It was standing room only for our panel-led discussion session at UKREiiF – the UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum held in Leeds.
Our panel included:
- Councillor Lorna Fielker, Leader of Southampton City Council
- Joanna Rees, Partner Blake Morgan
- Councillor Vikki Slade, Leader of BCP Council
- Conrad Ford, Chief Product & Strategy Officer, Allica Bank
- Sophie Camburn, Director Arup
And the discussion was led by Megan Carter, Regional Director at AtkinsRealis.
The wide-ranging discourse touched on everything from the current state of local government finances, the important role the private sector can play in the future of our place and how we can retain talent in the Central South UK.
Councillor Fielker illustrated a major issue when she said: “Currently there is a £37 per week gap between those who live and work in the city and those who commute in.
“We need to keep that money in Southampton,” she said.
Councillor Slade said placemaking was of paramount importance.
She added: “Capturing old and young talent is really important and we need to focus on encouraging people to stay in our region.”
Sophie Camburn said it was critical for placemaking to be at the forefront of creating the vision for our region.
“We are currently working with BCP through our role on the Towns Fund in Boscombe.
“We are helping to shape the business case there so that it speaks to the residents and businesses,” she said.
Tackling a question about how to speed up getting developments off the ground, Joanna Rees said local authorities need to have a change of approach.
“If local authorities could pay the contractor early to do the site investigation, with an expectation that if something changes the price will go up – that would definitely speed up getting projects going, “ she said.
And Conrad Ford said he had chosen the Central South to be the base for his next big project.
“I’ve got one more business in me and I want that to be based here and to fully use the talent pool we have in our region – we have some of the top minds here,” he said.
The prize for the best audience question was awarded to the person who asked who was the most likely to win the important football match between Leeds v Southampton to decide who goes back to the Premiership.
Leigh-Sara Timberlake, Business South Group CEO, said she was delighted the region had been represented on the national stage.
“It was important for us to be at UKREiiF and the feedback from partners has been positive. We will continue to look at how we best promote our region at events like this and we look forward to working with partners to wave the flag for the Central South,” she said.
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