Downtown Monthly Issue 15

Issue 15 // June 2020

The UK needs a Cannes-do attitude post-COVID19 - Page 4

Bruntwood Kier Deloitte Knowledge Quarter and more

DIB’s 30-step guide to recovery

READ MANIFESTO

www.downtowninbusiness.com

Downtown Monthly

Design: Jack Hunter Contributions: Frank McKenna Andrew Cook Colin Sinclair Chris Bolland

Sean Keyes

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The UK needs a Cannes-do attitude post-COVID19

Workplace of the Future

Introducing Sciontec

Town centre regeneration for Wigan steps up following pandemic

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Old Normal Please!

West Midlands property due to see a transport inspired house price boost

Changing the Skyline across the UK

Downtown Den

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The future of the high street - Town centres

Sutcliffe looks to the future post-Covid

High street closures - good or bad?

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The UK needs a Cannes-do attitude post-COVID19 Words by:

Frank McKenna Chief Executive & Group Chairman of Downtown In Business

Back in February, stories started to emerge from China about a new killer virus. The main talking point among many in the property sector at the time was around the upcoming property festival MIPIM and whether it would go ahead or not.

Of course, the annual Cannes jamboree was eventually cancelled, leaving the plans of many public sector organisations and 4

those from the industry frustrated that they were unable to action months of planning that goes into the five-day event.

London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Lancashire and Cheshire were due to take big delegations to France, all with positive stories to tell about future regeneration plans and investment opportunities, with DIB partnering with a number of

them to deliver a series of high profile events.

Disappointing though it was not be able to talk about and present some of the great projects that these places have to offer, the important thing now is that we find ways of keeping them on track.

For it is development and infrastructure schemes that will support a recovery that is very much needed

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following a global recession that nobody could have predicted.

We have asked some of our MIPIM partners to share their hopes and aspirations for the places they work in.

What initiatives they believe can make a difference. What ambitions they have for their cities and their businesses.

As we slowly start to return to work against a backdrop of much nervousness and uncertainty, flick through this issue of DM and remind yourself of the great things that were in the pipeline preCovid19 – and ask yourself why these things should not be seen as a priority when considering what any ‘Build Back Better’ plan should look like.

To help, DIB is calling for a more efficient planning regime. We want tax breaks for development too and a commitment to those major projects that have been talked about for years now – HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail among them.

Construction must be a key contributor to the UKs recovery plan. Those in power must recognise that – and do everything they can to support the sector.

MIPIM 2020 was not to be.

Let us be determined to return to Cannes in 2021 with an impressive portfolio of projects that will see us return to economic prosperity and growth sooner rather than later.

“Construction must be a key contributor to the UKs recovery plan.

Those in power must recognise that – and do everything they can to support the sector.”

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Andrew Cooke, director of Manchester at Bruntwood Works, outlines how the lessons learned during the COVID-19 lockdown could shape the workplace of the future.

Words by:

Andrew Cook Director of Manchester at Bruntwood Works

With businesses beginning to plan their return to the workplace post-lockdown, many are turning their thoughts to what measures will need to be put in place and how they will adapt for the future. After such significant changes to working patterns across the UK, it’s natural that workspaces will need to innovate to match the changing needs of the workforce.

One of the biggest drawbacks for many during lockdown has been missing faceto-face interaction. Video meetings don’t provide the same levels of camaraderie, and as people return to the office they’ll be craving meaningful social interactions with their colleagues and the wider community.

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As social distancing measures are relaxed, spaces that allow for more social interactions will be increasingly sought after, and we’ll see shared lounges, cafes, co-working and event spaces take on new levels of importance.

At Blackfriars House, Bruntwood Works’ newly refurbished pioneer workspace in Manchester, we’ve created a ground floor full of shared spaces. These include an independent coffee shop, lounge for coworking, cosy fireplaces and a 1920s-style reading room, complete with podcast equipment hidden with the bookshelves.

Vibrant spaces like these will play a big role in bringing colleagues and the community back together.

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We’ve seen that people are happiest working from spaces that match their individual personalities and cognitive needs during lockdown. Workplaces will need to cater for this to provide people with an environment that means they can do their best work, whether that’s in quiet spaces or in busy open areas with music. Spaces that can adapt to match the changing needs of employees will also boost wellbeing and productivity – something that will be essential in restarting the economy.

Health and wellbeing at work, both physical and mental, was already a big feature of workspace design pre-lockdown. Moving forward, we can expect a greater emphasis on healthier environments in addition to

guidelines around sanitation, with clean air monitoring and more natural style lighting, like circadian systems that reflect the body’s natural rhythm. Sustainability will also continue to be top of the agenda, and we should expect to see more living walls made of plants and cascading interior gardens taking centre stage in future design.

During lockdown, we’ve had to overcome many hiccups in the way that we work, but surveys suggest there’s optimism for what working life will be like postpandemic. The adaptation and innovation of workspace environments will be one major consequence of coronavirus, and I’m confident it will be a positive one.

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Words by:

Colin Sinclair CEO of Sciontec Liverpool and KQ Liverpool

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“No one would dispute that since the 2008 Capital of Culture Liverpool has been regenerated through tourism, hospitality and its creative industries and more recently through our thriving knowledge economy...”

Liverpool, like the rest of the UK, is facing up to a new economic paradigm, where nothing is the same as it was four months ago and the future is uncertain. How we respond, and how much central Government listens to us, could well define our immediate lives and wellbeing as well as our short to medium term economic future.

No one would dispute that since the 2008 Capital of Culture Liverpool has been regenerated through tourism, hospitality and its creative industries and more recently through our thriving knowledge economy, with our world-leading universities and recognised strengths in life sciences and technology all powering growth and job creation, with places like the Baltic Triangle and the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) Innovation District at the heart of that renaissance.

The success of KQ Liverpool has, in turn, led to the creation of its commercial spin out, Sciontec, a unique partnership of Liverpool City Council, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and now Bruntwood SciTech.

But what makes Sciontec so unique and how can it help us out of the coronavirus pandemic, turning crisis into opportunity?

Starting out as a three-way partnership between the owners of Liverpool Science Park, who founded Sciontec, we ran a competitive bidder process to bring in a fourth partner to take a 25% shareholding within the company.

From that process Bruntwood SciTech was selected, as their expertise perfectly

matched the ambition and vision set out by the Sciontec founders, and the £12m investment deal was completed in May this year, during lockdown.

That combination of partners now brings together four elements needed to create a successful innovation ecosystem; the city, its universities, a reputable developer with specific national expertise in science facilities and a major UK fund – thus creating a development and operations company, unlike no other seen in the UK before.

The completion of the deal during lockdown also emphasising that big business still has faith in Liverpool, even during a global health and economic crisis.

Sciontec is unique, not just to Liverpool but across the UK. It will develop new innovative science and tech spaces, creating new jobs to empower the people of Liverpool whilst recognising the importance of place, the environment, equality, diversity and community.

Why is this important right now?

Because we need to focus on what we know we are good at and what differentiates us from other cities. The things that we were good at going into this crisis sound even better now; integrated health data, artificial intelligence and robotics, MedTech and life sciences. All underpinned by culture. Both managing the short-term crisis and delivering the long-term vision in this way are essential to maintaining the momentum of recent years and will help us to literally build our economic recovery on the foundations of our most recent achievements.

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Ambitious plans for regenerating and diversifying Wigan town centre are now as important as ever following the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Wigan Council.

The council’s far-reaching strategy, formed prior to the pandemic, will bring new uses to the town centre such as residential, cultural and leisure, food and drink and workspace.

In a society changed by Covid-19 the council sees its strategy as being more important than ever with the on-going impact on the retail sector likely to compound the challenge of an over-supply of retail space in the centre.

The council’s Strategic Regeneration Framework is a comprehensive and evidenced plan for the transformation of the town centre.

Whilst being proactive in addressing the immediate requirements triggered by Covid-19, the council sees the strategy as the

right way forward to diversify and reimagine the centre’s uses and space.

Becca Heron, Director of Skills and Economy at Wigan Council, said: “The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the town centre will inevitably accelerate and intensify some of the trends we have seen in terms of the decline of the retail sector, increasing vacancy rates and reducing footfall.

“However, that’s why our approach to the diversification of the town centre is more important than ever and our ambition remains unchanged.

“Market interest in Wigan remains strong as does the commitment from the council to what is a vital strategy for the future of Wigan town centre.”

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Across Wigan town centre there are seeds of change already taking root. Some activity had paused during lockdown but already activity is picking up as developer interest and commitment remains strong despite the pandemic.

The renaissance of Wigan Pier is a prime example – this iconic venue is being reinvented through partnership between developer Step Places, Arts in the Mill CIC, Canal and River Trust and the Council. The scheme will comprise cultural and event space, a food hall, gin distillery and microbrewery, an arts education centre, 8 new homes alongside the canal. Restoration and refurbishment works have continued and the scheme is close to completion.

The redevelopment of the 400,000sqft Galleries Shopping Centre is another scheme critical to the transformation of the town centre. The Council acquired the struggling centre in 2018 in order to drive forward its redevelopment. The procurement of a strategic development partner began last autumn.

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After a short pause in March and April, the process will soon be restarting and the announcement of a partner will be made in the autumn.

The council has already submitted its stage 2 bid to Future High Street Fund, well ahead of Government’s deadline. Wigan are confident that their bid delivers against the fund’s objectives. The test perhaps for all Greater Manchester and indeed all northern towns may be in whether the Government’s appraisal system adequately reflects the dynamics of regeneration schemes in the North of England.

The council will also prioritise low carbon and digital with examples including repurposing of car parking spaces to encourage more sustainable modes of transport, from electric charge points to bike sharing spaces and the best ways to use information and data, not only to inform council decisions, but to inform the public on what is available to them.

Downtown in Business is providing businesses with free business support and advice in the Liverpool City Region via European Regional Development Funding. Downtown in Business

can provide you with a minimum of 12 hours of support for desired outcomes and use it to assist the growth of your company. As part of this offer you will have access to:

// 6 months membership in Liverpool

// Brand Awareness

// Access to Liverpool events calendar

// Content Marketing – ‘Downtown Discusses Video’

// 2x key facilitated introductions // 6 months comms package in Liverpool

// Podcast opportunity

// Access to 1x cross region DIB event

To qualify for this service your business must: // Operate within the Liverpool City Region

// Employ at least 1 member of staff

// Pay business rates within the Liverpool City Region

// Have been trading for at least 1 year

The secured funding will help to support SME’s in the Liverpool City Region with key support in growing your business through DIB’s unique offering: raise profile, brand awareness and key relationship building. The aim of the NM2 project is to help your business to grow, create more opportunities and employ more people.

For more information, please contact Sarah Wilcox at: sarah.wilcox@downtowninbusiness.com or call 0151 556 1897

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Words by:

Chris Bolland Managing Partner at Brock Carmichael Architects LLP

Last week, for the first time in 10 weeks, I had an actual meeting. Yes, it was essential, yes we followed good practice. Could we have done it virtually? Possibly. Would it have taken 5 times longer? Definitely. But it was good, I mean, really good to actually interact with other people. In such a short time I’d almost forgotten what this was like - to see body language and a life size face, and not just four little tiny heads on a screen, to experience the uninhibited flow of conversation with all the unspoken communications, and essential spontaneous interruptions; there’s something so desperately polite, staged and exhausting about video meetings. I came home giddy from the experience, and this was a finance meeting!

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One Park West - £70M residential development delivered in 84 weeks, under budget and ahead of program.

In our experience, the industry response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been seismic, but will it permanently shift the paradigm, or will things gradually, naturally return to a more familiar, comfortable, and productive way of working? Whilst we’ve all proven to ourselves that we’re flexible and adaptable and can work remotely from our office desks, this is not the long-term conundrum. In this sector, can businesses work remotely from each other? It is difficult to imagine a world where our fundamental natural instincts to come together physically, in whatever format becomes socially acceptable, is overruled.

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All said and done, we are social animals, and by and large depend and thrive on contact with others of our species. No more so, than in the business of development and construction, which has always been a social process; at its heart, the coming together of different ideas, different people with different agendas and different skills. When these varying perspectives are harnessed and focused around a common goal, great things tend to happen.

In the right environment, the spontaneous can build something of sustainable, enhanced value.

The physical contact is important because it develops our relationships, and like any relationship, our professional connections need care and maintenance. When they are healthy, something important happens – social accountability. In our experience of leading construction projects – especially large-scale regeneration developments, creating the environment for this interdisciplinary social responsibility is fundamental to achieving the potential.

By mobilising our biological predispositions to please one another, a team will push beyond its simple contractual duty.

Great George Street Project - £170M mixed use urban regeneration.

It can all start with a handshake, er, hang on, elbow tap, er… oh you know what I mean!

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Downtown Monthly

Research by leading Birmingham estate agent, Barrows and Forrester, has highlighted the potential uplift in property prices expected across the West Midlands market as a result of the regions ongoing transport infrastructure upgrades.

The West Midlands is currently undergoing extensive plans to transform transport infrastructure with a number of current Metro extensions either planned or already underway, as well as news recently that work has begun on the 300km test route for an ambitious autonomous vehicle network.

Previous research from Nationwide Building Society found that property prices within 750 metres from a transport station are 6% higher on average compared to those at a further distance.

The Metro Barrows and Forrester looked at property prices along the existing Metro line and found on average, homes are worth £226,909.

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They then looked at the areas where line extensions are currently under construction and found the average property price sits at just £189,507. However, with a Metro station on the way, these pockets of the property market could be due for a boost in values, with a 6% increase bringing the average house price up to £200,877.

The B15 postcode, soon to be home of the new Five Ways station, could see the largest uplift in monetary terms with a 6% increase equating to a £13,746 boost in house prices.

As well as current extensions, there are a number of other areas earmarked for development, providing future homebuyers with a more affordable foot on the ladder and a potential return down the line.

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The current house price in these earmarked areas currently sits at £162,296 however a 6% increase would bring this up to £172,701.

Again, the highest increases in a monetary sense would be in the areas surrounding the New Canal Street, Meriden and High Street Deritend stations, with an uplift just shy of £12,500.

The Autonomous Vehicle Route But it isn’t just the development of the Metro that could help boost house prices, the additional benefits of the planned autonomous vehicle route could also play its part.

Currently, house prices along the route due to benefit from the service sit at an average of £232,212 but this could climb to £246,145 due to the availability of upgraded transport links.

The largest monetary increase would be for homeowners in Meriden, where prices could climb by over £20,000, closely followed

by Curdworth and Baginton with jumps of £19,000 and £18,000 respectively.

Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented: “The current and continued development of the West Midlands transport network will play a vital part in building the region’s future and will help boost the local economy across a number of fronts.

One such boost will almost certainly be the pockets of the local property market, due to benefit from these developments and homeowners can expect to see the value of their property increase as these extensions become operational.

As our research shows, there is already a notable gap between property prices in areas already serviced by the Metro and those due to join the network.

Our advice to savvy buyers would be to buy at a lower price point along with a soon to be completed extension, as this will ensure the convenience of a good transport link without paying through the nose, while almost certainly seeing the value of your investment climb over the coming years.”

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Downtown Monthly

At Kier, we are changing the skyline when it comes to delivering some of the most striking commercial and office spaces across the UK and our developments, many of them award-winning, are leaving a lasting impression.

We understand that the demand and requirements for offices is a very changing world and we work flexibly with a range of clients to provide a space that is suitable to them and their workforce.

in these projects from inception to help define the brief and we make extensive use of 3D and Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology to help bring our clients proposals to life.

We design and build the full breadth of commercial and office environments from modern, city centre developments to glassclad headquarters. Often, we get involved

Across the North West we have delivered and are currently on site delivering a number of these types of developments.

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Windmill Green, Mount Street, Manchester As the first multi-let office in the city to achieve BREEAM Outstanding, Windmill Green comprised the extensive refurbishment and extension of London Scottish House to create 82,000ft2 Grade A commercial space with ground/first floor retail and leisure use.

Built with sustainability in mind, the building has solar panels on the roof, efficient LED lighting on the ceiling, a living wall, two beehives on the roof terrace, showers and bike racks on the ground floor to encourage people working in the building to cycle to work.

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11 York Street, Manchester An exemplar Grade A BCO commercial office located in the heart of Manchester city centre’s commercial business district. Currently on site, the high-profile project saw the demolition of the existing Oddfellows House making way for the construction of a new eight-storey office, providing floorplates of up to 12,000ft2, two retail units at ground floor level and a basement car park.

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Downtown Monthly

Sensor City, Liverpool As the catalyst project to Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter, the multi-awardwinning Sensor City provides a flexible working environment to budding entrepreneurs, start-ups, established companies and SMEs. With a complex enamel solar veil creating its flagship identity, the 27,000ft2 three-storey commercial building is the global hub for the development of sensor technology innovation and development.

Ensuring successful design and delivery, highlevel collaboration and coordination was required due to the restricted site perimeter adjacent a live railway line and an adjacent demolition project with multiple stakeholders.

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Heron House, Manchester Creating over £12.2m of social return on investment, Heron House saw the refurbishment of a six-storey vibrant public building in Manchester city centre, arranged around an inner courtyard which is the home of Manchester City Council’s Registry Office together with privately owned food and retail outlets.

Delivering a high-quality Category A fit out also included the full refurbishment of the Registrar’s facilities. Intense collaboration 22

between the client, the design team and the tenants was the key to the successful delivery due to the logistical challenges surrounding a constrained live site, its city centre location, the surrounding retail outlets remaining open to the public and the Registrar’s Office continuing to conduct wedding ceremonies throughout delivery of our works.

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Downtown Den A place where DIB members, entrepreneurs and decision-makers unite during the Coronavirus challenge.

Get regular updates 24

Downtown Monthly

Watch Now

One of Great Britain’s leading female athletes, Goldie Sayers, joined DIB boss Frank McKenna in the #DowntownDen. A three-time Olympian, British record holder and 11- time UK Champion, Goldie dominated her event and is one of athletics’ most popular ambassadors.

In the business world, Goldie has become a successful property entrepreneur, heading Londonbased Athlete Property Investment Ltd.

Watch Now

Lancashire County Council cabinet member for Economic Development, Planning & the Environment, Cllr. Michael Green joined Downtown boss Frank McKenna in the Downtown Den on Tuesday 19th May to discuss the future of the county’s business community post the COVID-19 crisis.

Watch Now

In conversation with DIB boss Frank McKenna, Sir Howard Bernstein shared his thoughts on the future of cities in a post-COVID19 world, the prospects for the high street, the future of devolution in England’s regions and much more.

Watch Now

The chief executive of Leeds City Council joined Downtown Chief Executive Frank McKenna in the Downtown Den on Wednesday 3rd June.

Tom Riordan was discussing the city’s plan for economic generation and growth post-lockdown, how Leeds is preparing for the arrival of Channel Four and the new devolution deal announced recently by the Chancellor for West Yorkshire.

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Downtown Monthly

Ciara Keeling Register Interest

Downtown in Business Birmingham has the absolute pleasure of introducing the next in the series of Birmingham Property Club; where we will be in conversation with Ciara Keeling, CEO of Bruntwood Works.

Ciara joined Bruntwood in 2005 as an Asset Manager where she provided strategic services and worked on all property-related transactions; Most recently Ciara was appointed to the role of CEO for Bruntwood Works, the Workspace division of Bruntwood, a prominent and successful property firm.

Join us for this invitation-only event where we’ll be speaking about the serviced office and hot-desking models, the change in the way businesses operate from such locations, the effect to the industry post-COVID-19 and what to expect from the industry moving forward.​ To learn more about Birmingham Property Club membership or register your interest for this session contact Abby Goldie: Abby. goldie@downtowninbusiness.com

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Downtown Monthly

Watch Now

The former John Lewis MD and current Metro Mayor for the West Midlands, Andy Street CBE, Joined Paul Cadman in the #DowntownDen for a discussion on how the current pandemic has affected the region.

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Bruntwood boss Chris Oglesby joined DIB chief executive Frank McKenna in the Downtown Den to discuss life in the new world we are living in and how companies like his need to respond to the crisis to secure a strong recovery moving forward. He also gave an update on initiatives that Bruntwood are involved in across the country, including projects in Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham. Having been involved in Manchester’s Commonwealth Games, Chris offered his opinion on what Birmingham can achieve and what legacy may look like for the city.

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The Chair of Downtown London, Simon Danczuk spoke to the Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills, Jules Pipe.

They discussed how inspiring Londoners have been during the pandemic, the impact the crisis has had on the economy, what it means for regeneration and house building across the Capital, and how the positives to come out of this challenging time could be a greater sense of community and different uses of public space and a greater use of alternative transport.

Watch Now

The latest guest in the #DowntownDen is ‘Business Coach Extraordinaire’, Michael Finnigan.

Michael joined Downtown CEO, Frank Mckenna to share some interesting anecdotes from his career.

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Tom Bloxham Watch Now

The co-founder of Property giant Urban Splash Tom Bloxham MBE visited the Downtown Den to talk about his fascinating career to date.

He also gave his views on what he thinks the future of high streets and cities will be post-Coronavirus and provided progress reports on the projects Splash are currently involved with across the country, including regeneration schemes in Birmingham, Manchester and the Liverpool City Region.

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Downtown Monthly

Bob Latchford Listen Now

Birmingham City and Everton legend Bob Latchford joined DIB boss Frank McKenna on the Downtown Podcast to talk about his glittering football career in the 1970’s and 80’s when he was one of the greatest goalscorers in the country.

Bob reflects on Birmingham City’s promotion in 1972, his time at Everton FC where he came close to winning leagues and cups, but never quite got there, and his relatively short England career. He also remembers the season he scored 30 goals to win a £10,000 prize, tells us why Trevor Francis was the best player he ever played with and suggests that had Everton been managed by Gordon Lee rather than Billy Bingham in the 197475 season, they would have won the title. Fascinating stuff from the man who Evertonians say ‘Walks on Water’.

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The future of the high street - Town centres Following the government’s announcement that non-essential retailers may be allowed to resume trading on the 15th June, it’s possible that we are merely a few weeks away from town centre reopening to the public again.

However, it is clear that in the nearly three months of disruption, Greater Manchester’s retail sector has suffered a significant blow.

Analysis from Deloitte, in partnership with Google, revealed that retail and recreation activity fell by 68 per cent in April, with time spent at home up by nearly a quarter as lockdown took full effect.

While government continues to provide significant support to towns across Greater Manchester – over £600m has been earmarked for up to 50,000 eligible businesses from across the regions – it is crucial that we have a clear plan in place to come out of this lockdown period. If we do not, we may see a number of empty shops remain once city centres reopen.

With high streets up and down the UK becoming ghost towns, this has had a drastic

impact on spending. The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) retail sales report revealed that British retail sales fell by a record 18.1 per cent in April, with clothing sales falling by more than half. The long-term prospects also look bleak, with estimates suggesting that FY21 will remain nearly 20 per cent down on levels seen in 2019.

While it is unsurprising to see the latest sales statistics, it is important to remember that out of adversity comes opportunity. As with the weekly applause for NHS staff, the community has come together over the issue of local retail, with spending at off-licenses, greengrocers and convenience stores rising 40 per cent in April. In a recent survey, 46 per cent of consumers suggested that they are motivated to support local businesses – a significant swell of support and community spirit at street level.

As we look to build back better, the challenge will now be for local authorities to ensure that the localised support we have seen during lockdown is continued as major retailers return.

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Downtown Monthly

Sutcliffe looks to the future post-Covid Words by:

Sean Keyes Managing Director at Sutcliffe

Like in every sector, every profession and every walk of life, Covid-19 will impact and change the way construction is done for many years to come - we can all be sure of that.

Sutcliffe was probably one of the first in the country to witness these changes first-hand.

We had already been working with Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (as civil engineering consultants following the demise of the previous contractor), when some elements of the project were accelerated to enable additional ICU wards to open in order to meet the increasing capacity caused by the escalating pandemic.

In my 30 plus years in the profession I am currently witnessing very different construction sites to those I am used to - social distancing, where workers never 32

encroach within two metres of their colleagues, face masks being worn by all, and more frequent hand washing. I have also introduced temperature checks to all staff, and one-way networks adopted similar to what the supermarkets have been doing for some weeks now. Importantly, if employees cannot get to the site safely and sensibly, then they shouldn't be there. I would be lying if I said the atmosphere wasn’t unique, and strange almost - but everyone is getting on with the job at hand, carrying out their tasks in a professional and sensible manner, being respectful of their workmates and alert to the potential risks.

And who can blame them. Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that the death rate among low-skilled construction workers was 25.9 per 100,000 males, or 22 deaths in total, placing it among

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the worst-hit occupations. However, I remain incredibly optimistic for the construction industry, and believe that if we follow the safety guidelines, we will adapt and prosper in this new norm. We are used to working in dangerous conditions such as demolition sites, contaminated land and sites containing asbestos - this is no different.

the easing of restrictions, and I am told that Downing Street recognises the construction sector as being instrumental in getting the UK economy motoring again. I couldn’t agree more with this sentiment.

As experts in the housing sector - Sutcliffe has worked in the residential sector to over ÂŁ1 billion in recent years - I will also be keeping a close eye on how the pandemic At the time of writing this article, the Prime will affect the housing market long term.

Minister continues to ease the lockdown I predict that with the increased notion restrictions - with more people encouraged to return to work if it is safe to do so. Sutcliffe of working from home and the desire for healthier lifestyles, we will see a rise in has implemented a phased return to work.

Our decision comes following guidance demand for rural living, while properties given by the Association for Consultancy and with access to wide, open green space will Engineering (ACE), and regular conversations become a priority for buyers. with other engineers from across the UK For more information about Sutcliffe, visit to gauge general opinion. The ACE informs the website, and on social media - Twitter, us that they have been consulting with the Facebook and LinkedIn. Government for many weeks now about 33

Downtown Monthly

As the UK starts to turn its attention to life after lockdown and businesses begin to reopen, the need to adhere to social distancing remains. For businesses to be able to comply with these measures more space will be needed. Proposals to encourage local authorities to close high streets and redirect traffic away from town centres have encountered opposition.

Leenamari Aantaa-Collier, Partner and Head of the Planning & Regulatory team at The Wilkes Partnership Solicitors in Birmingham explores how these much-needed changes are set to impact towns and cities across the UK. Current proposals aim to make social distancing easier and create more room for walking and cycling, as well as providing the extra space businesses need to continue trading. The challenge being that in our already crowded towns and cities the only additional space is on local roads, including high streets.

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“Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) are orders issued by local authorities allowing them to close roads and redirect traffic. The solution that the government has implemented has been to amend the current TRO procedure, streamlining the processes so councils can speedily apply TRO’s within a week of notification” says Leenamari.

“Traffic modelling, particularly in smaller towns and cities is complex, and the speed at which these orders can be issued will not allow adequate time for this. Therefore, traffic will be pushed into the surrounding residential areas creating increased congestion and problems for local businesses.

The safety of schoolchildren, the elderly and all vulnerable groups using narrow roads and pavements also needs to be considered. In some of the smaller towns around the West Midlands such as Kenilworth, Warwick and Knowle, these orders may not be practical at all.”

Downtown Monthly

Leenamari continues: “Shopkeepers, food and hospitality businesses have been working hard to keep their businesses operating, many rely on large deliveries which will no longer be able to easily access business premises. Others who have moved to a click and collect service, and restaurants and pubs who have diversified to deliver food or become a takeaway, may have to close again if vehicles are banned from the High Street."

Creating a balance “Careful consideration needs to be given regarding the use of TRO’s to ensure they are not detrimental to local residents and businesses. If the traffic can’t get to the towns and cities due to poor traffic management, that could potentially be more detrimental for businesses and in turn the wider economy than the issue around lack of space.

Of course, safety needs to be paramount, but councils should look at creating a flexible hybrid solution which benefits all involved. This could be implementing

temporary closures during busy times such as peak shopping hours and weekends, implementing a one-way system or using car parking space to create wider footpaths.”

If you require any advice on a Planning & Regulatory issue please contact LeenamariAantaa Collier on 0121 710 5934 or laantaacollier@wilkes.co.uk.

In light of the current situation surrounding COVID-19 The Wilkes Partnership Solicitors are offering all Downtown in Business members a complimentary, no obligation initial consultation designed to help you understand any issues facing you or your business and help you map out the best route forward.

To take advantage of this offer Please call 0121 733 4303 or email helpline@wilkes. co.uk For more information on the range of services offered by The Wilkes Partnership please visit www.wilkes.co.uk.

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