Tag Archives: Invest in Nottingham
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Autumn Statement the creation of a new £100 million Urban Broadband Fund (UBF) that will create up to ten super-connected cities across the UK with 80-100Mbps (megabits per second) broadband connectivity. That’s fast!
Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and up to six further cities are going to receive support from the fund over the next three years to deliver these speeds.
I think that the ability of super-fast broadband is going to become a critical feature of our cities of the future. It is incredible to think that the internet is just a few years old and that, back then, we survived on dial up lines. But today most businesses are 100% reliant on the internet; either to communicate with itself or its clients. Our ability to gain information is critical.
If Nottingham wants to remain competitive then it needs to be on this new backbone. We need to lobby Government that this is essential. We have a fantastic creative quarter, centred on Antenna. For that to continue to grow it needs, as we all do, to have the very fastest connections we can get. I do know that my friends at Invest in Nottingham are coordinating Nottingham’s efforts to secure this for us.
It is not difficult to see that this is the future. As the capacity increases, the use of file sharing / collaborative working and video conferencing will become more useful. There is not doubt that our world is getting faster, travel times and costs are getting worse, so that points to a newer method of communication.
We are starting to get enquiries from occupiers that now include broadband connectivity as part of their wish list. This super-fast connectivity would give us a competitive advantage…
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Leave a comment | tags: broadband, connectivity, Invest in Nottingham, Nottingham, super-fast, UBF | posted in Business, Nottingham
Actually this is not true. It started a couple of months ago. MIPIM is the world property show, held each year in Cannes.
For some reason, I seem to have ended up with the organisation again for Team Nottingham. It can’t be my turn next year!
I know I am getting old – MIPIM comes round with alarming regularity – it seems like five minutes since were there ‘on our own’ for the first time. You might recall that in the austere times we live in Nottingham City Council chose not to attend the show last year. The private sector paid for Lorraine Baggs from Invest in Nottingham to attend.
This year we have attracted another private sector sponsor – so the 8-strong team is now – Innes England, Gleeds, CPMG Architects, Couch Perry Wilkes, Miller Birch, Morgan Tucker, Geldards and Rizk McCay. The team is made up of teams who can make things happen in Nottingham – but we still need Lorraine Baggs and so we are paying for her representation again.
Last year there were 18,600 registered delegates from 90 Countries. But more importantly there were 4,000 Investors and Financial Institutions and 240 Corporate end-users. These are the people we are after!
For the first time, Low cost airline bmibaby has launched a special service from East Midlands Airport to Nice. The flight will depart from East Midlands Airport on 6th March 2012 and will arrive back on 9th March 2012. bmibaby is the only airline to offer flights to the MIPIM conference from East Midlands Airport.
We already have two events booked – a VIP Dinner and a drinks reception. We have more to do yet, but the foundations are set.
My personal belief is that Nottingham needs to be at the show. It not an option. We need to make sure we meet and greet potential investors in the City. This sort of investment doesn’t happen overnight. But not being there looks like we might be closed?
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Leave a comment | tags: bmibaby, Invest in Nottingham, MIPIM, Nottingham | posted in Business, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
On Monday Nottingham hosted another showcase event for potential investors. It was Invest in Nottingham day!
Last week at Downing Street a couple of our national clients commented on how good it was to see Nottingham promoting ourselves. One in particular, who does work in Bristol, suggested we were miles ahead of them. But that is no reason to pat ourselves on the back – we need to compete with other cities – Birmingham, Leeds and the like.
I was able to to attend two of the ‘events’ n the day – the lunch at Nottingham Trent University and (another) visit to Antenna.
The lunch, sponsored by Westfield, was really well attended and the keynote talk by David Greenaway, VC at the University of Nottingham was particularly well received. David is passionate about Nottingham – and outlined the impact the University has on the City. It has a turnover of £530m, but its economic impact is estimated to be £1bn each year. Their ground breaking work with the MRI scanner was mentioned (I learned for fly many years ago with Sir Peter Mansfield) but latterly there is much excitement about the new early cancer detection test. This is currently being trialled in the USA and the signs are apparently encouraging.
It was also apparent that our two Universities have a wider impact on the City. They contribute to the health and well-being of the place. They help in developing skills and adding to the arts and culture. Of course latterly they are making a global impact too – with the new campuses in Ningbo and Malaysia adding a student cohort of 8,500.
We still have some great stories to tell about Nottingham – but we mustn’t rest on our laurels. We have to keep pushing for the High Speed Two train and the widening of the A453. Our tram extension will be great news. The extensions of Broad Marsh and Victoria Centre will help too.
We have to keep these stories alive.
I was reminded of an old adage during the talks – it’s better to travel than to arrive. And this surely must be a moniker for us. Lets keep travelling… onwards and upwards!
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Leave a comment | tags: Antenna, David Greenaway, England, Invest in Nottingham, Inward Investment, Nottingham, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Trent University, Nottinghamshire, University of Nottingham, Victoria Centre Nottingham | posted in Business, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
I was in London last night – with my friends from Invest in Nottingham. It was another event to promote Nottingham – as a follow on to the work done at MIPIM back in March.
The event was held at the newly opened St Pancras Hotel. It’s very easy to get to – no taxi’s from the Station! Just a short walk down the platform. I had travelled with a number of fellow ‘promoters’ in First Class style – at a discount from East Midland Trains.
The new Hotel is an amazing annexe to the already brilliant St Pancras Station. The hotel is simply stunning – the train station isn’t bad either! The finishes are fantastic. These intertwined pieces of Victorian architecture really are jewels. They were built in an era of massive growth in the UK and they were very public trophies proudly displayed by their owners.
And that’s what we were doing on Wednesday; showing off Nottingham to a London crowd. It was all about meeting investors and promoting the City. We want people to put their money in our town. We need inward investment; there are competitors out there. But we have some great stories to tell. We are at the heart of the Midlands.
There were more than 120 guests, investors, end users and developers at the event, invited by the City’s business contacts. It was a very impressive turn out!
Capital Shopping Centres, Westfield, BioCity, our two first-class universities and our very strong professional sector were among those helping to extol the virtues of Nottingham as a great place to do business. Team Nottingham worked the floor hard!
I thought the whole event went well and hopefully this will turn into real enquiries for development or occupiers.
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Leave a comment | tags: East Midland Trains, Invest in Nottingham, Invest in Nottingham Club, Investment, Inward Investment, London, MIPIM, Nottingham, St Pancras railway station | posted in Business, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
One of the key things about our visit to MIPIM each year is that is one of a number of ‘events’ which are carefully co-ordinated to make sure Nottingham is seen on a big stage. The City needs inward investment as we can’t just rely on home-grown talent (although that has a place too). It is critical we build on the contacts we make in Cannes – and elsewhere around the World.
Nottingham has now got the next three big inward investment events lined up.
The first is when we head off to London and descend on the fantastic newly re-opened St Pancras Hotel. This event, organised by the Invest in Nottingham Club, will be on 22nd June – and is already generating lots on interest. It gives us a chance to parade Nottingham in the Capital!
The second is the Tour De Nottingham on 8 July. This is the second such event and it gives Nottingham a chance to showcase the city’s regeneration areas and meet up with property professionals from across the UK. There is a 60 mile bike-ride to showcase Nottingham’s business opportunities and will culminate with a dinner hosted by key city business leaders and major private sector companies. Team Nottingham are sponsoring the lunch!
And then finally the date for this year’s Invest in Nottingham Day has now been confirmed as 19th September. This will be the third Invest in Nottingham Day the city has held, the event is now an official yearly date in the city’s business calendar. This day will be attended by business professionals looking to expand, move or relocate their business to a world class city.
My friends at Invest in Nottingham are arranging these days – and everyone in the business community should support them – as the saying goes, “treat all visitors as Angels – because you never know!”
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Leave a comment | tags: Invest in Nottingham, Invest in Nottingham Club, Inward Investment, MIPIM, Nottingham, St Pancras Hotel | posted in Green stuff, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
Today is the first day of MIPIM 2011 – we travel from Birmingham airport to Nice on the Cote d’Azur as Team Nottingham.
Team Nottingham!
This is my seventh year of attending the property show in Cannes. 2011 will be very different from previous shows.
My view remains that is that this is the only property show in the world that gives us as a City such an amazing opportunity; we need to take advantage of the abundance of networking opportunities available to the team – and prove to the International property sector that Nottingham is a robust city that continues to offer opportunities for developers and investors. Even in spite of the cuts!
This is a no frills trip. The Yacht which has been our base for the last few years is simply out of our league. But my private sector friends and partners have raised £15,000 – which is paying for a Dinner tonight for 50 key influencers, potential investors, developers and friends – and then a drinks party for another 300 people tomorrow.
The team are also booked into numerous meetings, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Whilst this all sounds rather grand I have always felt that it is easy to get ‘canape sickness’! If I was to write a ‘rough guide’ for the MIPIM Virgins (there are a few) it would be – sleep when you can, drink lots of coffee and water and wear very sensible shoes!
Our friends and partners on the trip are Geldards, Miller Birch, CPMG Architects, Nottingham Regeneration Ltd, Gleeds and Morgan Tucker. They are a great bunch of people who know how to network. But we will also be joined by Lorraine Baggs from the Invest in Nottingham team at the City Council. The private sector sponsors are paying for Lorraine to attend the show.
I will keep you posted on our progress…
I have also invited some of the Team to ‘guest blog’ – I’m not sure they are ready for the blogosphere yet – but I shall be harassing them – if only to give me a rest!
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2 comments | tags: Cannes, City Council, CPMG, England, French Riviera, Geldards, Gleeds, Invest in Nottingham, Investment, Miller Birch, MIPIM, Morgan Tucker, Nottingham, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Regeneration Ltd, Private sector | posted in Business, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
After much soul-searching we have reached a consensus agreement in Nottingham. After Nottingham City Council pulled out of the show last year we have managed to gather a group of like-minded private firms. Some are MIPIM die-hards, some virgins.
Team Nottingham 2011 will comprise:
Innes England
Gleeds – cost consultants
Morgan Tucker – engineers
CPMG – architects
Miller Birch – developers
Geldards – lawyers
Nottingham Regeneration Limited
We have all committed cash to create a brand (“Team Nottingham”) which will represent Nottingham on the world stage in March. We will be holding two events in Cannes – one a dinner for Investors, the other a less formal drinks reception. We have commissioned branding material for the event.
We have also offered to sponsor Invest in Nottingham to the extent of paying all the expenses for a key member of the IIN team to come out with us.
The real work is yet to be done to make sure we get the profile Nottingham deserves. We will be inviting key people to the events we have arranged in Cannes and we will hopefully be able to report on success stories in due course. As a team we are all optimistic about our chances. We are all very positive about our presence on the Cote D’Azur.
There has been much press interest in what we are doing – but I hope it will be seen as positive – unlike the rather negative coverage the City got last week in the Evening Post. Updated PR here from The Guardian though – more positive!
We are hopeful of keeping Nottingham on the world map! We are not really interested in the politics. There is quite a big picture here – which is about inward investment, jobs and wealth creation.
I will post updates here!
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1 comment | tags: Cannes, CPMG, Geldards, Gleeds, Innes England, Invest in Nottingham, Miller Birch, MIPIM, Morgan Tucker, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham evening post, Nottingham Regeneration Ltd | posted in Business, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
You might recall that I blogged previously about the decision by Nottingham City Council to pull out of MIPIM – the international property show held in Cannes each March.
This won't be the base for Team Nottingham in 2011
And I promised earlier in the week that I would probably return to an “Invest In Nottingham” theme this week.
Well, work has been going on behind the scenes…
And we have reached an agreement in that members of the City’s private sector will be going to the international property event MIPIM next year after all – as Team Nottingham.
Following the announcement that Nottingham City Council would not be going to the international property showcase in 2011 because of cost, we have joined together with Gleeds, Rizk McCay, Miller Birch and Morgan Tucker. Other sponsors are being sought – and we expect more names to be confirmed at the end of the month.
Our view was that MIPIM remains a very important showcase for Nottingham – and whilst we understand the city’s position, we think that a presence is still important. I would argue that it is more important to market during difficult times – to be ready for the upturn.
We are planning a number of events in Cannes – where we hope to capture potential investors. We will also concentrate on our clients who we usually meet at the show.
The ‘team’ is really upbeat about ‘selling’ the city – something that we have done alongside the city for the last five years or so. We will carry a unified message – that despite the cuts Nottingham remains very much open for business.
We have been offered help from the City – it won’t be the same without them, but we have to make the best of hat we have.
Interestingly at the weekend I was contacted by a commercial agent in Sheffield – who is in the same position. So it looks like this might be repeated…
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5 comments | tags: Gleeds, Innes England, Invest in Nottingham, Miller Birch, MIPIM, Morgan Tucker, Rizk McCay, Sheffield | posted in Business, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
I was on Andy Whittaker’s breakfast show on Radio Nottingham earlier this morning (far too early!) – I was asked to comment on the HS2 Rail link I blogged about last week. In essence my contribution was to discuss the effect such a link might have on Nottingham.
I am aware that there are some anti-rail protesters – and I can understand their view. But we may miss out as I have said previously…
Ultimately such a line – and critically a station – will improve Nottingham’s position in the UK. It will help us attract investment. It puts us on the map.
So now is a good time to Invest in Nottingham?
I mentioned in another blog last week that we had got a fairly bad press after the Secret Millionaire programme. I thought it was an unfair portrayal of the City. We have our fair share of problems – but I don’t accept that we are in any way worse than any big Cities. Sadly drugs and alcohol feature highly in the problems.
Investment in the City will create jobs and wealth. We need investment. The HS2 would help in this area.
My friends at Invest in Nottingham, in conjunction with Antenna ,have produced a new Nottingham DVD explaining why now more than ever is a great time to invest.
The DVD contains exclusive footage and general information about Nottingham’s key growth areas. Business professionals including Glenn Crocker – CEO of BioCity, Alex Farquarson – Director of Nottingham Contemporary, Karl Hilton – Managing Director of Crytek and Brent Liu – Vice General Manager of Changan Automobile UK give their views on why they chose Nottingham as their business location.
I did post it before, but in case you missed it – you’ll find it on the Invest in Nottingham site here.
We need to be optimistic about the future – even in these troubled financial times. We need to give ourselves the best chances!
And Investment in Nottingham is a theme I expect to return to later in the week – with news about MIPIM 2011…
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Leave a comment | tags: Antenna, Changan, Crytek, HS2, HS2 line, Invest in Nottingham, Nottingham, Nottingham Contemporary, Radio Nottingham, Secret Millionaire | posted in Business, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
It seems that our plans for Nottingham at MIPIM 2011 will be very different from previous years. For the last six years, or so, we have been a sponsor of Nottingham City Council’s Invest in Nottingham team. And 2011 was expected to be no different.
A heavily branded Yacht for Nottingham at MIPIM this year
But the Comprehensive Spending Review has put a stop to all that – and the City have advised us this week that they will no longer be the main driver for this property show. To that end they have cancelled the Yacht that has been chartered for the last 6 years.
The Council have come in for lots of criticism over the years for the so called ‘jolly’ in the South of France. And some people will just not understand how the show works – there’s little point explaining to them. But the show is a hugely influential world stage – in which towns and cities across the globe compete for inward investment.
I have always argued that if we knew which 5% of our marketing hit home – we would abandon the other 95%. But we don’t know. What we do know is that there are a lot of the 5% people and companies in the South of France.
I do understand the sensitivities around a spend on a yacht when jobs are being threatened; but the marketing of the City needs to go on. In times of recession it could be argued that we should be prepared to market harder – one day the market will return and the City needs to be ready to take those opportunities that present themselves.
The team at Invest in Nottingham work tirelessly during the week long show. Sure I would rather be in Cannes than at the Birmingham NEC – I have never denied this. The atmosphere is conducive to business. And business gets done.
We need to make sure the world doesn’t think we are closed for business. That would be a disaster.
It looks like my firm and some of the other private sector firms will form some sort of club and promote the City from a ‘private sector’ viewpoint. But it won’t be the same….
The Nottingham Evening Post carried the story tonight here.
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4 comments | tags: Cannes, Invest in Nottingham, MIPIM, Nottingham, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham evening post, Powder Monkey | posted in Business, MIPIM 2010, Nottingham
