Tag Archives: levelling up

News

Research finds remote work could be key to Britain’s ‘Levelling Up’ plan

Remote work could enable over 13 million Brits* to seize the opportunity to live and work outside the major cities, helping to spread economic opportunity across the UK, according to research released today by ClickUp, the all-in-one productivity platform.

The research found that 45% of the UK workforce believe working remotely from wherever they’d like on a permanent basis is a realistic option. More than half (53%) of Brits believe that living in a major city is important to their career advancement – however if they had the same career prospects living elsewhere as they do now, only 15% of people would choose to continue living in the city.

The UK government recently announced its Levelling Up plan, which aims to bring gigabit broadband to 85% of the UK, and £1 billion to deliver 4G coverage to 95% of the country by the end of 2025, amongst other measures to reduce regional inequality. The new research from ClickUp suggests that remote work could play a major role in helping the government achieve its key objective and level the economic playing field across the country.

Amber Coster, VP of Operations, EMEA at ClickUp, said: “The key to spreading economic opportunity across the UK could be staring us in the face. The country has already adapted brilliantly to remote working, and there is a huge demand to live and work outside of the main economic hubs. There are still some productivity hurdles to be overcome but with the right approach and tools, combined with the government’s commitment to improving connectivity, remote work could play a major role in bringing economic opportunity to everyone.”

However, remote work does not come without its challenges; ClickUp’s research revealed the top areas that need improvement to make remote work a permanent reality, according to the workforce:

  1. Ways of communicating (19%)
  2. Managing employees (17%)
  3. Managing workloads and projects (17%)
  4. Too much importance is given to face-to-face meetings (17%)
  5. Software and tools (16%)

Managing and measuring productivity becomes even more important with distributed workforces, yet less than a fifth (19%) believe their employer’s ability to do this well. In fact, data shows there is significant room for improvement with close to half (44%) of Brits rating their employer’s ability to measure productivity as average or below average.

*The Office for National Statistics’ most timely estimate of payrolled employees indicates that in December 2021 there were 29.5 million employees in the UK

News

Pegasus Group economics director joins Institute of Economic Development Board

“The more people we can get together from economic development – public and private sector – to help to lead the economic development agenda and influence decision-making, the better it will be for everyone.” This is the view of Richard Cook, Director – Economics, at Pegasus Group who has been appointed to the Board of the Institute of Economic Development (IED).

Richard, entering his 19th year in economic development and his sixth as an IED member, explained that he was motivated to help the sector evolve and thrive. “Economic development is an area I find extremely interesting but it is also one that is hard to define,” he said. “Whether it is Levelling Up, town centres/high streets, the role of LEPs going forward, devolution or planning, economic development is all around us. My ambition is for us to represent an even wider range of public and private sector organisations that help shape the direction of the IED and government agenda on economic development. This means influencing Levelling Up or any other flagship policies that are announced in the next few years and the agenda for the new local and sub-regional government structure.”

Richard outlined his view that the IED is “a serious thought leader for the area of economic development” and there is an opportunity to increase the breadth and depth of insight available to decision makers. “As a Board we need to ensure that the IED provides an evidence base to inform economic development decisions,” he revealed. “My expertise is in undertaking economic impact assessments and socio-economic analysis, and, whilst I am based in Manchester, I work all over the country so can contribute to that evidence base. We should also be thinking about intelligence that developers need, including issues such as how the housing offer can meet the needs of an older population.”

Pegasus Group is an independent consultancy specialising in planning, design, environment, economics, transport, infrastructure and heritage. The economics arm of the business helps organisations make the case for development, including residential, extra care and student accommodation schemes, and commercial development, and Richard told how the IED has supported him professionally. “The IED is the main national voice for economic development and it is important that we are members,” he said. “It is known, even by non-members, and carries a level of authority and respect. From a personal perspective, being part of the IED has been crucial for connecting with economic development professionals, public and private sector, including traditionally at the annual conference. It also brings people together effectively through online events and CPD programmes.”

Having previously worked at DTZ Investors as well as New Economy Manchester, now part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, before joining Pegasus Group in 2016, Richard is an advocate of the role of public-private sector collaboration. “Private sector consultancies offer a level of independence to the economic development sphere and there is a lot they can bring to the table in terms of analysis and evidence-informed advice,” he said. “Yes, they have to follow their clients’ directive, but it is healthy for private sector consultancies to provide a level of critique to public sector organisations (on local plan consultations, for example), and also vice-versa.”

IED Executive Director Nigel Wilcock said: “Our vision is be the leading professional body for economic development professionals, helping them to create stronger communities and sustainable economies across the UK. Within that our core purpose is to support, develop and connect our members, represent and champion the profession, and influence and inform policy. This is a crucial time for economic development across the four nations and we want to draw on the knowledge, expertise and ideas from within our membership, public and private sector, to support our mission. We are therefore delighted to welcome Richard to our Board of Directors.”

News

Levelling Up: pre-White Paper perspectives from economic development professionals published

Ahead of the publication of the long-awaited Levelling Up White Paper, the Institute of Economic Development (IED) is sharing new insight which sets out the views of members on what is required from the UK government’s flagship policy.

Levelling Up: pre-White Paper perspectives from economic development professionals is a collection of thought leadership articles around what could be undertaken in respect of themes such as cities, towns, coastal settlements, community-led levelling up, widening opportunity and social capital, and structures. It then arrives at a series of conclusions drawn mostly from local authority members writing in a personal capacity.

IED Executive Director Nigel Wilcock, who led the development of the paper, said it was not an “attempt to prioritise the potential solutions” around Levelling Up. Instead, its main purpose was to collate and share a “huge body of expertise often based on the lessons learned from the past – both in the UK and more widely” – from a cross-section of its membership.

“It is our intention that each short chapter may offer something relevant to members (and beyond) and will stimulate further debate and thinking,” he explained. “These have tended to address themes from a slightly more spatial perspective than is expected in the White Paper, and of course once that White Paper has been published and considered, the IED will be responding more formally to the consultation. There are some commonalties within chapters but, remarkably, very few contradictory views.”

Levelling Up: pre-White Paper perspectives from economic development professionals goes on to highlight a number of “recurring themes”:

  • Levelling Up and economic development is about people and communities, yet they are frequently left out of the narrative. Community confidence, aspiration, skills and opportunity need to be at the centre of everything that is considered.
  • Trickle-down economics has not worked. Economic growth in the UK over the recent past has generally delivered benefits for a few whilst barely touching many. Against a backdrop of the Levelling Up agenda, much of the work undertaken can therefore be considered to have failed.
  • The failure of the various initiatives is partly because the approach was never designed to address inequalities – but also partly because the challenges relating to Levelling Up involve multiple issues covered by several different government departments and organisations. There is a need for far more cross-initiative working.
  • Attempting to work cross-departmentally within government is nirvana – often desired and seldom achieved. Considering interlocking issues at a local level is, however, more achievable and suggests that devolution should be deepened and accelerated.
  • The current approach to devolution is flawed – with local actors now responsible for administering the same Westminster funds with the same rules as before it is unsurprising that the outcomes achieved remain the same.
  • Devolution can better align local economic development with local needs and local governance. Such a model can address policy silos and should be aligned with the requirement to make economic development a statutory function.
  • Ensuring that economic development is a statutory function can then make certain that the delivery of economic development initiatives takes place against the backdrop of greater certainty with a focus on the long term.
  • There is no need for disheartenment from some of the initiatives failing – failure is a mechanism for refinement, but this is not recognised sufficiently within public sector approaches.

Nigel concluded: “Economic development has long been considered as a function that needs to address areas of market failure – it is this mantra that has shaped the profession. However, how might the profession be shaped for the decade ahead if we look down the telescope from the other end? Perhaps there are elements of economic development that would be shaped more effectively if they were considered outside of the market? Should we be completing gymnastics on a pin head to demonstrate the value for money of interventions to improve public realm; better align education and training with the economy; or address the most intractable problems in communities? Alternatively, in a world where Levelling Up is the new objective, should the better local statutory provision of economic development be a given?”

Contributors to Levelling Up: pre-White Paper perspectives from economic development professionals include economic development professionals based at Derby City Council, Harrogate Borough Council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership and in Dumfries, South-West Scotland.

News

New research on strategies for town centres renaissance unveiled by Institute of Economic Development and Lichfields

Nigel Wilcock

 

A strong independent retail offer, a year-round programme of cultural events and family-friendly activities are the key strategies for underpinning successful town centres of the future, according to a new survey published by the Institute of Economic Development (IED) and Lichfields planning and development consultancy.

Whilst 92% of economic development and regeneration professionals surveyed confirmed that town centre vacancy rates have increased in the past five years – with 71% reporting that growth in online retail has had “significant influence” – a higher than expected 49% say they are “positive” or “very positive” about the prospects of town centres strengthening their position/offer. Within this, private sector consultancy respondents (67%) are more optimistic about the future than local authority officers (47%).

To drive footfall in town centres, respondents to this survey reported that leisure and culture (48%), food and beverage (41%) and independent retail (35%) are “very important” – and to repurpose vacant space it was independent retail (34%), leisure and culture (34%) and residential (28%) carrying the highest overall weighting.

However, when asked about underpinning strategies for supporting successful town centres of the future, a strong independent retail offer (52%), a year-round programme of cultural events (48%) and family-friendly activities (45%) are perceived to be “very important”. Also scoring highly as weighted averages are improvements to the built environment and public realm, and broader economic development interventions to raise the prosperity of the local area.

In contrast, respondents are less convinced about the effectiveness of current interventions in positioning town centres for success in the future. Whilst the majority rated business support to grow independent retail/food and drink offer as “very effective” (32%), only 13% said the same about business improvement districts and 17% about the various planning levers available to local areas. Enterprise arcades, with easy in/easy out terms, low rents/rates and business support, featured more prominently as a weighted average.

Overall, 44% believe changes in Permitted Development Rights (PDR) will be “very effective or effective” in increasing town centre residential development. A further 30% feel that the introduction of Class E will be “very effective or effective” in promoting a town centre renaissance. A similar proportion, 29%, thought that PDR would have the same impact.

Ross Lillico, Economics Director at Lichfields, said:

“The impact of Covid-19 on town centres has obviously caught the headlines, but this has simply accelerated longer-term shifts in the way people use and interact with town centres. Both the Future High Streets Fund and the Towns Fund recognise that financial support is needed to deliver positive change by ensuring a greater diversity of uses and repurposing vacant spaces. The value of this survey is it provides on-the-ground intelligence from economic development and regeneration professionals on key strategies for underpinning successful town centres of the future. It suggests that practitioners do not consider some of the tools and levers available to them to be effective as policy-makers might have hoped. That said, there is clearly a sense of positivity in the survey responses regarding the future outlook.”

Nigel Wilcock, Executive Director of the IED, added:

“This research has identified some clear priorities for the future of town centres and approaches to driving footfall, repurposing vacant space and overall place management. We have already run successful CPD sessions on the future of town centres with Lichfields which explored some of the issues and opportunities facing town centres as the economy emerges from the aftermath of Covid-19 and examined the tools available to local authorities to support their evolution. Developing the right interventions and approaches to delivering change were part of that programme, and with the knowledge we now have from this survey we will feed this into our next round of professional development activities.”