Tim Garratt's Blog

I read my mate John Lyle’s blog when I got back to the UK about his experiences of air travel – notably BMI and RyanAir. You can read his comments here.

I had to wait until I got back to the UK, as WordPress (who rather excellently host this blog) are not flavour of the month in China. I couldn’t actually see my blog, but had a work-around to post submissions. It was frustrating at times – but I got there in the end!

Anyway back to the current subject – flying.

I flew to China with Virgin Atlantic, who I have generally found to be excellent. But my flight back was a bit of a trial. When I arrived at the airport they told me there was a thirty minute delay – which was due to the late arrival on the inbound aircraft. Sure enough we were all loaded on board – at which point the Captain gave us the good news and bad. Good – everyone was on board with their ‘stuff’. Bad – we were in the queue to leave – behind the plane at the side of us. He had been there for two hours. It was busy and I assume it had come as a surprise to Air Traffic Control that all these planes had gatecrashed the airport?

I knew it was bad when they put the films on – and then started cooking!

I was half way through Bad Lieutenant (which was rubbish) when the announcement came that we had a slot – 2 hours after our original. So that was good news.

Then more bad news. A lady had decided not to fly – she was unwell. So she was de-planed. With her luggage. This cost us our slot.

Eventually we took off – and faced some interesting weather. The storms were quite spectacular over northern China. We wriggled our way around them as best we could!

I landed at Heathrow 14 hours 35 minutes after I first sat in my seat! The flight time was 11 hours 46 minutes…

There is an inevitability about delays when you fly; and there is nothing you can do about it. It’s called powerlessness…

I attended the advisory panel meeting of the Sheriff’s Commission last Friday. It was held at Loxley House – a fitting location!

The Commission celebrated it’s birthday and it was time to look back on the year – and forwards into the future.

Firstly, there was a review of the things that have been achieved:

1. Without doubt the biggest achievement has been the recognition by the Council that Robin Hood has a massive role to play in the City. This was not the case when we set out…
2. As a result of this recognition, the City has reclaimed Robin Hood and we now proudly claim that this is the Home of Robin Hood. The logo above is a small but important part of this strategy.
3. The work done in the USA and elsewhere (looking at what makes a World Class Attraction) has been well received and sets the benchmark for the aspirations of the City. This is not nebulous, it is a real aspiration – it is acknowledged that if Nottingham is to ‘get this right’ it has to be done well.
4. The Robin Hood film captured the imagination of the Public and (hopefully) the sequel will keep Nottingham on the map. Spending on gifts with a Robin Hood theme were up 83% in the week of the film premiere. Nottingham hosted a Gala screening which attracted media attention from around the World.
5. The Robin Hood month in May was a huge success – visitor numbers at the Castle were up, spending in the shops was up.
6. A Robin Hood trail complete with new visuals will be in place in Nottingham shortly. (These have been done by my mate John Lyle and are really good)

But the real trick now is to move forward. The ideas are still coming forward about keeping the momentum going – in all sorts of areas. This includes long term aspirations for a Visitor Attraction, educational materials for schools, ongoing events (like the Robin Hood month) and the continuation of marketing and merchandising…

Graham Allen MP was present at the meeting and he spoke passionately about his aspirations for the City.

I have some disappointment that we are not further on, but it was said that “good things come to those who wait“. We have gained some momentum – we need to keep it going! I genuinely believe that we have won some hearts and minds and that we are in a better place than we were 12 months ago. There is much work to be done, but we have made a great start.

As you may know I have an ipad – and use it regularly. I am even contemplating taking it (and not my MacBook Pro) on my trip to Shanghai next month. Or I might take both…

But I have a new favourite app. You may recall that some time ago, I raved about a brilliant film about New York, but filmed on a still camera with a tilt and shift lens. Tilt and shift photography is quite fashionable at the moment – there are lots of web sites showing fantastic images.

Well, you can now create this effect on your ipad. It costs just £1.79. Details are here.

The photo here is a very average ‘snap’, taken in Plimouth near Boston last September. It is fairly uninspiring – except the central character – a local lad who is quite a good bloke. And a fellow blogger.

It took me less than a minute to ‘create’ the effect. It is really simple to use, it creates a new version, so if it all goes wrong you can start again!

I think this effect is going to appear quite a lot on my blog and in some presentations. I love it!

I had reason this week to be in Liverpool – it is many years since I was there. Certainly before the purple wheelie bins arrived!

As I arrived I tuned into Radio City – the music and presenters may have changed but the accent’s certainly haven’t!

I lived in Southport between ’76 and ’78 and as I was so close I decided to drop in on the old place. It hasn’t changed much. This is real Liverpool commuter belt. Audiences famously don’t clap – they rattle their jewellery!

But one thing has changed – my old school. It is no more – it is now the North Sefton City Learning Centre. This sounds like the sort of name Councillor Kay Cutts would appreciate – like the loss of Greater Nottingham. It means nothing to those of us who went to Ainsdale Comp! On reflection this was such a rough school (at least it was for a Forest fan growing up in the posh end of Liverpool in the glory years of 1978) perhaps my mate John Lyle would say it needed re-branding! It certainly needs some tlc.

Lord Street is pretty much the same – Victorian seaside glory at it’s best. But now with a Starbucks – from where this blog has been penned! I can usually find a Starbucks by the smell.

And ‘the Brick‘ is still there. Many hours spent there – learning the fine art of 8-ball pool! Perhaps this had something to do with my school results?

Red Rum still sits (small) and proud in the Wayfarers Arcade. I remember my Great Uncle visiting from Canada and telling me that he wouldn’t go in the tea rooms as it was ‘full of old people’. He was 85.

It seems funny going back somewhere you haven’t been for many years. Funny but fun.

Much of my blog is centred on Nottingham – mainly because it’s where I was born and where I live and work.

I try to deliver stories on my blog about my home City – which I am proud of – and want to see succeed. I am involved in lots of projects which I hope add to the place.

I go to lots of presentations – and I get to hear lots of facts – but I want to try to get away from this and concentrate on what makes Nottingham different! So here goes. I would welcome your help!

We seem to be an Industrious lot. And independent – we speak our minds. Not in a brash way like a Mancunian might. I think we are a bit of a City of Rebels – dating back some time. We are renowned for our friendliness. And hopefully the cleanliness of the city too.

So these rebels?

The obvious and famous one would be Robin Hood in the 13th Century. The story is well documented – if more legend than fact, but he robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. My mate John Lyle has developed some brand values here.

Then King Charles I raised his standard in Nottingham in August 1642. The King apparently commenced the War in Nottingham because of its central position (and his belief that the people would rally to his support) but they did not. He left Nottingham in September 1642. Sent off with his tail between his legs!

In January 1840 there was an attempt to seize the town hall by the Nottingham Chartrists – who were reported to be arming themselves. There was rioting, resulting in four hundred arrests. But, there was another side to Nottingham Chartists, for whenever money was needed for the National Rent, a fund set up to help supporters of Chartism who had fallen on hard times, or the ill, sick, victims and widows in need, there were considerable contributions from the town.

And then we can come in to the 20th Century and look at the likes of Brian Clough – a hugely successful manager at Nottingham Forest who did things his own way. Charismatic, outspoken and controversial – pretty much sums him up. Then Alan Sillitoe: maverick and mischief-maker – who died recently.

There will be others and the story still needs work…But if you have any ideas please feel free to comment!

UPDATE

I have decided to make this a page – and I will add to it when I think of more rebels…

The average age of a farmer is 58 in the UK – and the number of younger farmers is dwindling. In 2009 it was also estimated that two farms per week were selling up.

I must admit, it’s not a life for me. A 4am wake up call to milk a herd of hundreds of cows wouldn’t be my idea of fun. Especially in the short days of winter! Not that the farmer has short days – it is said that they can work 100 hours per week! The weather plays a big part in a farmers life. Wet and dark can’t be a lot of fun?

When you see on Countryfile (an essential watch!) Adam Henson struggling with the lottery of TB – you wonder what they do get from the job. I guess that the outdoor life is the main attraction and a love of animals (although they have to remain dispassionate) must be part too.

I really admire Adam and small farmers – they work incredibly hard – and some times the rewards seem rather small? I have heard it said that it is the factory farms that are crippling the business. I blogged here previously about one such super-farm being proposed in Nocton.

I am the first to admit that the free market usually sorts things out, but I do have my reservations about bigger always being better. The likes of the major supermarkets like Tesco are not always the best for us. Just have a look at my mate John Lyle’s blog here (not about farming but about the cheap drink argument). It is the same principle.

We really do need to think hard about the future – and whether we want all of our food (crop or livestock) to come from factories – or whether we want to make sure that local farms still exist. There are lot’s of green arguments about farming locally – including urban farms.

But to have any sort of future at all we need young people to get into farming. And it needs to happen soon. Or it will be too late – the present farming generation won’t be able to pass on their expertise – and that will be lost forever.

I had a sad (and slightly frustrating) day earlier this week. I went to the opening of the Robin Hood exhibition on Monday evening and, as always, had my trusty camera on hand. I took a dozen or so photos. Unfortunately when I got home and tried to download them – they were not there!

I have used a Ricoh GRII camera for around 3 years. It was an addition to my camera armoury – my main camera is a Canon 40D (with a clutch of lenses). The latter is superb and can turn in some brilliant images.

But the Ricoh tends to be my favoured weapon of choice. It is small and discrete. It is virtually bomb-proof. It has lots of user controls – but can be used as a point and shoot. The real benefit though is the quality of the images – which are just superb.

In the last three years I have lost count of how many people have asked me about an image and the camera used. They are often surprised to see this little black inconspicuous machine. My mate John Lyle blogged about it when we were in the USA – and he promptly came home and bought one!

But yesterday I had to lay it to rest. Despite downloading a firmware upgrade and changing the SD card – it has decided to only ‘write’ some images! This is not a lot of use to me – especially as I use it for images for work – and rely on them!

The amazing thing is that the image count is 5,734! So I don’t think it really owes me anything. It has been all over the world with me – and as you can see still looks as good today as it did when it came out of the box.

I was wondering quite what to replace it with and was very tempted by the Olympus Pen. I have read good reports. The natural choice might have been the Canon Powershot G11 – which also gets great reviews and would sit well with my SLR. But after a few minutes I decided that the Ricoh has been so good that I would replace it with the same camera again – just updated. So the GRIII is on its way. It has the same fixed lens (28mm equivalent) but the pixel count is up slightly to 10 megapixels. The lens has also been upgraded – so I am expecting great things!

I actually have the original GR camera – which used something called ‘film’… remember that?

Last night I went to the special opening event at Nottingham Castle of the exhibition of Robin Hood film props and costumes.

There were around 100 people gathered, including Robin himself – and the baddy The Sheriff of Nottingham! Robin was banished to the outside whilst the Sheriff welcomed his guests! I stood with my mate John Lyle – both of us making notes for our respective blogs!

We were introduced to a number of people – including the set decorator from the film Sonja Klaus. Everyone was genuinely excited about the exhibition which will run until the end of September – at both Nottingham Castle – but also in Sherwood Forest! There are some of the actual costumes and artefacts from the film – loaned courtesy of Universal and made into a small set.

But I was really interested in the comments made by Jennifer Spencer from Experience Nottinghamshire.

In essence the message from Jennifer was:

1. Nottingham and Nottinghamshire must maximise the opportunities around the launch of the movie
2. We need to aim to have 10% more overnight visitors in 2010 (and a 5% increase in day visitors)
3. Tourism is worth £1.4bn to us! We have 35 million visitors each year
4. A 10% increase in visitors would add £46m to the local economy

But Jennifer also suggested some really interesting facts:

1 in 5 tourists make a visit to a city as a direct result of a film
Visitors are more likely to visit the place portrayed in the film – than the filming location
Hollywood films with their global reach and larger audiences are more likely to have an impact
Films with a strong emotional resonance or where a particular setting plays a key role are particularly effective at drawing tourism

This really is Nottingham’s opportunity to capitalise on Robin Hood. We must do so – and not lose it again. I said in Cannes last week that we seemed reticent sometimes to use the brand – but we shouldn’t be. In difficult times (and I suspect there are more ahead) these sort of opportunities won’t come a long every day! And this is an opportunity.

Nottingham has hosted a number of journalists in the last few weeks – including from France and the USA – each have been impressed with the City. So the word will have started to spread.

But back to Jennifer Spencer – she mentioned that she had been at a Visit England strategy meeting last week – the guest speaker was Joanna Lumley. The message was one of having confidence in our tourism offer – but also looking at the offer through the eyes of a tourist. Some of what we have we take for granted.

We need to shout about we do have – but shout louder about what we don’t – until we get it!

Robin Hood world class visitor attraction here we come…

A new craze is starting – and there are some big names supporting the initiative.

Pop up shops are springing up. With news this week that Elton John and David Furness are selling off their collective wardrobes from a pop-up shop in Covent Garden. The money raised from the shop will be going to Elton’s Aids Foundation.

Of course this is not new to Nottingham – we have been having our own pop-up shop for the last few months. Wayne Hemingway of Red or Dead fame was instrumental in bringing the concept to Nottingham. I think it’s a great idea.

But I cannot help but wonder if it could be extended further. According to research undertaken there have been 25,090 shops closed in the UK between January and September of this year – a staggering 10% of the total shops on our high streets. There have been some proposals to stop these ‘tooth gaps’ appearing. And with no immediate sign of the end of the recession in sight perhaps this is something we need to revisit? Empty property does nothing for anyone. In the current Rating regime landlords are paying significant sums out whilst their property remains non-income producing. Streets look run-down very quickly. Buildings start to deteriorate as maintenance gets put to the back of the queue. Heating systems off means a damp and dank shop appears fairly quickly. It’s not easy to recover from this!

And so perhaps we do need to think about getting people to set up shop in some of our vacant premises – just for a short time.

The kiosk idea is great – it showcases local talent – and gives people a chance. And it doesn’t only work in a kiosk format – why not have a more ‘permanent’ home?

I have had the pleasure of hearing Wayne speak several times and his business story is that he started effectively on a market stall – we need to remember these roots. Not everyone will survive or make the next ‘Red or Dead’ – but our retailing will not look quite so run down, buildings will be ‘cuddled’ and shopping can be fun – with the kiosk shops offering unique products.

And perhaps some of the space can be used for amateur Art sales, or perhaps for musicians starting out? Or for ‘meeting spaces’ with coffee and cakes at low prices.

Now, I wonder if I should buy some of those Elton glasses – or would that make me look like silly? John Lyle doesn’t look silly though…he looks cool?

I have just read the Nottingham Economic Report published by Nottingham City Council and it makes positive reading. The headlines are:

Over £1 billion of Government investment in Nottingham
GVA (Gross Value Added) of £11.6 billion for Greater Nottingham
A higher than average number of jobs are in Knowledge Intensive Industries
Higher than average skills
One of the country’s Top 20 locations for A-level results
A competitively priced business location
Over three quarters of a million people in the Travel-to-Work Area
A retail spend of £1.7 billion
A highly accessible area with excellent communications.
Nottingham has surpassed all its targets for improving public transport in the last two years.

I was asked a couple of months ago to speak on Radio Nottingham about ‘green shoots’ – and at the time I thought the call on the market generally was a bit premature (I still do!). But what I did say was that there are some really compelling reasons to come to Nottingham – as evidenced by the list above. But specifically that our costs of locating you business here are considerably lower than major UK competing Cities. Comparable costs (all inclusive) are Birmingham £47.50, Leeds £43.50 & Bristol £39.50. Nottingham is at £30 per square foot.

This price differential does not mean a difference in quality. In fact the report also highlights some fantastic buildings in Nottingham – No.1 Nottingham Science Park has won numerous awards and is managed by my firm. It is as good as any product in these competing cities. We have great buildings here.

But my other point goes beyond the facts and figures. I think Nottingham has nice people – I suggested this on the Radio. We are welcoming and friendly. And perhaps that is something we should promote more of. New York did it after the catastrophe of 9/11 – they suddenly realised that their visitors were not an irritant, but ‘friends’ and so adjusted their attitude. We are a friendly lot in Nottingham (where else would someone say ‘ay-up-me-duck’?)- but we could do even better. My mate John Lyle and I did think that we should start a ‘helpful’ campaign in the town – so when you are asked for help – you go out of your way to help people and talk to them. Our reputation will grow even more. It might not help the statistics in the short term, but how about us being voted The Most Friendly City in the World ?

One of the ideas seen in the USA on our tour was how volunteers helped run places (The Getty Museum in LA has 600!). We should think about this too – people who know and love the city – and can point you in the right direction or just give you information. But whilst that idea runs in the background we can all do our bit by being friendly to others – starting tomorrow!

Nottingham – The Friendliest City in the World. Probably.