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The mantra in Derby has been build offices to attract “suits on the streets” to attract big name retailers to invest in Derby and although this might have been logical under the old office working paradigms, I am unsure if this is the future. Recent studies have shown that “shopping on the streets” retail is going through a metamorphism due to society buying more and more on the internet believing that even with the postage or carriage it is cheaper than on the high streets, or even shopping centres. The only retailers that seem to be showing a profit are Greggs (fast food on the “high street”) and Dunelm (inexpensive bedding on Retail Parks).
Unless you are a shopping tourist from one of the “BRIC” countries or live in London, the UK wealth is declining compared to the purchasing power of the new shopping economies – internet and smart phones. This is forcing UK retailers to look at cheaper rates and rents in secondary areas and Retail Parks, as at the moment UK shoppers are driven by not much other than price.
As we cannot even rely on our taxes being redistributed by our own “shot in the foot “ Government” in the form of contracts and local jobs, it means we need to do it ourselves and unless the Thameslink contract is rethought, the earning power and thus the purchasing power of Derby will fall dramatically. Relying on our Government to save Derby by relocating the reducing numbers of quangos to new cheaper buildings in Derby seems to be a forlorn dream of the past. Not only that, but an office building in Derby is an office building in Derby and there is no differentiator between an office in Derby and another office building anywhere else in the UK, or the world for that matter.
As the recent Derby City Council’s strategy is to go for “hot desking”, open plan and “work from home”, why would other companies and organisations go in the opposite direction and take on building leases in an uncertain economy. This is especially true with the “super-fast broadband” coming to give us better connectivity. Suits on the streets might have added up in 2009 and 2010 but for 2011 and beyond the mantra needs to be a new one.
Investment needs to be attracted to Derby by knowledge based Hi-Tec Green Parks dotted in and around Derby, so that over time our Hi-Tec city is represented by people who are not in Rolls Royce or Toyota. If this became the mantra then Derby would invest in a hi-tec infrastructure, which supports the intellect of local people. This is crucial to implement before they start to drift away to other UK cities with better facilities, or even abroad.
Maybe it is too late to save some of the money that is going to be used to build more city centre buildings but rather than look for untrustworthy government quangos or flighty organisations to fill them, why not designate these buildings as different areas of Hi-Tec. This could be exactly what happened in Nottingham with the Bio City building. If this was adopted, we would have the new buildings close to the Joseph Wright College, which could serve as the starting hub of a new Hi-Tec Derby Green/Low Carbon campus.
It is too easy to design Derby’s future on old office working strategies, based on people coming together to do administration type functions as was the case. As we all know, in those days there was no internet or even super-fast broadband. The only reason for bringing people together in a building nowadays needs to be purely for groups or teams, who need to work together in the same location for visual sparking, like during idea creation or R&D, or where immediate communication is required, like money trading.
It is time for Derby to wake up and get into the new office paradigm. If “Derby really does it” then it needs to do it by protecting and supporting its existing “hi-tec suits on the streets” rather than go for new “office suits on the streets”, which could leave our existing hi-tec suits on the dole. It would be a tragedy if this happened, when there are so many green hi-tec opportunities out there for the taking. In this sort of situation, the old saying of a bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush, comes to mind.
©William Barron
Creating Insight
July 6th2011
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