How to level-up the UK economy...
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The headline of today’s edition is rather grand, but it is something that Off to Lunch has taken a particular interest in and is something on my mind after interviewing Roger Madelin.
Madelin features in the latest episode of our Business Studies podcast. It is an interview that includes practical and real-life examples about how you transform an area. Madelin is currently joint-head of British Land’s Canada Water project in London, a 53-acre regeneration scheme. Before that he was chief executive of Argent, where he led the project to redevelop the area around King’s Cross station in London as well as schemes in Birmingham, Manchester and the Thames Valley.
The episode tells the story behind King’s Cross, Canada Water and the other regeneration schemes. Forget theorising by politicians, economists or think-tanks. This is the story of how you actually attract investment into an area and transform it. Yes, King’s Cross and Canada Water are in London, but the principles are similar to levelling up the UK economy. The regeneration of King’s Cross has levelled it up with the rest of London (without, I should say, levelling down other parts of London). The ambitions for Canada Water are similar.
King’s Cross used to be renowned for crime, prostitution and an ageing train station. Today the area is a vibrant place full of businesses, bars, restaurants, homes, two modern train stations (King’s Cross and St Pancras) and families, who go during the week and at the weekend to enjoy the fountains, park and canals. There is much to be learned from this project…
Those lessons include the importance of the public and private sectors working together, the power of transport hubs as an anchor for regeneration, the long-term focus needed and how recessions don’t need to get in the way (Madelin worked on the King’s Cross project for 15 years and it got through the financial crisis), the need to offer things that people actually want and will enjoy, and a central vision - for an area and specific project - that everything else can hang off.
Luck also plays a role. There are a number of moments in the interview where Madelin explains how a chance encounter turns into something more - such as how Central Saint Martins, part of the University of the Arts London, ended up moving to King's Cross. This shows that if you get the fundamentals of a project right, opportunities will emerge that you didn’t necessarily expect or forecast.
That is a short summary of what Madelin says so I recommend listening to the podcast in full. You can do so on Substack here, Apple here and Spotify here.
One answer I want to pull out is when I asked Madelin whether there are more regeneration opportunities around the UK. “Massive regeneration opportunities,” he responded. The new edition of The Economist looks at how the UK’s biggest cities outside London hold the key to levelling up. You can read more here. That is where Madelin thinks there are opportunities too. As someone who has led successful projects across the UK, his answer is important:
“Bristol Temple Meads has been sat waiting for a great plan for 30 years. I was down there 20, 25, 30 years ago. I know it's now moving forward. Great. That's taken 30 years. There’s been a few little things. York's had an amazing site for 20, 25 years. That's slowly moving forward. Manchester's got other opportunities, Birmingham's got huge opportunities around High Speed 2. Every city that I know. I've been in Sheffield recently - great opportunities. I've been in Nottingham - great opportunities. But these cities need to be able to expand their economy, and they would say they need the connectivities. Connectivity is very important.
If you look at the UK in relation to other neighbours, our cities other than London are much too small. Birmingham, Manchester, in my view, need to be five times as big. Where’s the plan to make Birmingham and Manchester five times as big? Where's the investment to link the Birminghams and the Manchesters with the Leeds and the Sheffields.
Argent was the biggest developer in Birmingham for 10, 15 years. The scheme that we set up there - Paradise - is still happening with MEPC. We were very keen on looking at the market site around High Speed 2. I know Albert Bore, the former leader of Birmingham, and obviously Richard Leese and Howard Bernstein (the former leader and chief executive of Manchester City Council, respectively). I used to spend a lot of time with them - it was a great privilege. They were like: ‘Just give us the power, give us the money to get this transport in'. These cities have got the fundamental raw materials - a lot of students, a lot of international connectivity. Manchester could become three times bigger like that, so could Birmingham.
I think government needs to concentrate where it can get the bang for its buck. Whether that means missing out some of the smaller cities, I don't know. It is quite complicated when you've only got so much money. They obviously try and spread it around - to piss off everyone to an equal extent, but no-one so much that they go completely ballistic. It's tough. But yes, we haven't got a great national plan, we haven't had for decades.”
Paying Off to Lunch members can hear more from Madelin in this week’s bonus content, which is below. This 10-minute clip covers how he got into property and his management approach. Madelin talks about his three rules for doing business, why knowing what you don’t know and asking for help is so important, and what working for a “brilliant” developer that went bust in the 1980s taught him…
If you aren’t already an Off to Lunch member, you can sign-up below to listen to the bonus content, read about the other stories that matter today and get our Sunday press review…