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www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com
Why Glasgow’s untold business story is being re-written
Professor Greg Clark speaks exclusively to Kenny Kemp about the positive state of the city and how a new narrative can be built around its strengths
T
he legend of Glasgow as a great European city of commerce is being re-written for the 21st century. Glasgow is
now creating a new business story that fits its modern state. It’s a bold project instigated by
Glasgow Economic Leadership (GEL), jointly chaired by Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal of the University of Strathclyde, and Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, of which Glasgow Chamber of Commerce plays a significant part. In support of GEL, the Chamber, the City Council and Glasgow Airport collectively commissioned Professor Greg Clark, a world authority on cities, to look at the narrative. Professor Clark has worked with 300 cities around the world and admits to a soft spot for Glasgow. He is an academic who has studied the world’s urban conurbations for 25 years. He has been a thinker and researcher who set up the Business of Cities, an independent urban analytics group, based in University College London.
“I’ve been a friend and an admirer
for many years. I first visited Glasgow in 1996. I’ve visited the city every year since. More recently I have been involved with the State of the City conference, but I’ve come for other reasons because I’m a fan of the city. It is really one of my favourite cities. “It is very clear that the success of
the Commonwealth Games 2014 and the People Make Glasgow identity framework have really driven a surge in Glasgow’s attractiveness as a city. I think people now understand very well that Glasgow is a great place to have fun. It has an amazing community of diverse people who share an appetite for life – and a love of the city. It’s a great place for conferences and entertainment. It is fantastic place to study, and it’s a very, very creative place.” “But I think it has become clear
over the last two years that the stories which naturally come from the People Make Glasgow proposition aren’t necessarily the stories that are most oriented towards the business interests of the city.” The People Make Glasgow proposition leads to the positive message about living in the city, having fun, and studying in the city, but it doesn’t automatically translate into a
proposition about why to start a company, why to invest in real estate, or why to relocate a major company to Glasgow. “Or why to commercialise your big idea in Glasgow, or why to invest in the small firms,” Professor Clark adds. The GEL group began to see this as an increasing issue. Stuart Patrick, the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive, approached Professor Clark, requesting a piece of work that would start to speak more about Glasgow’s business proposition. But this had to be in a framework that was compatible with People Make Glasgow. As a starting point, Professor Clark looks at three characteristics, including what kind of leadership does a city have?
“Is the leadership bold, ambitious,
collaborative and innovative? Is it confident? I’ve always felt that the leadership of Glasgow has been absolutely superb over the last ten to 20 years.” The second point which Professor
Clark considers is how does the rest of the world see the city and does the city know what the rest of the world thinks about it? “You might be surprised to hear this, but many cities don’t know what the rest of the world think about them. There is a habit from cities of looking at good news but not the bad. Or picking their favourite media outlets to take comment from but not necessarily looking more broadly.” The third point was trying to find out what the movers and shakers in any given city are really thinking. Here, it is about ascertaining what the key 500 or 600 people who are tasked with running a city have in the backs of their minds. Professor Clark appreciated Glasgow’s
leadership was in a good place but concluded
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