So if we are going to develop this City-wide business plan we need to think about our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

My little blog post isn’t going to be a game changer – but it can perhaps make people think about where we should be going. And I genuinely hope that people will join in. I hope that people who read this will offer up ideas. Offer up views. That will make this a collective plan – using our collective thoughts.

But before we set off on that journey then we ought to stop and think about where we are at.

STRENGTHS

The City has strengths. And it has lots of them. We sometimes don’t see them. I would suggest that they are:

1. The historical context – yes Robin Hood, The Sheriff of Nottingham and all that stuff.
2. The infrastructure we will have in place in a couple of years time – improving access to, from and around the City.
3. The people – probably the friendliest you’ll meet.
4. The world class Universities
5. The creatives who live, work and play here.
6. A powerful professional sector

There are others but it strikes me that these are key.

If we were to sum it up in one word what we offered above other places I have always been of the view that it is TALENT. We have talented people here – in all manner of sectors. Ibuprofen was discovered here. The MRI Scanner was invented here – and won Sir Peter Mansfield a Nobel Prize in the process.

But latterly the creative brains who cluster around Antenna and the Creative Quarter are doing some impressive stuff too. Yesterdays blog about NTU and it’s creative class point to a great future?

I think we need to tidy our messages – we cannot be everything to everyone. Nor should we try to be. Let’s focus on what we are good at – producing, nurturing and keeping talent. The other stuff can follow.

Have I missed anything?