STUART PATRICK
Supporting public agencies to attract investment to Glasgow is a task we at the Chamber are taking ever more seriously. That’s why I recently joined Invest Glasgow and Clyde Gateway at the MIPIM UK property conference in London.
The case for investing in property here remains robust and the track record healthy, but we should recognise and pay close attention to the rise of English regional cities.
Manchester has been getting most of the headlines, reinforced by the visit of President Xi Jingping of China. Announcements by Hainan Airlines of a direct scheduled flight to Manchester Airport and by the National Graphene Institute of joint working with Chinese industry added to the impression of a genuine drive to create a Northern Powerhouse.
Birmingham has seen the opening of the £750m New Street Station redevelopment, while Leeds has Land Securities’ £350m Trinity Leeds retail centre and Hammerson’s £600m Victoria Gate shopping complex.
However, thankfully there is strong evidence that Glasgow continues to compete vigorously with these and other English cities.
Take up is positive in the recently-completed 40,000 square metres of speculative Grade A office space, and investors who took their decisions early in the aftermath of the 2008 crash will make a good return.
We now look ready for the next wave of commercial space, with proposals like Titan’s Broadway 2 at the top of Renfield Street and those down at the Broomielaw being good examples.
But where Glasgow possibly has the most distinctive offer is in the emergence of innovation districts. The Technology and Innovation Centre at the University of Strathclyde, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital research facilities and plans for the redevelopment of the University of Glasgow’s campus all could be catalysts for city neighbourhoods with a strong flavour of life sciences, energy or engineering industry innovation.
The City Council also has a dramatic plan for the regeneration of Sighthill that deserves considerable praise, as does the work Clyde Gateway has done to bring forward commercial and industrial projects at Shawfield and Dalmarnock.
However if there is one Glasgow project that my week at MIPIM emphasised as indispensable it is Land Securities’ currently-suspended proposal for the £400m extension of Buchanan Galleries.
Renegotiations are now taking place with the national transport bodies to find a feasible delivery programme, but if Glasgow is to retain its position as the second retail centre in the UK this development simply has to happen.
Stuart Patrick is chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
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