The contentious notion of the South West powerhouse, Wales’ place in the UK and how to attract inward investors dominated the first Estates Gazette Cardiff Question Time on 4 June.
In the regal confines of Cardiff City Hall, around 150 people were treated to a heated debate surrounding the idea of the Welsh capital forming a powerhouse alongside Newport, Bristol and the Severn Estuary region, in order to counterbalance the northern powerhouse and the growing political weight of Scotland.
Head of Savills’ Cardiff office Chris Potts cited the idea as “a bit of a copycat” of the northern model. “The danger is that it sometimes feels like lip service. The northern powerhouse has the backing of chancellor George Osborne and quite serious ambition,” he said.
“If you put Bristol, Cardiff and Newport in a room together they may not be able to agree what to have for lunch never mind how to work together on the big strategic issues. There is competition on airports, where the arena should go and then there are an awful lot of logistical hurdles to overcome. ”
Talents of two cities
Hugh James partner Caroline O’Flaherty echoed the sentiment that the areas had to overcome their differences to form an effective partnership.
“Bristol, Newport and Cardiff all have different objectives on where they want to be”, she said. “Cardiff has had its own difficulties in terms of cohesion and getting a coherent strategy.”
O’Flaherty added that the focus on the three specific areas of connectivity, energy and inward investment gave the initiative some legs, but it needed more backing from government and business.
BBC Wales director Rhodri Talfan Davies also poured cold water on the initiative, saying that it had the feeling of “window dressing”. But she stressed it was early days and that gains were possible, particularly in the labour market.
“There is probably no more interesting corridor in terms of the creative sector outside London than between Bristol and Cardiff. It is a global centre of documentary and natural history production and Cardiff is a global centre of drama production – we are seeing far more talent moving between these two cities, and there are advantages of scale.
“You do wonder how all those different senses of identity and local affiliation can blend, but at the very least it is a conversation worth having,” he added.
An “afterthought”
Cardiff council’s head of economic development, Ken Poole, defended the progress made towards creating a regional hub.
“We have agreed to work together, and even that surprised a lot of people,” he said. “It is a milestone, the fact that we are talking about common issues, we are talking about investment and priorities. But there is a long way to go.”
Poole added that the three cities had felt isolated in the face of the northern powerhouse.
He argued that the move could be an important tool for Wales to improve its image and marketing in the face of an increasingly empowered Scotland, which would be competing with Wales for inward investment in the future. Wales, he said, was being treated as “an afterthought” by central government.
Cardiff Business Council is working on ways to capitalise on Cardiff’s maritime heritage, and its sporting and cultural offering, to persuade visitors to take longer trips to Wales.
“The challenge is to get people down here. We know that those perceptions change overnight when we bring people into the city. Sometimes we get preoccupied with borders, yet investors don’t see any borders, they cast their net over the Severn regions and beyond,” said Poole.
O’Flaherty challenged Poole on this point, saying the city had “suffered from not having one clear brand in attracting investment to Wales and to Cardiff – we have had a multitude of agencies often targeting the same people with a lack of communication.”
She added that the private and public sectors needed a more unified approach in order to “punch at the right weight”.
No guts, no glory
On the question of Cardiff’s constitutional future, O’Flaherty rallied opinion on the panel in arguing that further devolution should not be the priority, with the key needs being to keep bureaucracy low and to not complicate the picture for investors. “I think there should be more guts to use the powers we have got.
With Scotland gaining in power on the world stage they are competing for the investors we want, and we need to take the next step and use the powers we have got.”
Land Securities portfolio director Russell Loveland stressed that honing a distinct Welsh identity and brand could lead to the same shaken investor confidence as witnessed in Scotland in the run-up to the referendum.
“Anything that adds to the promotion and identity of the city centre can be beneficial, but the one thing we saw in Scotland is that stability is essential for investment,” he said.
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
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