Eastern City Cluster's towering ambitions - a new blueprint for partnership
Having set up numerous BIDs and partnerships across the capital I know the importance of gaining early momentum. Today, not yet a year since the idea was first muted, the newly established Eastern City Cluster Partnership has taken two significant steps forward.
Firstly, supported by our founding partners, we hosted a packed CPA seminar at the iconic Leadenhall Building - our first public event setting out our ambitious vision for the future.
Secondly, today the City of London Corporation has agreed to join the Partnership. For at least the next two years, the City, as a significant land holder in the Leadenhall Estate, will be funding partners and have representation on the ECC partnership board. They will be providing support and a focused approach for the ongoing regeneration of this key business area within the Square Mile, alongside the other founding partners.
These are important milestones as we embark on an ambitious plan to create value and transform peoples’ experience of working and visiting this globally significant location. I was particularly struck this morning, as we sat in the 'Cheesegrater' surrounded by the other iconic towers, and the hustle and bustle of the City reminding everyone they are part of the UK's engine room...it's here we can see the true potential of public / private partnership. Not because an area needs 'help' but because an area can be more.
The ECC partnership covers an area of real estate that contains the greatest density of businesses and jobs in the Square Mile. Principally home to banking and insurance offices, we are seeing an increasing amount of retail and leisure, and other land uses, including green spaces. It is iconic - London’s calling card to the rest of the world. But arguably more can be made of these world class locations and destinations, especially if we consider the people who are yet to fully appreciate what this place has to offer.
The City is expected to see further growth in the medium to longer term, with a growing working population and more leisure visitors. While there is significant opportunity in this growth, there are some significant challenges with issues such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and a squeezed public realm coming to the fore.
It is not enough to just be located in this world renowned area. It is not enough to just have a great building and have great talent and industry in the City's iconic buildings. We must demand more. We can deliver more. But doing it together is key - through collective action so much more can be achieved and more value created. The City of London Corporation sees BIDs as a key vehicle for engaging with communities to promote ongoing regeneration of areas - no surprise, but I think their assessment of the value of BIDs is correct.
Business Partnerships and Business Improvement Districts give a voice to business communities - championing local priorities and ensuring the right people are at the decision table. Businesses understand that together they can be stronger; lobbying on big, strategic issues that impact on their commercial performance and ability to grow.
The priorities for the ECC are being worked up now, in consultation with businesses and property owners in the area. The ambition is to make the ECC a global exemplar - a beacon of good growth. Public realm will undoubtedly be a big focus - but this is more than hanging baskets, token green spaces and minor enhancement projects. As with many central London BIDs today, BIDs are key strategic delivery partners, able to galvanise the private sector, bolster the work of the public sector and help to deliver major transformation projects.
Importantly, our work must deliver for the communities we serve - of course businesses, but visitors and residents too. Making a difference is key - driving ambitious programmes of public realm enhancements is not just a nice thing to do for the area - it's more fundamental than that. This should be about enhancing how people 'feel' about the places they live, work and play in. Supporting mental and physical wellbeing if course admirable, but it also has a commercial benefit - better productivity, for example.
Increasingly BIDs are also turning their attention to issues of social value and community cohesion. How can we as area custodians, champions of growth, ensure that investment and enhancement works for everyone?
The establishment of the ECC partnership, and the ambition to create a BID, is a positive and confident statement of intent, helping to provide laser focus on an already thriving and commercially vibrant, and important part of London. This is about ensuring the Eastern City Cluster is performing at its optimum level and that challenges the area face are tackled head on and solutions are expedited. 2020 is going to be a busy, but exciting year.