Letchworths Economic Future Business roundtable January 2020 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Letchworth’s Economic Future

Business roundtable – January 2020

Welcome

Graham Fisher │ CEO, Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation

Welcome

Adrian Hawkins │ Deputy Chair, Hertfordshire LEP

Running a Business in Letchworth Garden City

21st January 2020 Dianne Lee, Managing Director

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Overview

• DLRC: who we are and what we do
• Office Locations
• Challenges with Hiring Personnel
• Staff locations
• Challenges with Infrastructure
• Biggest Headache as an employer
• Good things
• Questions

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

DLRC: Who we are and what we do

• Regulatory Affairs

Consultancy

• Currently 55 staff
• Supporting Pharma

globally

• Clinical Research
• Pharmaceutical

Development

• Chemicals,

Biotechnology, Advanced therapies

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Office Locations

• 2005 – 2007 Pixmore Centre (190 ft2) Managed
• 2007 – 2009 Suite 401E, Nexus building (320 ft2) Managed
• 2009 – 2011 Suite 401F, Nexus Building (720 ft2) Managed
• 2011 – 2014 Suite 106, Spirella Building (1300 ft2) Managed
• 2014 – 2019 Exeter House, Dunhams Lane (3540 ft2) Non-

managed

• 2019 – 2029 Suite 201, Nexus Building (5500 ft2) Managed

(not IT)

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Challenges with Hiring Personnel

• Qualifications – minimum degree level
• Experience – specialists within a niche discipline
• Location – nowhere is perfect
• Relocation – difficult to persuade families to relocate
• Family
• Friend support network
• Children already in school
• Large majority of staff are female

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Staff Locations

Three people already lived in Letchworth Three people have moved to Letchworth One person already lived in Fairfield Park One person moved to Lower Stondon

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Challenges with Infrastructure

• Broadband (Vast improvement in the latest office from

30 to 300 MbpS)

• IT (Cabling needed to be replaced)
• A lot of staff commute so the A1(M) traffic and

elsewhere in the South east can be a challenge as can unreliable trains

• Lack of shops in the town centre makes it more

difficult to sell the town for staff who might consider moving here

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Biggest Headache as an Employer

• PARKING!
• Broadway Plinston – low capacity
• Broadway St Michaels – low capacity
• Garden Square - 7am to 9pm
• Extensive residents only parking even

where there are adequate driveways and wide roads

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Good Things

• Location of Letchworth is great
• Close to the A1(M)
• Near to Cambridge (AZ, Science Park, Granta Park, Gt

Chesterford, Sanger Institute, Babraham Research Campus)

• Near to Stevenage (Bioscience Catalyst, GSK etc)
• Near to Welwyn Garden City (Roche etc)
• Near to London
• Near to London Luton and London Stanstead
• Nexus Office
• In the town centre
• Near to the railway station
• Two private secondary schools in town and prep schools in/nearby

Confidential | DLRC Ltd

Any Questions?

GARDEN CITY OF THE FUTURE

Challenges and

• pportunities

Mel Blackmore Managing Director Blackmores

Our greatest challenges are our most exciting opportunities

(click on the link to play the video)

CLIMATE EMERGENCY

• The magnitude of the Climate Emergency going mainstream
• On 21May 2019, the North Herts District Council passed a Climate

Emergency motion which pledged to do everything within the Council's power achieve zero carbon emissions in North Hertfordshire by 2030.

• As one of the first councils to pass this motion, NHDC is leading the way
• n climate action
• How can we support our business community to deal with this emergency?

A PATH TO REAL REFORM

• Howard’s principles, set out in his 1898 publication, ‘To‐Morrow a Peaceful

Path to Real Reform’

• Sought a social, community and economic model, where value is captured

from land and reinvested back into the local community.

• Combining the best elements of town and country through a ‘third way', by

building a completely new self-sustaining settlement.

• It is clear that Howard’s vision for real reform, resonates now, more than ever

before.

HOWARD’S ECONOMIC MODEL

• Howard's plans included access to greenspace around the new city, areas

for the town's residents to grow their food, local electricity production and local employment opportunities, through encouraging industry to relocate from major cities.

• Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation today owns and manages the

2,200 hectare Letchworth Garden City Estate.

• How can we best protect, optimise efficiency and capitalise on these

assets?

BUSINESS SNAPSHOT

• Wide range of sectors
• Healthy business community – 2,180 registered businesses.
• Only 52 Organisations employ over 50 employees in Letchworth
• Over 2,000 SME’s/Micro-businesses

NEED A COMMERCIALLY REALISTIC SOLUTION

• Whilst environmental awareness about ‘acting responsibly’ is fairly strong,

finding solutions that are realistic, relevant and tailored to the needs of Letchworth’s business community is somewhat more elusive.

• Letchworth businesses need to be empowered with the knowledge that they

are making meaningful change and that every single business, working in synergy together WILL make a difference.

• We need to inspire lasting environmental change.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Source locally – support local businesses and creatives
• Reduce environmental impact – energy, waste, transport, water
• Carbon neutral by 2050
• Be a leader in sustainability by 2050
• Recycle and reduce waste to landfill
• Provide a Garden City Sustainability Programme - a framework for actions,

that each and every 2,180 businesses can take in Letchworth, right here, right now.

SUSTAINING LETCHWORTH ACTION PACK

• Sustaining Letchworth Directory – buy local campaign
• 20 no cost actions that can be taken in 2020
• Environmental Policy and Action Plan Guidance
• Water Management for Buildings
• Waste Management for buildings
• Sustainable Procurement Policy
• Sustainable work spaces
• Sustainable Travel Guide
• Car sharing guide
• Environmental Engagement Guide
• How to be Carbon Neutral

OPPORTUNITIES

• Sustainable procurement survey
• Letchworth Garden City Directory
• Broadway cinema screening environmentally aware films/documentaries
• Bike pool schemes
• Garden City Sustainability awards/certificates
• Spirella – Sustainability Conference
• Lottery funding grants – heritage buildings renovation
• Sustainability workshops

GARDEN CITY OF THE FUTURE

OPTIMISING OUR RESOURCES TO ATTRACT TALENT

Promote productivity and diversity through workspace Foster an environment of inclusivity Attract and retain talent Flexible workspaces Optimal space –breakout spaces, comfortable seating, communal areas and meeting spaces Connecting a diverse range

• f tech and creative

entrepreneurs

AGILE BUSINESS NEED AGILE PREMISES

70% of agile organisations rank in the top quarter of organisational health, according to McKinsey. Property can also be agile, by allowing companies to adapt their portfolios as needed for the health and growth of their businesses, while decreasing up-front capital investment and reducing risk. Today, more than one-third of the Fortune 500 are leveraging WeWork’s agile property solutions to achieve their business goals.

ON-DEMAND ACCESS

• Network of 500+ Global offices
• Membership – purchase where

needed

• Great location – London,

Cambridge

• Event space

IDEAL CO-WORKING LOCATION

CLOSE TO LONDON, CAMBRIDGE AND OXFORD

GARDEN OFFICE SPACE WITH THE WOW FACTOR

REDEFINING SUCCESS - PERSONAL FULFILMENT

There’s a lot of research behind how taking breaks, participating in physical activity and socialising can help staff members recharge, think more creatively and build meaningful connections with one another.

MULTI-PURPOSE SPACE FOR THE COMMUNITY?

Letchworth Arts and Leisure Group 125 Activities and events LALG discounts in over 55 shops and businesses

Maybe the building could be used as a Hub for Hobbies after 7.00pm? and at weekends?

MULTI-PURPOSE COMMUNITY SPACE?

GARDEN CITY OF THE FUTURE

Challenges and

• pportunities

Mel Blackmore Managing Director Blackmores

A Local Industrial Strategy for Hertfordshire

Neil Hayes │ Chief Executive, Hertfordshire LEP

Johnson Matthey, Royston

Ongoing learning of local economy (place/sector/themes), LEP business as usual and LIS asks campaign

Local Industrial Strategy timeline

Complete roundtables Publish business survey results Annual Conference

APRIL 2019 MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER MAR/APR 20

Draft strategy and HMG co-design Further evidence gathering including Productivity Analysis; Social Enterprise and Digital Impact reports Public consultation Final LIS published Consultation Synopsis Evidence Base Assessment Southern LEPs LIS statement

Foundations of Productivity (1/4)

Consistent with the structure of the Industrial Strategy White Paper, we need to “dig deeper” to investigate the Foundations of Productivity that help to explain performance. These five are:

IDEAS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT PLACE INFRASTRUCTURE PEOPLE

Foundations of Productivity (2/4)

• Hertfordshire performs well in business expenditure
• n R&D (BERD), driven by major corporate R&D
• Over the last decade, it has worked very hard to

“sweat” this investment, with some success

• Growth of the cell and gene therapy cluster in

and around Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and the Catapult (£0.5bn investment since 2015)

• Major investment in creative sector (Film & TV)

from Warner Bros, Sky/NBC Universal

• Our HE sector is not as strong as elsewhere and its

wider ecosystem is underdeveloped IDEAS PEOPLE

• Overall, Hertfordshire has a well qualified working

age population

• However, every day, it loses well qualified people,

particularly to London… and it attracts a substantial in-flow from areas to the north

• Within Hertfordshire, there is a second narrative,

concentrated especially within the New Towns…

• low aspirations
• inter-generational challenges
• low attainment
• There is a mismatch between the skills that are

being generated locally and those which employers are seeking – particularly those operating in higher productivity sectors

Foundations of Productivity (3/4)

INFRASTRUCTURE

• The strategic road and rail network doubles up as

local provision, meaning that:

• radial connectivity is good, but east-west links

are poor – and yet these are critical in relation to Hertfordshire’s own “critical mass”

• congestion is a major challenge throughout
• there are pressures linked to motorway

junctions accessing major developments – e.g. the Enterprise Zone at Maylands

• Hertfordshire has seen a substantial erosion of its

employment land provision over the last decade

• Digital infrastructure is market-driven and generally

adequate for current uses

• Hertfordshire’s energy/utilities infrastructure is under

some pressure BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

• Hertfordshire is a good place to form a business (or

at least lots of businesses are set up), but it is a more difficult place in which to grow a business

• The challenges of “scale-up” are acute given a

vicious circle of circumstances:

• Hertfordshire has the downsides of

agglomeration – as a high cost location in terms of sites/premises and labour

• BUT Hertfordshire lacks the “up sides”

frequently enjoyed by cities – e.g. a strong sense of place amongst businesses

• Provision for small and growing businesses is

locally-focused but generic in character

• Linking to infrastructure, Hertfordshire lacks high

quality office/business park provision

Foundations of Productivity (4/4)

• Across the piece, Hertfordshire is dealing with the

consequences of a population which is growing quickly, with pressure on local services and congestion…

• In response, the performance of those places

which are accommodating substantial growth will be critical, most especially:

• Gilston-Harlow in the east of Hertfordshire
• Hemel Garden Communities in the west
• In addition, the performance of Hertfordshire’s rural

areas should not be ignored – they are central to the area’s quality of life PLACE

• Hertfordshire has a proliferation of places with no

dominant urban centre: polycentricity on the edge of London defines it

• Its New Towns – without exception – need

investment and regeneration

• Its London Fringe area is mixed: it is doing well in

the west, but struggling in the east, with many of the attributes (and challenges) of an outer London

• borough. It needs a new economic vision

Hertfordshire 2040

• Hertfordshire is highly connected, with a very

buoyant but pressurised World City to the south and the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford Growth Area to the north

• This juxtaposition presents challenges and
• pportunities for Hertfordshire – and it provides

the context in which our Local Industrial Strategy will be delivered

• What could Hertfordshire “look like” by 2040?

SCENARIO 2: Hertfordshire facilitates London’s growth Under this scenario:

• Hertfordshire continues to grow rapidly in terms of

population, fuelling demand for local services which means that jobs growth continues apace

• Employment land continues to be lost – so jobs are

increasingly peripatetic and/or service based

• Commuting to London accelerates – whilst the

growing numbers of jobs in Hertfordshire attract in- commuting from areas to the north

• Transport infrastructure is under pressure and

congestion is a challenge SCENARIO 1: Hertfordshire fulfils the potential of the Golden Triangle Under this scenario:

• Stevenage, WGC and Hatfield together define a

“science corridor” that plays a complementary and synergistic role to the overheating powerhouses of London and Cambridge

• Wider cluster development is encouraged and

facilitated, generating a variety of jobs

• Skills provision is put in place to equip local people

to respond

• Major global corporates are retained and

encouraged to (re-)invest

Hertfordshire 2040

Unlocking science- base clusters in the Golden Triangle: Life sciences, enviro- tech and advanced engineering Space to Grow: From enterprise to business in Hertfordshire “Beyond boundaries”: A new relationship with London – with a focus on south east Hertfordshire Creative sectors and creative people: From good to great in south west Herts, and investing elsewhere too East/West growth corridors: South: Hemel, Hatfield, Harlow North: Luton towards Cambridge

IDEAS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT PLACE INFRASTRUCTURE PEOPLE

Increase productivity and grow the economy



Achieve growth that is more inclusive



Ensure we realise digital connectivity

• pportunities



Improve the efficiency

• f resource use – and

adapt to the challenges

• f climate change



Key themes…and the outcomes they need to generate

Old New Towns – new New Towns: Creative and aspirational communities for the 21st Century

Ste Steven enage ge Cell Cell an and d Gen Gene Cluster e Cluster

Hertfordshire Growth Board

• Collective and strategic response

to the place leadership and growth challenges that face us all

• Speak with one voice and offer

scale to attract infrastructure investment from the government and the Private sector

• Create delivery impact so we can

achieve more for our people, places, environment and economy

East-West Growth Corridors

NECHerts

• East-West (South) Strategic Growth Corridor
• A4141 interventions to unlock and accelerate growth in

housing and employment

• Rapid Mass Transit System (including modernising our

bus network)

• Hemel Garden Communities
• Hertfordshire Innovation Quarter (including Maylands)
• Growing our Creative Industries Hub
• Watford Junction Interchange
• Digital Placemaking Strategy & Plan
• East-West (North) Strategic Growth Corridor
• Exploring scope for new settlement(s) of scale
• Programmes to growing our science and technology

sectors (including Hertfordshire Living Lab with Ocado)

• Community Wealth Building pilot
• Pioneering new towns and places for the future, including

reinvigorating our existing town centres

• Green infrastructure and carbon reduction strategies &

pilot programmes (including Hertfordshire Innovation Quarter - an enviro-tech enterprise zone)

Alignment with Local Industrial Strategy

IDENTIFIED DELIVERY PROPOSALS EMERGING LOCAL INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY…

Unlocking science-base clusters in the Golden Triangle: Life sciences and advanced engineering New Economic Corridors:

• 3H2EZ: Hemel, Hatfield, Harlow (A414)
• A505: Luton towards Cambridge

Digital Foundations, Frontiers and Futures: Re-inventing peri-urban connectivity, potential and prospects Old New Towns – new New Towns: Creative and aspirational communities for the 21st Century

Joint Strategic Spatial Plans Community Wealth Building Science & Technology Sectors East-West Growth Corridors Green Infrastructure & Carbon Reduction Reinvigorating our towns Housing Delivery Plan Enviro-Tech Enterprise Zone Creative Industries Hub Digital Placemaking Single Infrastructure Investment Fund Hemel Garden Communities LA Housing Vehicle Infrastructure schemes e.g. A414 Watford Junction Interchange

“Beyond boundaries”: A new economic vision for the London Fringe – with a focus on the east Creative sectors and creative people: from good to great in south west Hertfordshire, and investing elsewhere too Scale-Up Hertfordshire: From enterprise to business in Hertfordshire

EMERGING LOCAL INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY…

Southern LEPs

• Need for visibility in current climate

– other regions taking a lead

• Working group of LEPs including

Hertfordshire, South East, Coast to Capital, Enterprise M3, Thames Valley Berkshire and Solent – ‘London Donut’

• Hertfordshire leading on Greater

South East ‘Atlas’ and statement of co-operation for Local Industrial Strategy

Where does Letchworth want to be?

Predicting the future

• Devolution White Paper
• Funding formulas - Towns

Fund/Shared Prosperity Fund

• ‘Leveling Up’ = less money (& more

competition) for South East?

Letchworth’s Economic Future part 1: the story so far

Graham Fisher │ CEO, Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation

www.letchworth.com

Letchworth – a great place to work & do business

Foundation’s objectives – 2019/22

• Develop a business-led action plan to implement a creative

vision for sustainable economic growth and the development of skills within the town

• Work in partnership with Letchworth Business

Improvement District (BID) and other partners to support and nurture the town’s economy. Why

• Garden City ideal of self containment
• Evidence of growing inequality and poverty
• Buoyant local economy is critical for future opportunity

– Nurture new generation of entrepreneurs – Workspace development for new sector growth – Harness housing growth as an economic opportunity – Culture and creative offer – Letchworth brand – Town Centre future SQW Local economic study 2019

Work in progress Actions Update Co-working space Business model feasibility New entrepreneurs Social enterprise potential, start-up support limited New sector growth Creative industries & business model feasibility. Life sciences & lack of sites Housing & wider economy Visioning & strategy development Brand 2020 & Town Centre brand Town Centre Partnership, Health hub, brand and development

– Opportunities

• Leadership, LEP/LIS partnership & Town Centre

Strategy Group

• Evidence – entrepreneurial and nearby growth
• Community Wealth Building
• Galvanizing story and create interest

– Challenges

• Engagement
• Enterprise support
• Scale
• Spaces
• Viability

– Risk of doing nothing

What does this offer Letchworth?

– Engagement – Models, collaboration and agents for change – Investment & support – Future narrative

BIG Questions

Letchworth’s Economic Future part 2: what next?

Roundtable discussion

Join the conversation: #HertsForGrowth

Twitter: @HertsLEP @LetchworthGC