20 years
speed, distance and number of communication mediums – print through to texting, televisual to tablet – while also changing the way we speak.
We’ve progressed from a world where cool wasn’t hot, Amazon was a jungle, Twitter was what birds did, Apple, Orange and Blackberry were fruits, and you saw a cloud through glass-paned windows. And our Internet-written word has changed too: Hoo nose if spellin n grammer will matta in 2033.
Lifestyle becomes
workstyle In the early 1990s, fax and phone were mainstay business communications, invariably used from an office base. Now, people can work flexibly from anywhere, anytime – 9-5 hours have largely disappeared and a work-life merging has resulted.
This industrial-social ‘revolution’ has had a fundamental impact on commercial property markets as businesses reduce their office requirements, seek to relocate, or adapt their premises.
As one property developer recently told The Business Magazine: “We don’t need to build more workplaces: we need to build more places where people will want to work”.
Red-tape, regulation and open-necked
shirts We now live in a more litigious world, where acceptance of personal error or unaccountable accidents are almost unknown – at least according to ‘no-win no-fee’ lawyers.
Red-tape and regulation have become a costly, time-consuming factor of business life.
Corporate governance legislation was arguably sparked by the Enron scandal and demise of Arthur Andersen (2001). Human Rights and Health & Safety also became focal points and the 2007-2008 financial chaos that led to recession not only brought in Basel III banking supervision (2011-12) but
supporting businesses in the region
also widespread concerns and reduced confidence in The City.
Interestingly, although regulation has become more formalised, everyday business life has often become less formal. Count the people wearing ties at your next business meeting.
The ravages of
recession? Attracting inward investment has been crucial to our area. The Thames Valley Economic Partnership was formed in 1994 to do just that, and in 1999 the Government also set up the South East England Development Agency “Working for England’s World Class Region.”
In June 2006 TVEP announced that 3,300 foreign-owned businesses were employing an estimated 100,000 people – 13% of the Thames Valley workforce. The credit crunch began in 2007. Recession-led austerity cuts later saw both TVEP and SEEDA closed down.
Arguably, Thames Valley businesses survived the recession better than most in the UK. Chambers of Commerce in the region also remained intact, having consolidated in 2006 to form the Thames Valley Chambers of Commerce Group.
In 2011 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills gave local authorities, academia and businesses the opportunity to form Local Enterprise Partnerships to help lead local economic growth. LEPs have been formed for Thames Valley Berkshire, Thames Valley Buckinghamshire and TVCC launched its Thames Valley Inward Investment Portal –
www.thamesvalley.co.uk – earlier this year.
Last month, UK Trade and Investment confirmed that the Thames Valley remains the most successful location for attracting foreign investment outside of London.
Future threats and
opportunities The global power shift to emerging nations in the Far
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2013
East is evident but trade is two-way and crucial factors for future Thames Valley economic progress will be infrastructure improvements – transportation, broadband and power – allied to suitable available skillsets.
The Thames Valley is a major and vital contributor to the UK economy and anything that compromises the Thames Valley is a risk to overall UK GDP.
Heathrow, the world’s busiest airport, is a key component of the Thames Valley’s attraction for multinationals and globally trading companies as their favoured European commercial location.
The debate about Heathrow’s expansion and its role as UK’s hub airport continues, as does the protracted development of western rail access to the airport.
Proximity and fast rail access to London equally attract businesses to the Thames Valley. Crossrail is coming to Maidenhead and Reading Station is now upgraded.
UK road travel still plays a major role for the Thames Valley’s logistics companies. Tesco Distribution has just replaced the last of Reading’s famous 3B’s at the updated M4 Junction 11 (Courage Brewery closed 2010), but the region’s motorways and A34 too often audition as car parks.
Broadband connectivity remains surprisingly poor in parts of the UK’s ‘Silicon Valley’ and a ‘Silicon Roundabout’ offers an alternative business location in east London, but Thames Valley education standards are constantly improving.
UTC Reading, partnered by Microsoft, Cisco, Network Rail and Peter Brett Associates, opens this month for students aged 14-19. Its focus will be computer sciences and engineering.
High Wycombe gained the Bucks New University (2007), the University of Reading combined with Henley Business School (2008), and Oxford universities and Thames Valley colleges are now more business- aware and actively tackling skills shortages.
25
'While foreign investment into Europe fell by more than 40% last year, Thames Valley Berkshire has bucked the trend with job and project numbers rising significantly'
Steve Lamb, Thames Valley Berkshire LEP chairman
'The world has been empowered by having access to what was once fairly arcane knowledge. The issue today is in interpreting that information'
Philip D’Arcy, Blandy & Blandy
'The Thames Valley has to establish itself again; we need to be more proactive in future. We live and work in an incredible area. We ought to shout about it a bit more'
Andrew Norton managing partner, nortons
'Now, it’s important that Thames Valley companies are brave and prepare themselves for global markets'
Sir John Madejski
'The Business Magazine and its networking events have helped keep us abreast of what other businesses need or can offer'
Andrew Robbins, MD of Lamport Gilbert
www.businessmag.co.uk
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