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area. Get it wrong and the current shortage of appropriately trained employees will be worse – Crossrail not only lets people come to the Thames Valley to work ... it also lets them travel further to the most attractive opportunities. We need to ensure that we’re the best place to work, with good infrastructure, good support for business and families, and sustainability.”
Evans agreed that rather than low-grade back-office jobs, it was important for the Thames Valley to attract high-value jobs. There was more longevity in these top-end roles, as back-office functions were being slowly replaced by automated and robotised workflows.
Blagden took a pragmatic approach: “The differential in occupational office costs between London and the Thames Valley should ensure that commuting inflows will outweigh the flows to London. Reading in particular needs to ‘think big’ and should be looking to attract HQ tenants not just back-office operations.”
Vandore was of the view that ‘if you build it, they will come’. “There are no prizes for bad communications,” he argued. “Provide the communications, then stand back and let the market exploit.”
Tech Valley or Death Valley?
With the focus on how the Thames Valley adapts to a changing status in terms of its links with London, and its position in the UK league tables, we asked the panel ...
How should the Thames Valley maintain its status as a major centre for tech and life sciences?
Vandore said protecting the quality of life in the region was an important part of the jigsaw. “It has to be fun living here,” he proclaimed. That was the way to encourage tech growth.
Macbeth argued that closer ties between businesses and the learning sector was key. “We need to see more collaboration. We have really great universities but there’s room for them to get closer to the truly innovative businesses coming out of the region and drive more innovation. Also, let’s open the region up more. Oxford has the reputation for life sciences and in Reading, we’re better known for food tech. What’s the potential if we join forces here? It’s something we need to show leadership in and take forward.”
Pickering agreed: “We need to focus on education and training to create
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2016
The increasing reputation of the University of Reading was helping the status of the Thames Valley, as was the comparative (compared with London) affordability of business space in the region, he argued.
Evans, meanwhile, cited what he had learned from a recent visit to Berlin, organised by UKTI: “I was impressed by the way companies cooperate across industry verticals, and with other German tech clusters. We lead Germany in terms of the number of leading universities, but Germany has a leading engineering/life sciences industrial base that is export focused and has a strong track record in commercialising technology. In the Thames Valley, we probably need to learn lessons from our German counterparts.”
the kind of employees to whom tech companies would find irresistible gravitational pull.”
And Head was on the same page: “It’s all about the standard of tech training – and training in the management of tech companies needs to be upgraded and supported by local business, as has happened in Liverpool and Cambridge.”
Blagden emphasised that infrastructure was key to attracting and retaining IT companies. “We have to ensure the delivery of the third runway at Heathrow to remain a world-class airport and compete effectively with the likes of Schipol or Frankfurt.” Vandore agreed ‘more dithering on Heathrow’ would allow other centres to steal a march.
John Vandore
And, looking ahead, what were the main threats and opportunities facing the region?
Giles Blagden
This was where the discussion went full-circle, with the panel believing that only when the Brexit question was resolved would investment start to pick up.
But if the vote went the ‘right way’ the opportunities for the Thames Valley were immense.
“We have amazing examples of successes such as Fairsail and the Bullitt Group who have grown up in the Thames Valley and are actively investing back in the region by keeping their HQs here,” argued Macbeth.
“How can we learn from these (companies) and what more can we do to ensure that other startups follow their example? It’s about creating a culture that feeds innovation and startups that go on to become the stars of tomorrow. By pooling the great resources we have in the Thames Valley – corporates, SMEs, universities – we can create a fantastic environment for ambitious businesses to flourish in.”
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE
Business TM M A GA ZINE
The next Taking the Temperature review will appear in the September edition ...
businessmag.co.uk
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