Placemaking with a purpose, the future of towns and cities
As it becomes obvious COVID-19 will change the way we live and work for the foreseeable future, a panel of representatives have discussed how this will impact city and town centres across the Midlands.
These professionals from Government, business and academia examined what must be done to help these centres recover and thrive.
The discussion was chaired by TheBusinessDesk.com’s Midlands editor, Sam Metcalf, and introduced by Amanda Dorel, regional director at the session’s sponsor – Lloyds Banking Group.
On the panel were Kathrin Enenkel, senior analyst at Centre for Cities, Jo Gideon, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central and PPS to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Ministerial Team, Phil Stewardson, director at Stewardson Developments, Nicola Fleet-Milne, CEO at Fleet Milne and chair of Colmore Business Improvement District and Mark Stapleton, director at Turner & Townsend.
Enenkel said it was likely that people who can work at home may only come to the office two to three days a week in future.
But she pointed out that a study by the Office for National Statistics found that during the pandemic only 25% of UK workers actually had the option to work from home.
Enenkel said she remained optimistic about the future of city centres, stressing people will continue to be drawn to these locations which offer benefits not available elsewhere.
“Not all offices are going to close, though there may be reduced office space,” she said. “And if rents fall that may mean other businesses which haven’t previously had the chance to be based in city centres will begin to move there.”
Gideon acknowledged high streets have suffered losses, noting that in Stoke options are being explored to turn empty retail premises into homes to bring vitality back to former shopping hubs.
“We’re about to lose our Marks and Spencer in the centre of Stoke, which for a lot of people is representative of the death of the high street,” she said.
“What we need are retail offers in the high street which are products you can’t get from Amazon. I’d like to see more farmers’ markets and products which have a connection to where you live.”
Fleet-Milne said Colmore BID is determined to ensure the life does not drain out of the city centre.
She said to help achieve this, she wanted measures put in place during the pandemic to foster more of a “café culture” to remain for the long-term.
“Café culture has a large part to play in the revival and I don’t want to see businesses having to pack away all the outdoor stuff in 18 months time,” she said.
She added another important element in attracting people to the city centre is fast broadband connectivity. She warned this provision is currently “dreadful” in central Birmingham and is stifling potential growth.
Stapleton said change should be viewed as inevitable and progressive.
He said: “As a society we need to support and encourage property owners to create flexible working environments that respond to their tenants’ needs.
“Flexibility from local authorities is also key to keeping a town centres relevant and vibrant. We don’t want to end up losing talent to other parts of the country.”
Stewardson said his own property investment business has seen its tenants displaying much more interest in technological solutions and in supporting their employees to work from home where possible.
And he agreed with Gideon’s comments about what is required to revive high street shopping. He said unless they are major brands retailers will need to be “niche” if they want to survive.
View the full session below:
Invest Midlands is a one-day virtual conference bringing together business and policy leaders to set the agenda for what comes next in the region.
The event has been curated by TheBusinessDesk.com and backed by a broad coalition of organisations spanning the public and private sectors, led by EY, Shakespeare Martineau, Lloyds Bank, and Impact Data Metrics.
