployment down, inflation down, predictions of growth up and Everton riding high in the Premier League playing a brand of football not seen at Goodison Park sine the halcyon ‘school of science’ days, 2013 has ended up being quite a decent year – but I’ll predict that 2014 will be even better.

The economy has turned the corner, business confidence has returned, and during the next twelve months that confidence will deliver enterprise, jobs and growth for UK Plc and for the North of England.

In the regions where Downtown operates, there is even more reason to be optimistic.

Leeds will host the Tour de France, a tremendous coup for the city region and an event that will elevate Leeds’ international standing and generate significant interest in Yorkshire. With the new Trinity shopping mall now open, and a 13,000 seat arena, Leeds will be looking to build its visitor economy, whilst maintaining its position as a leader in the professional and advanced manufacturing sectors.

Lancashire has been working hard to put in place a business support package that is private sector friendly and can deliver for ambitious companies in the county. Its BOOST initiative is the most comprehensive project of its kind that I have seen, and Lancashire County Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership deserve huge credit for genuinely listening to business and establishing a programme that will really work for Lancashire firms.

Manchester continues to deliver major regeneration and infrastructure schemes, and its plans for Airport City will take the city to another level again. Greater Manchester continues to demonstrate the importance of good civic leadership, private-public sector partnership that work, and the ability to avoid complacency and continue to drive forward with visionary strategies that build on past successes. I expect Manchester to lead the pro HS2 campaign and lobby for the acceleration rather than cancellation of a project that will benefit the North, but arguably Manchester in particular.

Liverpool will host the biggest international business event the UK has seen since 1951. Max Steinberg and his team at Liverpool Vision are organising a six week jamboree of activities that will take place in June and July of next year, with Downtown holding a significant series of high profile events during the International Festival of Business’ ‘Cities & Enterprise’ week. Over 140 countries are already signed up to IFB, and some top speakers have been booked. Again as a showcase for what the Liverpool city region has to offer, it couldn’t get much better.

As for Downtown, well 2014 see’s us mark our tenth anniversary. As you can imagine we have a whole host of special events, parties and celebrations in store for you, so watch this space.

Have a fantastic Christmas – and look forward to an absolutely fabulous New Year.

Old solutions won’t solve new problems

Trolleybus

There is no doubt that the proposed Trolleybus scheme in Leeds will be controversial as it is  modern, unique, innovative and will inevitably, like any major infrastructure scheme, cause some disruption whilst it is being developed.

I have explained why I believe the project is a good thing for the city region here, and I posed the question to opponents ‘what would offer a better solution?’

This week another business organisation, alongside a local MP, criticised Trolleybus, and argued that there were other ways in which Leeds could tackle its increasing congestion problem.

I read on with bated breath hoping to find the new transport panacea option that had been presented as a practical alternative – only to have my hopes dashed when realising that ‘more buses and more park & ride schemes’ was the non-solution being offered.

Whether we like it or not, buses and park & rides are not seen as an attractive proposition by many people in the twenty first century.

Lack of security, cleanliness, poor reliability and standing in the rain, sleet and snow waiting for one are good reasons why many folk see buses as an antiquated, unattractive mode of transport.

The de-regulation of the industry back in the eighties certainly hasn’t helped, and many of the fleet that you see trundling around, often dirty , tired looking and empty, don’t fill you with the enthusiasm and confidence to hop onto one at the next opportunity.

Likewise, there are more white elephant ‘park & ride’ schemes throughout the country than you can shake a stick at. They cost fortunes and few of them deliver.

For me, any alternative to Trolleybus has to be more modern, more advanced, with an eye to the future; not a cry to go back to the past and attempt to make out that those modes of transport and transport initiatives that have failed us dismally since the huge rise in popularity of the motor car can somehow be the answer.

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got. More buses and park & ride schemes? You may as well let Manchester have the money for its next tram development.

CCG condemns Miliband’s HS2 negativity

HS2

The Core Cities Group (CCG) fired a major warning shot across Labour leader, Ed Miliband’s bow this week about his party’s increasing negativity towards HS2. The threat of “open warfare” came from the Labour chiefs of its members, which includes Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds.

What has become clear during my many conversations in Leeds is just how important big infrastructure schemes like HS2 are to the private sector in the city – it is the number one priority.

There is a real strength of feeling that we cannot allow this, and projects like NGT and the Northern Hub, to be hijacked by political wavering.

So it comes as a surprise that there are Leeds MPs and councillors quietly doing exactly that, willing to jeopardise the future prosperity of their city, seemingly  in favour of chasing the ‘not in my back yard’ vote.

If Leeds is going to take advantage of its current position as an economic success then only a concerted and cross-party effort to apply pressure on the Government will see it win investment in these and future projects, rather than chasing crumbs from the Westminster table.

Remember, there remain question marks over the ability of Leeds to deliver major infrastructure projects, in the same way that London was questioned about its ability to deliver the Olympics. Whilst Trinity and the Arena have shown ambition, it is the HS2s and NGTs of this world that show the commitment and determination to get things done.

If Leeds finds itself in another five years without significant progress on HS2 and an integrated transport system (the only major UK city without one) then the finger of blame will rightfully fall on the councillors and MPs who fiddled whilst the future prosperity of Leeds went up in smoke.

Pay peanuts and you get…?

miller-john-the-houses-of-parliament-palace-of-westminster-unesco-world-heritage-site-london-england

12 July 2013 at 11:00

‘You get what you pay for’ is an ancient adage that most of us in business will recognise to be true. It is true of business clubs; it is true of events; and it is true of MP’s.

Without wishing to generalise too much, I would suggest that the current bunch of Parliamentarians that represent us are of a significantly poorer calibre than in previous parliaments. One only has to look at the respective front benches to recognise that all the mainstream parties are short of talent. Indeed how many ministers and shadow ministers can you name?

Those who do have a bit of quality and the ‘X’ factor are in huge demand from within their own political organisations and from the outside world, so if you want Chuka Umunna or Boris Johnson to appear at something for you in 2015 I’d advise you book them now. Come to think of it, Boris isn’t even an MP nowadays, though internationally he is the UK’s most recognisable politician.

Of course this dearth of talent is not simply about what MP’s are paid. It is about the increased pressures on family life and the abject failure of the House of Commons to modernise its procedures. It is about ‘cabals’ and cliques in party associations and constituency parties who stitch selections up for their mates. It is about 24/7 media scrutiny of all that you do as a public figure.

But ultimately salary does matter. Why would a captain of industry, a young entrepreneur or a creative talent give everything up to put themselves forward for a seat in a dragons den where there place is re-advertised every four years however good their individual performance, if the annual remuneration is less than a Premiership footballer earns in a week?

The job of an MP is a tough one, a time consuming one and one that is high on pressure. If we want to attract good people to this important role then we will have to be more generous and mature when it comes to paying them. The recommended 75K has hit the headlines this week. Buried was the radical change to expenses and pension rights that actually leaves MP’s no better off.

We can continue to compare our MP’s to care workers and beat them up every time a salary increase is recommended by an independent body. In that case we have to accept that we will continue to get the MP’s we deserve. In other words, get what we pay for…