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commercial property Thames Valley Property Forum John Burbedge reports
Heathrow: We’ve had the recommendation, now let’s do it
Delay in building a new runway at Heathrow Airport is costing the UK economy £1billion every month, John Holland-Kaye told more than 200 delegates at the Thames Valley Property Forum (TVPF) held at Green Park last month.
The CEO of Heathrow Holdings urged Thames Valley businesses to lobby for Government action to ensure the rapid implementation of the Airports Commission final report, published in July.
consultations, environmental, noise and community issues resolution to develop a workable plan. The Airports Commission had recommended that plan, explained Holland- Kaye. “Now, we need to get on with it.
“We will be one of the most modern, efficient and best connected airports in the world, and also one of the most sustainable, right at the heart of an integrated UK transport network. Heathrow, for the first time, will be easy to get to by public transport.”
The future prosperity of many Thames Valley businesses and generations to come rested upon Heathrow expansion, he stated. Emerging international markets were all far away. “You can only get to those growing markets by air and via a national hub airport such as Heathrow.” Equally inward investors needed good UK connectivity.
Heathrow has 82 long-haul destinations, and was the best-connected airport in the world. Paris recently stole its crown, he added.
John Holland-Kaye
The Commission concluded that expanded airport capacity was crucial for the UK’s long- term prosperity, and unanimously supported a new northwest runway at Heathrow as the best option. Heathrow expansion also presented the greatest UK strategic and economic benefits – providing new global airport destinations, 180,000 new jobs, and a £211b boost to the economy.
It had taken a huge amount of work, local
Final evaluations are now underway; the Government has promised a decision by the end of 2015. “But, we all know things can happen in politics. We need to make sure that decision is made. Every month that goes by, this country misses out on £1b of economic growth. That’s a huge lost opportunity, which is holding back our businesses.
“This time we have a much better plan that works for everyone, and has massive support from MPs, businesses, unions and LEPs up and down the country. If we get shovels in the ground by 2020, we will have the economic benefits of new Heathrow capacity by 2025.”
New Science Park set to be ‘sparky’
“Interesting things happen at interesting interfaces,” stated David Gillham, director of business incubation & knowledge transfer for the University of Reading as he spoke proudly about overseeing the creation of the new Thames Valley Science Park (TVSP), south of Reading off the M4 at Shinfield.
“The application of new technology or a new business idea very often comes about because you create sparky connections where somebody in one business or technology sector meets someone from a different sector.”
Encouraging people to explore outside
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their comfort zone and encounter fresh influences was one of the philosophies behind the TVSP, he revealed.
“As well as being a fantastic property opportunity with great facilities and location at the heart of Europe’s strongest knowledge economy, it is actually about trying to create sparky interfaces where new ideas, technologies or business models can get traction, helping to lead the next generation of step-change Thames Valley businesses.”
The first multi-tenanted building on the 47-acre TVSP site should be completed by early 2016.
‘Tech Valley’ needs to be cool, smart, and heard
The Thames Valley needs to develop an attractive ‘cool’ image and truly demonstrate its technology credentials by adopting ‘smart’ solutions that will enable its regional growth. And it needs a stronger ‘voice’.
That was an underlying message – not least to help attract and retain talent – delivered in several TVPF presentations.
While the Thames Valley had significant business and lifestyle advantages, the region still lacked an overall aspirational appeal to make it ‘cool’, the ‘go to’ place, or even the ‘stay-here’ place for local talent, as Rory Carson of Oxford Properties noted.
Thames Valley towns needed to behave like smart cities, and in a more cohesive way, delegates felt. Louize Clarke of ConnectTVT said lively collaborative working was key for attracting young talent and tech startups.
The ‘Northern Powerhouse’ now has its own single- voice spokesman, the TVPF was reminded. (James Wharton MP gained this ministerial role in May.)
Steve Lamb, CEO of Smart Agenda, said: “We are rolling out the technologies, but we really need to up our game because we are way behind as a country and area in the PR battle waging the smart agenda campaign. We don’t do enough to say the Thames Valley is a smart place to come and work.”
Do it ‘smartly’, suggested Carson. “There is nothing so uncool, as trying to be cool.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – OCTOBER 2015
Too often the British trait was to delay decision-making until failure was a definite risk. Holland-Kaye warned: “We are at risk of losing connectivity, and becoming a branchline to growth rather than being at the heart of the global economy as we have been for centuries.”
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