While Norwich is being touted as a city of opportunity, it must shrug off its parochial mindset and sell its success story internationally, according to an expert panel at EG’s Norwich City Talks event.
Panellist Caroline Dean, partner at Mills & Reeve, set the tone in front of more than 120 people: “There is a certain Alan Partridge effect this city has that really worries me. Colleagues in London have no idea of the level of work done by professional services in this area. We need to sell more.”
David McNally, chief executive of Norwich FC, agreed, celebrating what the city has to offer, including a Premier League football team.
“The sooner we shake off the shackles of liking our area to be kept as a bit of a secret, we can go forward. It’s hugely beneficial to the area to have a top football team,” he said.
“As the world has shrunk with digital technology, there is a huge opportunity for the club, city and county to do something about it.”
The city also draws students to its university, which is a world-renowned research centre.
Government statistics show that 51% of those employed in the region work in knowledge-intensive industries such as life sciences and advanced engineering – something the panel thought should be utilised more.
But some believe a more co-ordinated approach to marketing the city is required. Ian Fox, director at FW Properties, said the University of East Anglia, the council and Norwich FC need to work together as a single body to promote the city.
“If I go to the council website, I can’t find out what is great about Norwich quickly enough. There is no one body that says: ‘We are Norwich’. Who is driving this?”
And there was a suggestion that Norwich should more fully embrace its neighbour Cambridge, a globally recognised brand. Caroline Williams, chief executive of Norfolk’s Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that “businesses don’t have boundaries”.
Massive opportunities
“The A11 will allow us to connect much better and while the corridor is being developed, there are massive opportunities particularly on the digital and creative side for Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge,” Williams said.
“We can’t think we’ve got to keep our arms around Norfolk. We need to keep our identity but Cambridge also needs to be looking to us. They are nervous about joining up with Norfolk because they think we are getting stronger.”
A £500m city deal scheduled for Norwich is set to pour investment into areas represented by Norwich City Council, South Norfolk District Council and Broadland District Council, particularly to enable these knowledge-based industries to grow.
But there is pressure on land supply to also meet housing targets. Around 40,000 homes are scheduled to be built in the city, but there are concerns about whether this can be met by 2021.
Fox criticised the public sector for not being more proactive in getting brownfield land developed and argued the case for using compulsory purchase orders more intensively.
He said: “The council could be more proactive in taking over dormant land. This is the strongest economy we have been in for a long time in terms of growth prospects for Norwich, and they could be engaging with landowners more quickly.”
David Moorcroft, executive head of regeneration and development at Norwich City Council, described the target as “phenomenal” but acknowledged a need for land around the research park to be developed in order to accommodate new jobs.
It comes at a time when the office market is strengthening. Rents are around £16 per sq ft, around £2 shy of what is needed to make new development financially viable. Guy Gowing, managing partner at Arnolds Keys, points to the shrinking availability owing to permitted development rights mopping up oversupply of older stock. He believes rents could break the £18 per sq ft barrier in 18 months.
He added that the time might be right to encourage more refurbishment: “In Norwich, the equilibrium of supply and demand is coming back.”
Mixed-use development is happening, such as Architekton’s St Mary’s Works project, which will provide offices, “tech hubs”, shops, restaurants and homes by Norwich railway station, but the panel’s overriding message was Norwich could do more to put itself on the map.
McNally said: “We need to be featured in the top four cities in the UK and will need to do everything to ensure this is a great city. The measure needs to be high and if we can do that, then all of those other things will happen.”
Devolution uncertainty
The debate about devolution is still riddled with uncertainty (see feature p84), but the panel was sure about two things. Firstly, the business community must have a say in how investment is made, and secondly, a combined East Anglian authority could help fulfil Norwich’s potential.
David Moorcroft, executive head of regeneration and development at Norwich City Council, said: “All the ambition we spoke about has more of a chance of happening with one. The danger is the city’s voice gets crowded among other things.”
Caroline Dean, partner at Mills & Reeve, added while it was a difficult topic because it was “all in flux”, the money on the table might not be enough, or appropriate for Norwich’s infrastructure needs.
Caroline Williams, chief executive of Norfolk’s Chamber of Commerce, emphasised a necessity to focus on the right things.
“We are not clear as a business opportunity on what we need to happen – the road, rail, broadband – if we are not careful we could go back 10 years. It is a matter of making sure we are seen, not switch off when we hear devolution,” she said.
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