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CV: Mark Barrow |
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| Born: September 1965, Shrewsbury 1985-1990 Surveyor, Shropshire county council 1990-1995 Senior surveyor, Birmingham city council 1995- 2000 Chief surveyor, Telford and Wrekin council 2000- 2002 Head of capital and programmes, Gloucestershire county council 2002-2007 Deputy chief executive/executive director: economy and environment, Great Yarmouth borough council 2007- 2010 Chief executive, Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council 2010-present Strategic director of development, Birmingham city council Lifestyle Married with two daughters, lives in North Staffordshire. Enjoys sailing, DIY, gardening, walking, and is a high school and college governor |
“The best unpaid sales force Birmingham has is its property agents,” says Mark Barrow, strategic director of development at Birmingham city council and company secretary (and former local authority lead) for the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.
The soft-spoken former chief executive of Newcastle-under-Lyme council replaced Clive Dutton last September, after Dutton quit to move to the London Borough of Newham, to work on Olympic legacy projects.
With 1,500 staff in his directorate, the 46-year-old father of two takes a big-picture approach to his wide range of responsibilities, which include promoting England’s second city on the global stage, leading one of the largest planning, regeneration and development departments in Europe and providing key, strategic support to Birmingham’s LEP.
“My role for the LEP is to use my strengths in networking, relationship building and looking at the macro picture. I want the civic and private sector to work together. I want to continue to engage the property industry with the LEP. We’ve already done this with the Big City Plan and this is the next step forward,” he says.
In the same month that Barrow joined the local authority last September, the Birmingham LEP made its initial submission to the government outlining its vision and strategy for the area. Nine months on, and Birmingham’s LEP, with help from Barrow, has already seen success. The government confirmed it was part of the first tranche of LEPs to be formed in the country.
Barrow says that with the loss of a regional tier of government, a space has opened up for Birmingham to step in and get closer to shape the government’s thoughts. “We’ve thrown ourselves into that role completely,” he says.
Longbridge is one of the LEP’s priority areas and it is in talks with soon-to-be-abolished Advantage West Midlands about the RDA’s £180m land bank. It includes 57 acres of the former MG Rover car plant at Longbridge, an 8.9-acre site at Edgbaston, which was once occupied by the BBC’s Pebble Mill studios and is now earmarked for a science park, and 7.5 acres of land surrounding Edgbaston cricket ground. However, if it wants to get its hands on the assets, the LEP will probably have to pay the market price.
Creativity required
But because the LEP will not have a RDA-style budget, it will have to be creative about generating its capital, particularly in the period between start-up and an eventual self-sustaining position.
Barrow believes that the proposed city centre enterprise zone could fill this funding gap. “In the first year or two we’ll have a municipal bond and issue opportunities via a TIF framework for people to invest in at a set price. The Birmingham EZ, on behalf of the LEP, will get the cash upfront and will pay it back over 20-30 years,” says Barrow, adding, “with the pot of money generated from the EZ and revenues that flow from business rates, we should become self-sustaining.”
Barrow believes that new developments within the EZ will generate around £70m pa in rates, more than enough to finance infrastructure improvements needed in the city centre.
Bold step
The fledgling LEP has taken a bold initial step by being the first in the UK to take a broader, umbrella approach to its enterprise zone. This means that, instead of a site-specific system the whole of the city centre, including five key transformation sites (see box), will come under EZ status if approved by government next month.
One local agent who prefers to remain nameless says: “The city-centre EZ is stretching the boundaries of what’s allowed. It’s a brave move by the LEP.”
Barrow explains: “The EZ provides a massive opportunity to drive forward the new growth agenda and could create 50,000 jobs. We’re sharpening our focus on a few keys sites. There’s an understanding that we’ve got to do something different and that we’re moving towards a new economy. Birmingham needs to tell its story better, be less modest and be at the forefront of improvement.”
Barrow confirms that targets for this year include progress on a number of key sites. At the proposed 1.5m sq ft mixed-use Paradise Circus, Birmingham council and development partner Argent are in “advanced negotiations”, he says. Argent is poised to submit a planning application in the autumn.
Meanwhile, plans are moving forward at the 21-acre Wholesale Markets site, which sits close to the Bullring. Hammerson, as part of the Birmingham Alliance, is collaborating closely with the council in working up a comprehensive masterplan (see retail feature, p80). “We’ll bring forward proposals for the legacy site before the end of this year,” says Barrow.
A second enterprise zone
Not content with having one of the UK’s largest EZs, earlier this month the LEP launched an ambitious bid for a second enterprise zone for the wider region, which it says could create a further 100,000 jobs.
The “Enterprise Belt”, as it is being called, would cover parts of Solihull, including the NEC, Cannock, Lichfield, Tamworth, Burton, Redditch, Bromsgrove and Kidderminster. It aims to improve transport links from Staffordshire and Worcestershire into Birmingham and Solihull.
However, the bid may suffer from the fact that Greater Birmingham and Solihull has already secured one of the coveted zones.
“We’ll see how it goes. Competition is fierce,” says Barrow.
Key facts: Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP
• The LEP, one of the largest in the country, comprises nine local authorities: Birmingham; Solihull; Redditch; Wyre Forest; East Staffordshire; Lichfield; Tamworth; Bromsgrove; and Cannock Chase
• The LEP covers a population of 2m people and 950,000 existing jobs
• Mission statement: to create an enterprise culture and invest in the infrastructure to support this
• GVA within the LEP projected to increase by £6bn by 2020
• 100,000 private sector jobs to be created
• The LEP recommended in April that Birmingham city centre become an enterprise zone, focusing on five areas of transformation: the Southern Gateway; New Street Station South; Westside; Snow Hill and Eastside; and the site of the proposed High Speed 2 rail link and terminus
• A second EZ is to be put forward, which covers the wider LEP area
• The private sector will play a central role in delivering the LEP’s vision
• The LEP will establish an investment fund. Funding sources will include: financial partnerships with the private sector; tax-incremental financing; accelerated development zones; and the European Jessica programme
• The LEP supports the government’s HS2 initiative
Retail man takes the LEP’s helm
“We’re going to be bold and risk taking. We will choose a small number of things to concentrate on and deliver them,” says John Lewis boss Andy Street, Mark Barrow’s colleague on the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, where he took over the role of inaugural chair on 1 May.
Street’s appointment follows the confirmation that John Lewis will anchor the redevelopment of Birmingham’s New Street station with one of its largest stores in the UK.
Street agrees with Barrow that getting help from the property industry is “crucial” to helping the LEP achieve its goals. He says: “I want to engage with the property industry. I’m more than happy to sit down and talk to people. The industry can most help the city and the LEP by continuing to invest.”
Asked where the LEP’s funding will come from, Street says: “I don’t sit on a budget like Advantage West Midlands. We’re not going to make funding decisions. The LEP’s role is to set the overall strategy. Funding will come from local councils, the regional growth fund and, if the government approves the EZ status, I’m confident that in time, income will be generated from this.”
