Agenda item

[To consider a report on the approach to inward investment]. 

The City Investment Manager introduced a report on Inward Investment.  They were currently working with West Midlands Growth Company on a research piece.  This was in relation to some of the negative perception of Wolverhampton or a lack of understanding of what the City offered.  Appendix 1 to the report outlined the current approach to attracting investment.  Some of the intermediaries they worked with included the Department for International Trade, West Midlands Growth Company and Multipliers (organisations such as legal firms and architects).  They received various enquiries from a number of fields and also direct leads.  They carried out proactive work such as trade show and lead generation campaigns.  When an enquiry was received they then worked with that lead to illustrate how Wolverhampton was suitable to their business need.  This then led on to developing the prospect into a project and maturing the project leads.  There was a robust account management process in place for when contracts had been secured.  This was to try and ensure that businesses received a good service when in the City. 

The City Investment Manager detailed some of the successes in recent times.  These included, Swedish owned Atlas Copco’s 46,000 sq. ft industrial facility at i54 creating 80 jobs; German owned DB Cargo’s £6 million freight hub expansion and American owned Charter Court’s expansion at Wolverhampton Homes business park creating 250 new jobs.  In January 2020 Metro Bank opened a new store on Dudley Street in the City Centre, which created 25 new jobs.  The intended outcome of the International trade and Investment Strategy was to create new jobs in the City and help existing companies to expand so they could create new jobs.  He was currently supporting an Indian owned company to set up operations at the Science Park in the Health care space. 

The City Investment Manager stated that the current number of inward investment Projects ongoing stood at around 60.  At this number the current pipeline of job creation figures stood at around 4,000.  Some of these jobs would come to fruition in 2021 / 2022.  The rationale for the strategy was to provide the service with a three-year strategy to attract international trade and investment, which would create new jobs and GVA (Gross Value Added) growth.  A strategy was also needed to respond to the national and international situation such as Brexit.  They had seen a number of enquiries that had been lost due to Brexit and some that had ceased until the situation was more clear.  A strategy was required to allow the City to realise its full potential and achieve penetration within key markets around the world.  Advanced engineering was a major key sector within the City and so they would continue this theme into the future with overseas markets.

The City Investment Manager described what he hoped the strategy would help them achieve.  He believed it would help Wolverhampton focus on specific sector strengths and niches.  It would help to identify key sectors that they wished to target, that were aligned to key global foreign direct investment markets such as China, India and the USA.  They also wished to identify key enabling sectors acting as a supply chain for key investing sectors.  They intended to conduct robust competitor analysis to identify which cities and regions they would be competing with.  It was important to identify what the market was looking for in an investment location and if the City offered it and then make changes accordingly.  It was essential to identify what Wolverhampton USPs (Unique Selling Points) were as an investment location and then build on them. 

The City Investment Manager stated that the key outcomes of the strategy were as follows:-

·       Help us plan where efforts, resources and budgets should be focussed.

·       Provide intelligence on key sectors, international target markets and businesses.

·       Robust proactive investor targeting – How do we engage with key prospects within these markets.

·       Build on BAU (Business As Usual) and increase indigenous and foreign investment in to the City.

·       Final research to be delivered on 28 February 2020.  This was intended to be brought to the Scrutiny Panel in the future. 

A short video was shown showcasing the mechanisms and collateral used to attract investment in Wolverhampton.     

A Member of the Panel commented that he did not like the video that had been shown, he thought the presenter did not give the right performance.  There were not enough Sims walking around the City.  He referred to paragraph 2.4 of the Marketing Briefing note, which cited the work of Philip Kotler.  Philip Kotler was personally known to the Member and he believed that he would tell the Council, not to invite people to a banquet if there is no food, as the next time you invite them, no one will attend, even if the food was then plentiful.  He believed the City needed to be fixed before people were invited.  It was not a question of marketing, it was a question of promotion.  He believed the Council needed to focus on its inward investment, rather than FDI (Foreign Direct Investment).   

A Member of the Panel remarked that they believed Wolverhampton needed a new hotel and conference centre.  There were two decent hotels in Wolverhampton, the Mount and the Ramada, but neither of them were located in the City Centre.  He believed the City needed a Marriot Court House. This would be a four-star hotel in the Magistrates Court.  It would of course require the Magistrates to move into another building.  There were many free office spaces above empty and allocated shops in Wolverhampton, yet the Council was still continuing to build more office capacity.  He thought if the City was not going to use the free office space, then it was better to knock them down and build something that would attract people to the City. 

The Member of the Panel commented that the City of Birmingham had invested heavily in new hotels.  The Council had started by building and running the Hyatt Hotel.  This acted as a catalyst in attracting other hotels to be established in the City, creating substantial inward investment.  It was clear that Wolverhampton needed a first class conference hotel that was rated four stars.  He thought some of the classic buildings in the City could be converted.  He believed once conferencing centres and hotels had been established; then was the time to embark on a marketing campaign.  He did not want people to visit the City at the wrong time and find that it was broken.  The statistics regarding visitors to the City he believed were misleading, as many of the visitors were people coming to see a football match who then immediately left.  In order for the City to be a success it needed to be a desirable place to visit and stay.  This aspiration required a key coherent strategy, with hotels and conferencing facilities forming an essential part.  Wolverhampton had significant issues as a City which needed to be addressed at their core, it was not about branding.  People would be attracted to the City by making it a great place to visit. 

The Director for Regeneration remarked that he noted the Member’s Comments.  The Council had to begin somewhere, there were a number of different elements which the Council needed to focus on.  Wolverhampton was no longer 17^th on the most deprived City list and had moved to 24^th.  He believed the City needed to raise its profile, and the Council needed to be proactive to attract inward investment.  The Council had begun conversations with some of the major hotel chains, including the Marriot and the Hilton.  There was a demand in the market and finding the right place and solution for a hotel in the City was key.  It took time to build relationships, but he was confident the Council would achieve its goal of a new hotel being constructed in the City.  It was important to have the right building blocks in place, which was why there had been the investment in the interchange project to ensure good transport links into the City.  The investment in the new office space was to attract jobs and they were also investing in skills.  This investment would help deliver the City’s ambition. 

A Panel Member commented that he had seen a huge improvement in the City since the year 2000 and he wanted the improvement to continue.  He referred to the national Britain in Bloom competition, where Wednesfield had been selected to represent the Heart of England, five years on from their first entry into the competition.  Four gold medals had been awarded in that time period.  Wednesfield was in the competition in the Urban category.  Wednesfield had received national television coverage though their participation in the competition.  The competition had proved a positive way of uniting different communities in the Wednesfield area. 

A Member of the Panel commented that it was important to capitalise on the rich history of Wolverhampton.  BBC 4 had been showing the Dr Michael York series – King Alfred and the Anglo-Saxons with coverage of some of the history of Wolverhampton including some of the historic battles.  Communications could be improved to help showcase some of the rich heritage in Wolverhampton.  He believed there were some long-term issues which needed to be addressed, such as the impact of the climate change crisis and how this would effect big developments such as Brewer’s Yard, for instance how it would be energised.

A Panel Member remarked that the establishment of new hotels in the City had been a long-standing topic at the Council.  He remembered it being talked about extensively in 2005 / 2006.  He commented that he wanted to obtain a true picture of the actual current position of the Council’s efforts to attract a new hotel to the City, as he wanted to be able to assist, though his experience, in the process.  The Vice-Chair of the Panel in the Chair asked the Director of Regeneration to contact the Member separately to arrange a meeting. 

The Vice-Chair of the Panel in the Chair, commented that it was clear that Members wanted Officers to be more proactive in trying to attract a new hotel to the City.  It was also clear that the Council needed to showcase more of the activity that was already taking place, such as Wednesfield’s involvement in the Britain in Bloom competition.  The Director of Regeneration commented that many of the conversations taking place with hotel chains and other investors were commercially sensitive.   He was happy to provide an update on current activity at a meeting in the future. 

A Member of the Panel asked about the significant investment, which he had heard for many years.  He wanted to know how many contracts had actually been signed.  He thought that if they had been signed, there should have been vast construction work taking place across the City.   He commented that his daughter’s friends all left the City to go to University and didn’t return to live in Wolverhampton.  If they did come back to visit friends and family, they would go out for the night in Birmingham.  It was a good test to see if this would change. 

A Panel Member remarked that it was a political imperative to improve the City.  He understood commercial sensitivity, but he did not want that to prevent the City improving.  He therefore suggested establishing a sub-group to look at the issues and to give political direction to strategising the investment of the City into the future.  The Scrutiny Officer commented that the Panel could make a recommendation to Scrutiny Board to consider setting up such a group.  The proposal would however have to be seconded and voted on by the Panel.  It was agreed that the matter would be discussed at the next meeting of the Panel, when more Members were in attendance, under matters arising