INVEST FOR THE FUTURE – AND LET CITIES LEAD OUR RECOVERY

WORDS BY FRANK MCKENNA

CHIEF EXECUTIVE & GROUP CHAIRMAN, DOWNTOWN IN BUSINESS

There is a growing opinion that the restrictions we have experienced in the UK will lead to long-term changes in people’s behaviours. In turn, we will see our great cities struggle to return as the natural drivers of economic growth that they were prior to COVID-19.

Working from home, a realisation that there are better things to do with your life than spend three hours a day on a painful commute and a continued underlying fear of the virus will, say some commentators, result in a sharp fall in the demand for office space, hospitality venues and city centre apartments.

For the sake of our economic health, we must hope that such predictions are wrong. The good news is, they most probably are.

In the Seventies and Eighties, our cities were abandoned in favour of characterless out-of-town industrial parks, retail outlets and new town developments.

The economic and human impact of that move away from cities was devastating. Communities were decimated, thousands of individuals felt alienated and unemployment rocketed to over 3 million. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past by seeing cities as a problem rather than a solution during this latest challenge – and as our human instincts kick-in I am more than confident that, in fact, cities will be the leading forces of our return to economic recovery in 2022.

What we must recognise, however, is the crucial role our major towns need to play in the future too – and the importance of improved connectivity across the country, both in terms of transport links and digital infrastructure.

As the Chancellor Rishi Sunak prepares to deliver a budget that will create the framework for the election battleground that will be fought in the run up to a likely 2023 General Election, I hope he will take a look across the pond and see the Trillions of Dollars the United States is investing in infrastructure as the way forward for Britain too.

If that doesn’t happen, the economy will take much longer to recover. Investment in our infrastructure is not only necessary if we are to globally compete in the future and ‘build back better’ – but it will also create much-needed short-term employment opportunities and contribute to the government’s ‘levelling-up’ agenda which, lets face it, is looking more like an election catchphrase than a serious policy commitment as every week passes by (a bit like the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine).

And, in terms of the working from work/working from home debate, the corporate community should be leading that discussion and encouraging their workforces back into the office as soon as they can. Not only is working from home less productive and, indeed, soul destroying for some – but it stops the creative processes, the collaborative and the deal-making environment that occurs when people are working alongside each other, able to share thoughts and ideas.

It has been disappointing to see some big corporate entities, usually headquartered in London, instructing their staff to work from home indefinitely. Equally, government departments and some, not all, local authorities have been too slow in encouraging their teams back into the office.

This lack of leadership will come back to bite us all in the not-too-distantfuture. For all the health concerns

around COVID-19, there must now be a more balanced and nuanced debate about the implications of this half-life existence we have had to endure over the past eighteen months.

Cancelled cancer operations, mental health challenges, poverty and sluggish growth will have consequences. Poverty has been the biggest and most consistent killer for generations, both nationally and globally. We cannot and must not allow ‘lockdown’ to become anything more than it was intended. A temporary measure.

The vaccination, and its successful roll out in the UK, must be the magic bullet that allows this country to live with the virus, throughout this Autumn, Winter, and beyond. And, once we get through this most difficult of times, it is leadership, investment, and cities that will regenerate UK PLC.

“WHAT WE MUST RECOGNISE, HOWEVER, IS THE CRUCIAL ROLE OUR MAJOR TOWNS NEED TO PLAY IN THE FUTURE TOO – AND THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVED CONNECTIVITY ACROSS THE COUNTRY, BOTH IN TERMS OF TRANSPORT LINKS AND DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE.”