GLASGOW BUSINESS APRIL/MAY 2016
CONTENTS/PRESIDENT 13
Neil Amner, President
president@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
Heading towards a more resilient city economy
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In March, Glasgow Chamber was pleased to welcome Phil Verster, Managing Director of the ScotRail Alliance – the partnership between Abellio ScotRail and Network Rail – to give the latest in our Glasgow Talks. The level of Member interest in that event was another reminder of how important issues of transport and infrastructure resilience are today to Glasgow business and to the performance of the economy. The Clyde Tunnel, the Glasgow Airport Rail Link and the Edinburgh- Glasgow Improvement project (and its effect on rail links to the city) are all issues to do with transport and infrastructure resilience that have loomed large in our thinking and concerns over the last few weeks and months. Both the Forth Road Bridge and the West Coast Main Line have suffered serious disruption in the past six months. Added to this picture are the
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News Agenda
City Roundup Member news Partner news New members
Events
Past and forthcoming events 18 Intel Q&As
Glasgow Talks Training
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Features 6
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Inspiring the next generation 23 The secret to success with John M Watson OBE
25 All-Energy Conference 2016 28
Spotlight on the £60m overhaul of Glasgow’s rail network
Technology to future-proof your business
Column BIG Talks
Cover image: ScotRail train at Queen Street Station 30 34 25
concerns that a number of Members still have about broadband access, even in the city centre. We also had a track record for a while of some power outages in the city. Perhaps what has not been highlighted enough is the investment by Scottish Power Networks and Scottish Water in the city’s infrastructure and the contribution that has made in the power and flood prevention systems. Transport congestion is
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a constant issue for Glasgow businesses. We know there are continuing challenges in the connection between the M77 and the M8. The M74 extension has made a very valuable contribution, but we have more work to do on ensuring the ground connections to the airport are reliable. That is
why the Glasgow Airport Rail Link is such a vital part of the transport infrastructure for the whole of the West of Scotland and why we shall continue to push hard on that issue. District heating and the role of
district heating in tackling some of the energy questions and the fuel poverty issues that are related to that is another challenge on the horizon and one that could be important to the resilience question. Digital, power and physical
infrastructure are all important elements that are needed to deliver a reliable economy. The last thing we want is to end up with unexpected or unplanned power shortages or if the climate change affecting the weather does lead us to a situation where the flood protection system no longer works. As a result of these challenges and other aspects
of resilience in the city, Glasgow Chamber is setting
up an Infrastructure Commission, which I shall
chair as President drawing on my professional involvement in the issue as a lawyer specialising in transport and infrastructure matters. These challenges are recurring
and continue to hold a prominent place in the agenda of our members. We are glad that most of the
key players are leading Chamber members: ScotRail; ScottishPower; Scottish Water and others are very active contributors to the Chamber’s work. So we can play an important role through our Infrastructure Commission in reviewing the resilience of the city and making sure that we as a Chamber have the best grasp possible of the issues. We will then be in a position to communicate clearly the needs of Glasgow business to the public sector and other providers as they prioritise their investment spending in the years ahead.
Glasgow Business . 3
www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
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