focus on basingstoke
Over the following pages journalist John Burbedge provides insights into an old market town which has expanded since the mid-60s, and is set in stunning Hampshire countryside that includes Watership Down and Highclere Castle. Assisted by interviews with experienced local business professionals, a town is revealed that now hits well above its perceived economic weight, particularly in the technology sector
Basingstoke: time to crow about its strengths and bright future?
We now live in a digital world; a world filled with technology advances that have brought greater business flexibility, personal communication and social change; a world where the boundaries between work and home, business and leisure are increasingly blurring. This means that the bricks-and- mortar and geographic locations of our chosen lifestyles have become far more important.
It’s not hard to see why people choose to live and work in Basingstoke. Thousands of new jobs have been created in the borough in recent years, and working residents enjoy well above average earnings for England, plus the combination of the town’s varied amenities, beautiful countryside and ready access to London and other regional attractions offer an appealing lifestyle.
As Rupert Batho, MD of Basingstoke’s Chineham Park says: “For an employee, the Basingstoke area is a region of outstanding natural beauty with access to the Berkshire and South Downs, New Forest and the coast. You then have the town’s very good retail and leisure facilities. As a place to live and work it is pretty awesome, and that’s sometimes undersold.”
He’s right about the latter. The image of Basingstoke for non-resident workers (myself included since I worked with Basingstoke-based Sony for several years) probably remains one of roundabouts and ring roads, dated commercial buildings with 1970’s architecture, and similar looking housing estates.
But Basingstoke is set to grow. It’s estimated the borough will need to accommodate an extra 21,000 people over the next 15 years – many claiming that locational freedom afforded by a digital lifestyle, and no doubt attracted from London by the town’s more affordable housing and good transport links.
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So, new homes will be required. Batho again: “The challenge for Basingstoke is to make sure that the town’s employment base grows in parallel with the residential base, because the town must not end up creating a macro-economic and predominantly dormitory environment such as we see in other areas of the South East, which can clog up local infrastructure.”
Not that Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is unaware of the increasing requirements and opportunities. It has a £4 billion borough development programme, including 8,000 homes on council-owned land, a town-centre business zone and leisure regeneration in its strategic sights, (see following pages).
“Change can be good; change is good. It’s not something to be anxious about. For example, we all spend a lot of time at work, so let’s make it as enjoyable a place to be as possible,” says Kate Dean, one of the three designated project directors for the council’s future development of the borough.
Basingstoke is in a good place, in more ways than one, she points out: “We have global leaders, a great number of major corporates, and a really burgeoning SME digital and tech community of which we are very proud, plus at Basing View we already have the only off-campus hub of SETsquared, the global number one university high-tech business incubator.”
She’s right – the town can claim some of the biggest and best businesses – but does everyone know that? In today’s modern internet-linked world where public image is globally relevant, the external and business perception of Basingstoke is arguably outdated and incorrect.
Does Basingstoke not blow its own trumpet enough?
“I think that may have been the case historically, but then Basingstoke has been very successful and economically resilient. I suppose if you are confident about yourself and what you have got then it is easy not to feel the need to shout about it,” said Kate Dean.
“We have just got into this place where we know all the great things that Basingstoke has, but we are just not talking about them in the same way that our neighbours are talking about themselves. That’s what we are seeking to address.”
And those who enjoy living and working in the borough plainly don’t share the ‘negativity’ that some outsiders feel about Basingstoke. “In our last survey 96% of residents said they were happy living in the local area and 84% said they were happy with the way the council runs things,” Dean mentioned.
But she accepts that poor external perception about Basingstoke could remain.
… and, is it being heard far and wide?
“We need to make a little bit more noise, not about the past but where we are going in the future with the town and that is certainly being addressed at the moment with all sorts of initiatives now running about Basingstoke and the great things that happen here,” states Dean.
For instance, last month Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council worked with world- leading commercial property and real estate adviser CBRE, in launching a £25 million investment fund seeking to underpin fresh development opportunities in the borough
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH COAST – NOVEMBER 2016
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