Tag Archives: Robin Hood

Apr 4 2012

Nottingham – The Message

Over the last couple of weeks the issue of what Nottingham’s message is has cropped up a few times. The message I think is important – it gives us an opportunity to differentiate ourselves. No longer can we rely on the time-honoured and vague “open for business” as every other UK city is.

We need a story, it needs to be coherent and genuine. It needs to tell people what we stand for. And doing so isn’t easy. But that doesn’t mean we should shirk away from it.

Let’s face it, our reputation as a City has taken (and still takes) a battering from those who think we’re an easy target. Bad news is easier to deliver than good. We have tried variously to deny or ignore stories – especially those surrounding gun crime. Trying to use statistics to push the problem away doesn’t lose a reputation easily.

But the best way to change perception is to have positive stories. It’s about getting a new message out there. Nottingham has some great stories, which we need to shout from the rooftops. Boots, Robin Hood, Confetti and the creative industries, Bio City, the Contemporary and two world class Universities. This is the home of Sir Paul Smith, of Sir Peter Mansfield (inventor of the MRI scanner), and home to inventions such as Ibuprofen. We have lots to shout about. We do some of these in isolation.

But we still need a city-wide message. I don’t pretend to have the immediate answer, but a theme keeps coming up – that of Rebels. Sometimes this can be perceived as a bad thing, but the Apple Poem I blogged about at the weekend seems very apt?

Perhaps we need to revisit the City of Rebels idea…

Maybe one for the Mayoral debate?

Nov 7 2011

The Olympic Torch tour – how would you characterise Nottingham?

I can’t embed the video from the Olympic announcement that the torch is going to pass through over 1,000 places. It will travel around 8,000 miles and is estimated to go within 10 miles of 95% of the population. You can watch the video here.

And how did the video choose to portray its trip to Nottingham?

Yep – Robin Hood. No surprise there then. A clear view of the statute below the Castle walls.

I still wonder why we can’t quite get this brand power in the City…

Nov 1 2011

Robin Hood – just for the record….

if you are a regular to this little part of the blogosphere, you will probably know that I was part of the Sheriff’s Commission a few years ago. The Commission was set up with a view to making the most of our best asset and world-wide brand. I went with the Sheriff of Nottingham to America in September 2009 and we prepared a report which looked at what made a World Class attraction.

The Sheriff of Nottingham, Leon Unczur, being interviewed on our USA trip 2009

We also identified a number of people and organisations who were pretty skilled at delivering these attractions. We had meetings with them and they all, without exception, believed that Nottingham was more than capable of delivering a world class attraction.

Then the Sheriffs Commission was all but disbanded – the reality was that it had become too large. Decisions and a coherent direction from big committees is difficult. So a small group was formed with Ted Cantle – former CEO of the City Council – at its head. I was asked to join the group – but a few days later was asked if I would step down due to a ‘conflict of interest’. I did do, because my time at the Commission was given gratis. I know when I am not needed or wanted. The conflict was tenuous to say the least!

I did express a view to Ted that I thought his group lacked ambition – I was concerned that the Castle was being painted and the contents were being shuffled around.

This week in the paper there was news that the big attraction isn’t on its way anytime soon – due to the economic downturn. The economy is in a different place from when we were in the USA just over two years ago.

I can agree with the latter, but I can’t help but express my surprise that progress hasn’t been made. My surprise is simply that I know there are people out there who are still interested in progressing the project…

Apr 11 2011

The future isn’t ours?

In the least few weeks I have been involved in a number of strategic meetings in Nottingham. Meetings where we are trying to shape the future. If you look at my five challenges post you will get an idea about some of the things I am involved in.

And in each case, without exception, the meetings are being attended by ‘old people’. Myself included. Is this inevitable, despite being wrong?

Take HS2 – the likely date, if it gets the go ahead, for operation will be 2032. the people at the meeting will all have retired! Nottingham Castle is in the hands of a group of people who are not teenagers. That too is a long term project. Our shopping centres may get built out over the next 10 years or so (?)

My point is that we oldies are planning stuff for our kids futures. Whilst this might have been a good model a generation go, I now wonder. I think our kids are much more aware of their surroundings. Their worlds move faster than we can ever imagine. They are part of a new eco-system which doesn’t resemble ours – and I doubt it will fit what we think the next generation want.

We have to re-think some of these long term strategies. I think that anything which lies 5 years or more away needs to have both the X and Y generation involved. We need to ask them what they want. What makes them tick.

It’s corny – but the young people are the future. If we don’t we are in danger of creating huge white elephants?

Apr 1 2011

Nottingham Castle to be demolished

I blogged last week about my trip to the Caves of Nottingham and the ‘homework’ I was doing. You may know that I was part of the Sheriff’s Commission until quite recently – and we had looked at a number of options to create a world-class visitor attraction.

One of the recurring themes was the disappointment expressed by visitors to Nottingham about the Castle. This is partly because it isn’t really a Castle – it is a Ducal Palace. It is not what people expect. Kids especially think there should be turrets and a drawbridge!

In the last couple of weeks we have met up with a USA based theme park operator who have completely bought into the Robin Hood story. And they can see the only great things. They are serious investors and want to create a ‘themed attraction’. This will be based around Robin Hood.

But sadly this doesn’t include the Castle. So today they have lodged a Planning Application to demolish Nottingham Castle and replace it with something more ‘suitable’. They have experience of Castles and seem to know what they are doing. The pink lighting effect will be replaced with Lincoln Green – which I have seen and is quite stunning. It will certainly put Nottingham on the map! Nottingham will have a proper Castle again.

There will be a moat re-cut and a proper drawbridge. Themed characters will ‘guard’ the gates and a new multi-sensory maglev ride will whisk visitors from the gatehouse up the Castle ramparts. Casting will take place later in the year to find a Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Adverts will appear in The Stage in the next week.

I’m not sure what English Heritage will make of this, but I think the new owners will treat the replacement sensitively. It will certainly be ‘eye-catching’.

Work is expected to start 12 months from today and the ‘New’ Castle will open for business in 2015…

Mar 31 2011

5 Challenges for Nottingham

We have had some interesting news in Nottingham over the last few weeks. Most of the news has been positive – with plenty of coverage in blogs and the press. But I think we have some real challenges, which I have prioritised. These are personal views and others will have a different view…

#1 – Shopping. Nottingham has great shopping (ranked 5th in the UK). And we have two shopping centres vying for position. In the last few weeks both Victoria Centre and Broadmarsh have announced ambitious extension plans. On the face of it this is great news – and should cement the City’s position. But … there is a danger that the extensions will suck the lifeblood out of the rest of the City. It already has a linear shape, we need to carefully manage the rest of the shopping – to avoid what we know locally as the Sadler Gate effect. The latter is what happened to Derby after Westfield opened the new centre.

#2 – High Speed Train. I have blogged about this on numerous occasions. In my view the City should be lobbying hard for a Station and I will continue to say so. This would put us on the map, Nationally and Internationally. The ability to get to London in under and hour will help the City. It doesn’t have to just be for the benefit of Nottingham. If located on the West of the City Derby can benefit too – as can those with access to the M1 motorway.

#3 Robin Hood. We need to adopt Robin again. A myth he may be, but Nottingham Castle and The Sheriff of Nottingham are not. We can use the story to benefit the City. It needs some new thinking and a complete overhaul of the tourism offer. Robin Hood has the capability to be a world-class brand which can be owned by the City. We need to sop being embarrassed by the story.

#4 Universities. We have two world-class Universities – who both do really excellent work and turn out brilliant students. We need to embrace the Universities and work with them. They give us great profile in the World. Keeping the students here adds to the pool of talent in the City.

#5 – Crime. Our crime statistics are getting better and they are nowhere near as bad as they are portrayed in the press. But we need to keep working on the figures and on the perception. The latter is just as important as the former. It is going to take some time to rid ourselves the unfounded titles of ‘Gun Crime Capital of the UK’.

Some of the se challenges are easy, others more difficult. All have the capability to make Nottingham a better place if we can sort them out?

Mar 26 2011

The Caves of Nottingham

Last week, for the first time in my life I visited the Caves beneath Nottingham Castle. For £2.50 you get to step back in time – in parts into what looks like an alien world.

Mortimers Hole

For those that don’t know Nottingham has more man-made caves than anywhere else in the UK. They were dwellings – and at one time it was reckoned that there were more people living underground than above ground. Many of the caves were inhabited until 1845, when the St. Mary’s Enclosure Act banned the rental of cellars and caves as homes for the poor.

The Caves at the Castle are an odd mix. They comprise some long tunnels which were used to bring up goods from the Trent Valley, others as storage areas for meat, wine and prisoners (including without doubt Robin Hood). There are some for waste (including human waste!) and some for short cuts to the pub!

Our guide was Colin, who led us on a circuitous route which eventually ends in Brewhouse Yard. It’s a precarious route in parts – not really suitable for the infirm. The sense of history is enormous. Especially the latter part – the 98m long Mortimers Hole- where Roger De Mortimer was allegedly taken down after being captured by the Kings troops in 1330. De Mortimer was at the time of his capture running the Country.

So what did I think?

I actually thought it was better than I was expecting – we are lucky to have this amount of history on our doorstep. But I couldn’t help that this is also a missed opportunity. There is little publicity about the caves. The story is well told but needs some more life to it. Stuffed dummies are not what is needed for 2011. My biggest issue is that we were left in Brewhouse Yard – where we had a huge hike back up to Castle.

I know that we have another Cave tour (at BroadMarsh centre) in Nottingham. But this is The Castle. Nottingham Castle. We need to make better use of these assets in the future.

It won’t surprise you to know that I have a plan… which is why I was there. Doing homework!

Mar 10 2011

Team Nottingham at MIPIM 2011 – the last day

MIPIM 2011 draws to a close and we set off back home for the UK tomorrow.

Is this what we are about?

Today has been a quieter day compared to Wednesday. I had a couple of meetings this morning with a developers and an investor – the former who is desperate to seek opportunities in Nottingham. We will now work on those – they have real cash to invest. That’s why we are here.

I spoke to a Investor about our appointment this week to sell Heritage Gate in Derby. I’m working with Nick Hosking in my Derby office to sell this £11m scheme. He is coming up to Nottingham and Derby in the next couple of weeks.

Lunch was with Deb Tate from Thinking Place – about how Nottingham creates an identity for itself. This ties in with some of the Robin Hood work we are still doing. It was a fascinating and ‘challenging’ lunch. Deb works only with ‘places’ – Countries, Regions, Cities. And the question or challenge is ‘what is Nottingham about’. Easy? Not really.

Does Nottingham lack a clarity of purpose; does Nottingham have a central point of difference? Probably and probably not? Do we just sell features and not benefits? Probably. What do we want to be known for? What do we want to be remembered for? I think I know – but is there a common thread. Is everyone saying the same thing?

These are not easy questions – and gave me food for thought.

We do have to challenge the status quo.

It’s a subject I will return to…

Feb 25 2011

HS2, the FT and Radio Nottingham

It was a busy day yesterday! Breakfast was with the Regional Editor for Property Week – one of the Industries top read magazines. I was telling him all about HS2 and how Nottingham ‘needed’ a station on the new line…

Then I got a call to say that a letter I had signed along with 68 other Business leaders from Nottingham and around the UK had appeared in the Financial Times. The letter was effectively supporting the HS2 line. And then the phone started ringing – a brief interview with Radio Nottingham and another with The Nottingham Evening Post rounded my day off!

The theme of the questions was ‘why do you support the HS2 Line?’ – which is quite easy really.

I think it will be great for Nottingham. Clearly a major benefit will be for business commuting to London with a journey time estimed at under an hour. But it’s not just to London, many of our businesses are now competing overseas and in Europe. It will connect us with Europe more easily. But I have another view – a station in Nottingham will put us on the map. It will encourage visitors here. We need this – we need, at the same time, to capitalise on Robin Hood (and I hope to have more on that at a later date!).

But there are some other interesting facts around the line (which seems to have attracted more NIMBY-ISM than positive press?). Firstly, it is estimated that around 40,000 jobs will be created around the construction of the line and in regenerated areas near the new stations. If you free up the exiting lines of the faster trains more local services will be able to be run (fast trains and slow trains don’t mix!). And, for the green agenda, it will be carbon neutral from the start.

There will clearly be some disruption – and I understand the NIMBY lobby. But we need to see the bigger picture here. This is a long term project that could secure a very rosy picture for Nottingham, and the surrounding towns. It would give us a competitive edge over other places.

And that’s why I lend my support wholeheartedly to the scheme…

Nov 4 2010

Robin Hood and Nottingham – here we go again

I can’t let up this opportunity to comment on a story carried in Tuesday night Nottingham Evening Post. You can read it here, but to paraphrase,

Home for a Robin Hood attraction?

Tourism experts have criticised Nottingham for failing to make the most of Robin Hood…. a third of people surveyed associted the City with the outlaw (only a third?)…. Robin’s name is known worldwide…. Robin seems to disappear a little each year….. many visitors were disappointed with the Robin Hood dimension.

This work was carried out by the Nottingham University Business school.

I am pleased that this world class Institution have waded in. They have managed to get some column inches in the local paper. They have raised the issues again.

But, with the greatest respect to the report authors, we already knew all of this. The Sheriff’s Commission was founded on the basis of this knowledge. That Commission is now being wound down – and a smaller team is looking at the possibilities for the City.

But what must really happen is that we need to stop writing reports. We need to take action.

We do not capitalise on the brand of Robin Hood. And he is a brand worthy of using to our advantage. John Lyle at Purple Circle in Nottingham has done the key work on this already.

We have a fairly obvious site for an attraction.

We have had interest from a number of world class operators.

We have a very basic scheme designed.

We have the demographic information which ‘proves’ the economic case. It proves the potential visitor numbers.

But something gets stuck. It is not an easy two-minute solution, but there is a deliverable opportunity here. It’s difficult to see why the train is stopped on the track. The only glint of good news is that I think it still is on the track!

The crusade goes on…