PRESENT:
Andrew Atkinson Fairhaven Housing
Nicole Billington Preston City Council
Robert Binns Cotton Court
John Chesworth Harrison Drury
Michael Conlon Conlon Construction
David Cox David Cox
He points to positive impact GCHQ has had on Cheltenham’s economy since its arrival in the Gloucestershire town and says Preston can get a similar boost and attract tech and cyber firms.
He says: “When it comes to the NCF headquarters, everyone is going to land at that train station. It is a great opportunity. We need to entice companies into the area with the connectivity and with the office space.”
Michael Conlon chairs Preston headquartered building firm Conlon Construction. The company has been involved in several regeneration projects in the city. He sees the Station Quarter as an opportunity to provide high quality jobs that will keep young talent in Preston.
He says: “There are lots of really talented people that come to our city to get an education and we don’t want them to leave. The Station Quarter can provide employment to keep them here in our city. We need to keep the talent here.”
Rizwan Seth, managing director of service office provider W_RKSPACE, says: “While offices aren’t frequented as much, the office is here to stay, because it’s a core of the business itself. Without an office, I don’t think the business functions in a sense, because people want to come into something.
You have got to have the buildings to draw people in
“It could be a hybrid; people are going to spend one or two days in the office, the rest at home. However, there definitely is a requirement for Grade A office space to attract the larger companies in Preston.”
However, David Cox, who heads city-based David Cox Architects, sounds a note of caution. He talks of the “challenge” of getting Grade A office space built in the current climate. He says: “It was hard enough in 2018 when there were people queuing up to sign up for large office leases. The demand disappeared in the pandemic and I think it is going to be a major challenge to get it back.”
John Williams is manager of Handelsbanken in Preston. It moved out of the city centre earlier this year to an office in the docklands. He says: “We were in Winckley Square for many years and moved out to Navigation Way in February. The main reason was because there wasn’t any Grade A type accommodation available in the city centre.
“Our preference absolutely would have been to stay in the city centre. Old buildings in city centres are difficult to repurpose when you’ve got
handelsbanken.co.uk/preston Who we are
Handelsbanken is a relationship-led bank built on sustainable values. Our local branch, rooted in the community of Preston, is one of a UK- wide network of branches across Great Britain.
We offer personal and corporate banking, as well as wealth management services, with a truly bespoke service.
Our decentralised model is core to our success. Our branch is made up of an experienced team who know and understand the local market. Customers benefit from a dedicated account manager who gives sound advice and provides solutions based on their personal requirements.
What we’ve achieved
In 2022, according to an independent survey of British banks’ personal and business customers conducted by EPSI Rating Group, Handelsbanken was rated top for customer satisfaction for the 14th year running (
EPSI-rating.com, 2009-2022).
We’re also proud to have been named as the most recommended provider for relationship / account management for SMEs by the Competition and Markets Authority’s Independent Service Quality Survey (CMA, August 2022).
Thanks to our prudent approach to risk and focus on long-term customer relationships, the Bank has been rated the safest commercial bank in Europe in Global Finance magazine’s 2022 rankings.
Customer satisfaction drives everything we do. We’ll continue to invest in our people, our branch, and our community, so that we can help individuals and businesses thrive.
John Williams Branch manager, Handelsbanken
LANCASHIREBUSINESSVIEW.CO.UK
Russell Millhouse UCLan
Adrian Phillips Preston City Council
Rizwan Seth WRKSPACE
Anthony Smith Bar Pintxos
Liz Tapner Selnet
John Williams Handelsbanken
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) considerations to consider.”
He adds: “I draw comparisons with Liverpool where I worked for many years in the 90s. Liverpool started to build Grade A office space and everybody looked and thought ‘It’s empty’. It’s not anymore, it’s full.
“You’ve got to have the buildings to draw people in. You have got to build office accommodation to attract people.”
39
PRESTON
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 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
