THERE are several aspects of 2023 I don’t need to predict because they are already certain.
Championing Glasgow’s economic prosperity, for example, will remain a central aim of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and so the success of our member businesses and the pipeline of investment and jobs in Glasgow’s economy will be as important to the Chamber as always.
In that context, we will be paying close attention to the details of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s support for business energy costs. The crippling increases for businesses in sectors as varied as hospitality, tourism and manufacturing will not have subsided by March when the Chancellor’s existing support framework runs out. We will be looking closely at the details of the revised scheme.
We will also continue our support for initiatives that help our members find the skills they need for their workforces. In some cases, the Chamber will be directly involved, such as through our work with the Scottish Government’s Developing the Young Workforce programme or with Glasgow City Council’s Step Up to Net Zero scheme. In each case we are exploring mechanisms that connect talent to a business community that has been searching for new staff in a tight labour market.
Stuart Patrick: Brexit hammers Scots exporting firms
Lobbying for change in our terms of international trade through the British Chambers of Commerce will also be on the agenda. We will be keen to see developments in India for the whisky industry, and with the European Union for just about every exporting member. Our own trade mission work will start in Germany in February.
For Glasgow, there are key milestones in the city’s economic development we expect to celebrate in 2023. At the Glasgow City Innovation District, we hope to see work begin on Bruntwood SciTech’s £60m project to convert the Met Tower into a digital technology hub and we anticipate progress in the University of Strathclyde’s proposals for a second Technology and Innovation Centre. At the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District next door to Glasgow Airport, the formal opening of the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland’s headquarters is also due.
The research commercialisation projects, funded partly by £33m from the UK Government’s Innovation Accelerator Partnership, will be confirmed and are scheduled to begin in April. Matched by funding from the private sector, these will help expand Glasgow’s role in industries such as space communications and photonics. The Chamber will be arguing strongly that this must be just the beginning of a long-term governmental commitment.
In Glasgow’s City Centre we expect to see positive outcomes for Sovereign Centros in their planning for the redevelopment of the St Enoch Centre and for Landsec in their plans for the Buchanan Galleries. The next phases of the city council’s Avenues Project should also get going.
In the first half of the year, we will see the results from the council’s review of the future for the "Golden Z" of Sauchiehall, Argyle and Buchanan Streets, along with their assessment of the longer-term importance of retail. And Moda Living’s Holland Park development will open, adding 433 new rental homes as one step towards bringing more people back into the heart of our city.
Stuart Patrick: Clyde Metro project must remain a priority
Further down the Clyde we now know a total of eight new Type 26 frigates will be built for the Royal Navy and, depending on the planning process, we should hear more about the timescales for BAE Systems’ investment of £100m in a new ship hall over the wet basin at Govan.
In August we know for sure that Glasgow will be showing off to the world once again with the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. The city has repeatedly displayed its capacity for delivering complex events and for 12 days this summer, Glasgow will become the cycling capital of the world.
This year may well be marked out as one dominated by economic recession and it will take optimism and confidence to recover. Thankfully, Glasgow has plenty of reasons to be confident.
Stuart Patrick is Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce
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