Continued private investment in a community is not for the faint-hearted

Author
Ian Mean
Director of Business West Gloucestershire | Vice Chair of GfirstLEP | Business West
28th March 2018

I am not talking about a quick in and out profit by some developers, I am talking about a vision that was hatched 25 years ago to rejuvenate Gloucester’s historic Docks and the land surrounding it. The partner here was, and still is, Peel Holdings, owner of the Gloucester Quays outlet centre and 59 acres of land around the Docks.

When I came to Gloucester to be editor of The Citizen in 2002, the Docks were run down and an eyesore. Flats had been converted from the old warehouses but at night there were few lights in the windows—many were just bought for investment. There was literally little life in the Docks. Here, we had natural assets but no life and little prospect of a bright future without huge investment.

 

Peel were the catalyst, and their journey to stick with Gloucester was described to a Business West networking breakfast at the Quays by Jason Pullen, managing director of the Quays and Peel’s other outlet centres in the UK. He was blunt. On May 21 2009 when the Quays opened we were in the grip of the recession and very early on the project was threatened with bankruptcy.

 

Footfall nine years ago was around 1,600,000 in the current year, Peel estimate it could reach nearly 7 million. Along the journey, Peel have invested over £300 million of their own money in the outlet centre and the surrounding land and helped to create an extra 3000 jobs.

Now, Peel are planning a further £25million investment over the next twelve months and estimate their injection of capital will generate another £100 million of private investment over the next three years.

The future is very bright for the City of Gloucester”, Jason tells me.” We are taking the view that Gloucester has not even started to scratch its full potential because of its location". “It is certainly, in my view, one of the greatest places to invest in this country but you have to take a medium and long-term view of its potential. The city has enormous potential in terms of the services, the enhancement of retail and infrastructure”.

 

This is quite a compliment to Gloucester City Council, which over the past ten years has tried hard to regenerate our historic city. Gloucester has more listed buildings than any other city of comparable size in the country.

What now interests me is that Peel are looking to make the Docks a far more attractive place to live with plans to build up to 400 new homes. These new homes will be in a price range that young people can afford and will give a huge boost to life in the centre of the city. We have a huge challenge in Gloucester to try and bring more people to live above the shops on the gated streets of the city. It is a disgrace to see the upper floors of these lovely old buildings empty.

 

I asked Jason Pullen if Peel would bring their enthusiasm to help to regenerate Gloucester’s run-down city centre. He was positive to my suggestion but stressed “There is no single white knight that can pull the city up. It’s the people of Gloucester who can play their part”. This is great news. 

 

I asked Jason Pullen if Peel would bring their enthusiasm to help to regenerate Gloucester’s run-down city centre. He was positive to my suggestion but stressed “There is no single white knight that can pull the city up. It’s the people of Gloucester who can play their part”. This is great news. 

 

For far too long the city council has got into bed with companies who have promised to deliver sustainable, new development in the centre of the city-particularly in King’s Square-but delivered absolutely nothing. In contrast, Peel have delivered hundreds of millions of investment to Gloucester, and yes they have made profits.

But the time is right to now persuade them to harness their enthusiasm and expertise on our city centre to make it a safe and pleasurable place for residents who deserve much better.

We are extremely lucky that Peel believe their job in Gloucester is not finished yet. And we should applaud them for that passion to fulfil the vision they had 25 years ago when their chairman, John Whittaker, first decided to invest in Gloucester.

*Ian Mean was formerly vice-chairman of the Gloucestershire Heritage Urban Regeneration Company.

Business West's next Gloucestershire networking breakfast is on 25 May at Bowden Hall Hotel. 

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