10
www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Glasgow Chamber
exists to give all our members a voice
Stuart Patrick, Chief Executive
chiefexecutive@glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
D
ynamic cities are spaces ready to embrace and encourage change while paying due respect to their heritage and traditions. Glasgow has always been a dynamo for Scotland and a bustling hub
of industry and innovation. This relentless change brought industrial cycles of boom and bust, leading to terminal decline in certain districts of our city. What has been encouraging and exciting for me in early
2018 is hearing how both the University of Glasgow in the West End and beside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the University of Strathclyde in the High Street vicinity of the city are planning to develop their innovation campuses and connect with more businesses in the City. Both of our leading higher educational institutions are
talking with commitment about how they can connect more practically with our city. When I hear Professor Sir Jim McDonald of Strathclyde and Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli of Glasgow speaking with knowledge and passion about their future plans for enhancing innovation, I sense those days of lofty ivory tower isolationism appear to be well in the past. I also know that the City of Glasgow
College on its brilliant campus and Glasgow Caledonian University are fully committed to practical learning and courses that will be useful for our economy. With our higher educational establishments powering ahead on different educational
vectors, I know this is good news for our city. One of Glasgow’s international selling points for inward investment is the high quality of our workforce and their levels of educational attainment. So where does the Chamber of Commerce fit in? One
of our tasks is to work in close collaboration with the city’s educational organisations and to identify business opportunities, to help them build their international profile, and to ensure that the entrepreneurial innovation that emerges from the labs and lecture rooms can be turned into productive businesses and products in the city. The innovation districts of Glasgow will throw up brand
new opportunities for businesses and enterprise. We will be doing our level best to support this. However, we are still required to support and assist our members who operate in all other areas of the city, including our city centre, which still generates the lion’s share of our visitors income through the weekend and the night-time economy. The Finnieston effect, caused by the strength of the SEC, is a wonderful example of what can be achieved. It’s a constant juggling act to ensure that all of Glasgow can benefit from the innovation and the funding that is on the table. The regeneration of down-at-heel districts has to be city-wide and we support the City of Glasgow Government in their ambition to share the benefits
across the city. We want internationally acclaimed innovation
districts that can re-ignite enterprise in key parts of Glasgow, but as the Chamber of Commerce representing our members in all parts of the city, we must continue to remember we exist to give them a voice too.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
