Category Archives: Green stuff

May 30 2012

Can supermarkets ever be sustainable?

I am the least green person I know – although I do go to London on the train and sometimes get out on my bike. But there ends my light touch on the planet.

A few months ago I was in a place called Biddulph. If you get the chance to go there, don’t. Wash your hair instead. It’s the sort of place NASA could use for training – you know – no atmosphere. It’s also difficult to get to. Especially from Nottingham.

I valued some property there. It wasn’t one of my high-value jobs. And I had a look around the place. I came across a Sainsbury’s superstore. It was green. Very green – solar panels, rainwater harvesting, high insulation and generally those things we do in buildings to lower the carbon footprint. All good stuff and the feel-good factor was high. There were even posters to tell me how good I should feel.

But here’s the thing – they’re not really sustainable are they? The only thing they sustain are their profits.

As I have wandered around various places over the last few weeks it is plain to see that we have lots of vacant shops. Too many.

But they did have a use once upon a time – as shops. They haven’t always been vacant. And despite Mary Portas not wanting to apportion blame – the blame almost certainly lies at the door of the supermarkets. These monster (green) stores are built and they are like death stars – they suck the lifeblood out of everything around. Although Tesco have now announced an end to their big box concept the damage has been done.

It is not sustainable to build a supermarket which then shuts down all the local shops around it.

One of the biggest issues we face in reducing carbon footprint is the existing building stock. And buildings which are vacant will not attract the investment required to get them to standard needed…It’s a double whammy!

May 26 2012

It’s all pants….

I was at an Invest in Nottingham Club event in the week (more on that next week!) and there was an unashamed plug during dispatches for the audience to part with their cash in exchange for a pair of pants. This may be an over-share, but I’m prepared to show you my new pants. The choice was pink or the blue you see here.

The project is ‘pants to poverty‘ and it’s 5 years old they sell in over 20 countries around the world and support over 5000 farmers in India. It’s an ethical brand prepared to take on the major fashion houses. You can buy them on the website here.

From their website, in view of the global reach, I smiled at the explanation of the name,

“We’ve got a very English name. In England, in case you didn’t know, Pants are not trousers, but they are underwear. However, more than that, if something is pants, then that means it’s terrible! So, “Pants to Poverty” means Poverty is terrible, as well as saying that they are fairtrade and organic underpants! We all need pants and so we aim to provide pants for all people, in a way that supports, rather than destroys, all of the wonderful people that make them”.

I am not really about reviewing pants on my blog, but felt the need to share a great product idea….

Over-share ends here.

May 23 2012

Will HS2 happen for Nottingham?

I blogged before about the HighSpeed2 Train line and my view that it was critical for Nottingham. Shorter train journeys to London must be of benefit to us.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening announced the controversial HS2 high-speed rail project was approved earlier in the year. Well, the first phase was. This was the line from London to Birmingham. The second phase will then form a ‘Y’ shape and he’d from Birmingham to Leeds. There has been a lobby for a stop in Nottingham.

Or more precisely between Nottingham and Derby – close to the motorway and somewhere near the end of the tram line. All roads point to Toton? It’s a logical place, unless you support the East Midlands Parkway Station on the A453.

Recommendations to ministers about this future extension should be made to ministers by the end of the year. So we have some time to wait for the outcome.

But I have it on good authority that Nottingham may not now benefit. I have been told that the line may well go to the west of Derby. There is current infrastructure there and the right noises are not being made to the Government. It was suggested to me that HS2 might get a spur at a later date to Nottingham.

This would be disastrous in my view. You cannot get an official response as the whole project is shrouded in mystery and secrets. But there seems to be a slightly different mood in the City. It will be a real headache if the line doesn’t benefit us at the first cut. We need to up the campaign!!

I will do a little digging to see what I can find out…

May 22 2012

A new way of working?

There’s a new word – “freeroamer”. It’s used to describe a laptop or iPad user who doesn’t have the restrictions of an office (with its incumbent commitment and rent!). Instead he or she runs a business from one of the plethora of coffee shops which now have free wi-fi.

Most people who know me realise my day starts in Costa Coffee (it used to be Starbucks but they don’t have wi-fi at my local store). I can get an essential caffeine boost, breakfast, warmth and a connection into the world through wi-fi. I have noticed an increase in numbers of people logged in this way. They aren’t necessarily chatting on their phones though – it seems to be email…

Then if I call later I can do a meeting – get good coffee again and if we need it – plans or documents on my iPad. The coffee shop is a great meeting place. We don’t even have to wash up!

It’s become a new way of working. There are some statistics which suggest 1.3 million people now work this way. Of course it offers the ultimate in flexibility. And perfect conditions!

And there’s a new class of worker too – the Bleisure Brigade – those blurring business with leisure. People who work flexible hours (not like the Cvil Servants in my blog yesterday) but also in flexible places. They can move from coffee shop to coffee shop. The key element is the wi-fi connection. It has become critical now – and the coffee houses have finally grasped it. Free wi-fi and Costa-Lot coffee!

May 17 2012

A fascinating Dinner

Last night I was at an Urban Land Institute Dinner in Nottingham with a select group of Nottingham folk. The discussion was around ‘Sustainable Economic Development & Inward Investment and ‘creating a competitive advantage’ for Nottingham. The ULI is an old organisation – set up in the 1930′s in America. It aims to connect, share and learn – about places. It shares the good and the bad.

The event was held under Chatham House Rules – so I can’t divulge the full details. However, it was a fairly robust and challenging discussion.

My views are fairly well known about Nottingham now. I think we don’t punch above our weight. I think we under-achieve. And to some extent I’m of this view because I believe that we have got bogged down in small minded politics. We do have some good things – and there are good things in the pipeline. But I’m restless about where we are going. I worry that we are slipping back.

I travel around a lot and I see other places pushing forward. Nottingham has to find itself again. There is a rich seam of talent here – and that needs to be given a voice and an outlet.

We are going to arrange another Nottingham based Dinner as the follow up is all important.

What became clear at the end of the two hour session were that there were some themes that people were passionate about:

1. Nottingham needs a story. Be it Robin Hood or sustainability or that we are easy to deal with. Our identity his not clear.
2. The power of education is all. Our Universities and Colleges are critical to the success of the city now and into the future
3. Sustainability is a given – but must pervade everything the City does.
4. Retail is king – we must keep improving and the Broad Marsh / Victoria Centre debate needs to be resolved.
5. Jobs and social cohesiveness will become more important. We have to head off the riots and disenchantment.

I look forward to the next Dinner. Hopefully some good will come from this – and all of Nottingham can benefit.

May 3 2012

Churches past and present…

As I drive along Castle Boulevard each day (on my way to Costa Coffee!) I have watched the new Cornerstone Church gradually come out of the ground – on the site of the old MFI.

It’s not looking pretty. Imposing yes, pretty no. In fact, to date, it looks like a newer version of the MFI trade showroom it has replaced. All steel, crinkly tin and some token brick and stone facades. Theres a bit of a curved section of brickwork and a jauntily angled joint between brick and profile sheets. Although the scaffold remains up, the ‘reveal’ isn’t going to be eureka moment I fear!

I was thinking as I drove past this week what a difference a hundred years makes. Well, perhaps 200. If you have ever seen the Basilique_du_Sacré Coeur in Paris, St Pauls in London or La Salgrada Familia in Barcelona – you’ll understand what I mean. These are great pieces of architecture – that have stood the test of time. They remain iconic and standing! They were constructed of the very best material, stone, slate, lead. They had character and real features. They were more than just canopies to protect people from the wind and rain. They are not buildings they are places.

I wonder in a hundred years if this new Cornerstone church will be standing. I’m guessing that MFI was built in the late 1970′s – a pretty poor lifespan. 35-40 years?

Our world today is all about sustainability. We concentrate it seems to me on the energy and ‘green’ credentials. But surely some of the most sustainable ones are those that were built hundreds of years ago. Their embedded carbon has long since been written down. Look at the Pitcher & Piano in Nottingham – originally a church, now a bar. Re-use at it’s best.

I’m sure cost has featured highly and I gather that congregations are high in number. So, these new churches have done something the old buildings couldn’t do! Perhaps they are sustainable after all?

May 1 2012

Apple – the coolest shop in New York?

It’s definitely a store for boys; judging by the girls at the entrance, I’m not sure they get it. I’m talking about the Apple Store. And this one is an amazing piece of architecture at the corner of Central Park in New York.

18 panels of glass on each side cover a glass spiral staircase which leads to a cavernous basement – full of boys toys. It’s an amazing shop.

On the plane over the pond I finally finished Steve Jobs authorised biography. It’s a mighty tome – at over 600 pages. I found it fascinating -and if you have a month or so spare, worth a read.

One of the chapters describes in detail the retail experience Jobs wanted us to have – and it contained some fascinating facts. The 5th Avenue store in New York grosses more revenue per square foot than any store in the world. It is famously open 356 days a year 24 hours a day. during it’s first week of opening it had 50,000 visitors.

Last year Apple had 326 Apple stores around the globe. And the average annual revenue per store is a staggering $34m.

As you wander around these great places you might be forgiven for not noticing the attention to detail Jobs lavished on them.

The glass staircases were patented by Jobs, but the floors deserve special mention. They look like a concrete grey – but are actually stone sourced from Il Casone quarry near Florence, Italy. They only use 3% of what they quarry – to ensure the highest quality! I’m not sure how sustainable that is!

The store has been open since 2006 and is the ultimate in minimalist architecture. I love it.

Oh, and I might have bought some essentials there! Like a Jawbone Jambox speaker which is awesome!

Apr 30 2012

The tallest building in New York?

It’s like one of those Trivial Pursuits questions – ‘which is New Yorks tallest building’. Of course if you bought Trivial Pursuits pre 9/11 then the Twin Towers would have been the correct answer. But subsequent to that disaster – the Empire State Building stood tall again on Manhattan Island. The last time it was overtaken was in 1970 as the steel of the Twin Towers was hauled into place.

But tonight in Manhattan I have witnessed another game-changer (the first was the Shuttle fly-past last week!). The Freedom Tower – David Child’s new Ground Zero sited building overtook the height of the Empire State building. On it’s way to 100 floors the height reached 1,271 ft this afternoon in New York. That’s 21 ft higher than the Empire State Building. It will eventually reach 1,368 ft – the same height as the twin towers it replaces on the skyline.`On top of that there will be a 300 foot mast!

It’s an impressive building – which apparently can be seen from La Guardia airport 8.5 miles away! The Park at the foot of the towers with the infinity pools are a stark reminder to what was there before. It’s a sobering place – but a fitting tribute to what was once there – and to those people who lost their lives.

The new building will open in 2018 and is expected to have cost $3.8bn. It will have a floorspace of 2.6m sq ft (That’s a lot!).

Apr 28 2012

The Space Shuttle and the Statute of Liberty!

Yesterday morning I saw a sight I never imagined I would! The space shuttle ‘Enterprise’ flew at 1,500ft down the Hudson River and past the Statute of Liberty. We were at Battery Park with thousands of people who had turned out to see the spectacle.

We saw it twice as it did a loop around Manhattan Island before flying off to JFK Airport to land. It was obviously not flying by itself (it’s no more than a glider in the earths atmosphere) but rather piggy backed on a modified 747. Technically, the Enterprise is not a real space shuttle. It never actually flew in space. It was used to test aerodynamics.

It’s off to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum during the summer in Manhattan.

But yesterday it was met by none other than Leonard Nimoy – aka Dr Spock. The coverage here couldn’t help but capture him say to the engineers, “Live Long & Proposer”. Corny but good!

And a once in the lifetime opportunity to see the Space Shuttle with that particular backdrop! It was an amazing moment and the collective crowds eyes welled up and burst into spontaneous applause. God Bless America.

Apr 26 2012

New York – 2012 – part one

This morning I leave Blighty for Manhattan Island. Some have suggested I have stirred enough of the Mayor debate up that I need to leave the City. Whereas some fine citizens get the key to the City I managed to get barred from filming with the BBC in ‘my own’ Castle. I found it amusing. It’s now my claim to fame!

But the trip was arranged some weeks ago, when Virgin dropped their flight prices to half of what they were in March when I blogged about the coincidental pricing arrangements between Virgin and BA. In fact it is the cheapest I have ever paid.

So, it’s across the pond for a few days. To the City that never sleeps.

As we have been discussing the Mayor in Nottingham over the last few weeks I was reflecting on the Mayoral position in New York. In the easy days when I went it was a very different place – crime was high and feeling safe was not how you felt. The Subway was out of bounds and going past 100th was considered suicide.

But Guiliani was credited with changing that. He cut crime and made the place safe again. He cleaned the City up.

I wouldn’t dream about travelling other by the subway. We have been into the Bronx. In some ways i think it is safer in New York than in Nottingham on a Saturday night! The Police presence is high – they are on every corner and at rush hour on station platforms. It’s zero tolerance.

So for the next few days, The Big Apple is home. It’s a chance to see some art, some music (I’ll blog about that later!) and lot’s of coffee shops. I get to go to some great independent music shops – and buy some more vinyl. A trip to John’s Pizza is essential as is the Milk Bar in the Chelsea Flower Market. The High Line is great at dusk.

I really ought to write my guide book this time…