City Talks: Norwich is being touted as a city of opportunity, but must shrug off its “Alan Partridge” image and sell its success story internationally, said experts at EG’s second City Talks debate.
The event attracted around 120 industry professionals to Norwich City Football Club.
Debate panellist Caroline Dean, partner at Mills & Reeve, said: “There is a certain ‘Alan Partridge’ effect this city has that really worries me,” she said. “Going back to London and speaking to colleagues, they have no idea of the level of work done by professional services in this area. We need to sell more.”
David McNally, chief executive of Norwich FC, agreed, celebrating what Norwich had to offer, including a Premier League football team.
“The sooner we shake off our shackles of liking our area to be kept as a bit of secret, the sooner we can go forward. It’s hugely beneficial to the area to have a top football team,” he said.
“As the world has shrunk with digital there is a huge opportunity for the club, city and county to do something about it.”
With a £500m City Deal for scheduled for Norwich and a world-renowned research centre attracting talent, David Moorcroft, executive head of regeneration and development at Norwich City Council, said the focus must be on young people who would lead future growth.
Ian Fox, director at FW Properties, called for the University of East Anglia, the council and Norwich FC to work together as a “single body” to promote the city.
“If I go to the council website I can’t find out what is great about Norwich quickly enough,” he said.
Panellists agreed that collaborating with Cambridge, a globally recognised brand and city, would further publicise Norwich.
Caroline Williams, chief executive of Norfolk’s Chamber of Commerce, said: “Businesses don’t have boundaries.”
The debate also focused on office rents in the city which, according to Guy Gowling at Arnolds Keys, could rise owing to permitted development rights removing an “oversupply” of office space.
He said rents could hit £18 per sq ft in less than two years, and added: “In Norwich, the equilibrium of supply and demand is coming back.”
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