July 2010 Archives

The quangos have started to come tumbling down in the West Midlands. With Advantage West Midlands (AWM) fatally wounded with funding slashes, it was almost inevitable that dependant organisations would not survive. So the recent announcements that Walsall Regeneration Company and Wolverhampton Development Company  are to be wound up were hardly surprising.

Measuring the real outputs of such bodies is always tricky and was an issue that dogged the Urban Development Corporations (remember them?) of the 1980s. It's ironic that the political party which introduced these predecessors of the agencies now facing oblivion has led the charge for the cull. After all, the UDCs oversaw large swathes of commercial property development and helped cement the fortunes of a generation of property professionals. Walsall and Wolverhampton's companies were of a smaller scale, of course, yet Walsall in particular had won substantial praise within the property sector (no mean feat in itself).

After returning today from leave, I was truly saddened to hear about the death of Richard Brennan.

Richard was truly passionate about Birmingham and always spoke honestly and eloquently about how he felt about the city in terms of its good points and its bad.

The last time we spoke we had an enjoyable chat about Birmingham's Big City Plan and the proposed £193m Library for Birmingham. With his usual candour, Richard bucked general market sentiment about the scheme being overpriced and possibly not even needed, by saying: "Important civic projects like this mustn't be sacrificed because of short-term budget constraints. I think the city is to be applauded for taking such a positive and visionary step."

And I think Richard should be applauded for bravely battling with terminal cancer for months before finally relinquishing his role as Birmingham Forward's chief executive in June, just three weeks before he passed away on his birthday last Monday.

His tireless work over the last four years at Birmingham Forward to boost the city's reputation and garner inward investment for the region will not be forgotten and neither will he. He will indeed be sorely missed.

It has emerged recently that regional development agency Advantage West Midlands must chop £40m from its budget for the current financial year (ie between now and April 2011).

As such, I've been trying to pinpoint where exactly the cuts are going to me made and, specifically, whether any of the region's key property schemes supported by AWM will be affected.

The short answer is that no-one, least of all AWM, seems to know. And, to be fair, this kind of uncertainty was practically guaranteed when the effective abolition of RDAs - which has not been widely welcomed by the West Midlands property fraternity - was sealed.

At last, Birmingham City Council has finally appointed a replacement [click here] for Clive Dutton, the ambitious, high profile visionary who quit the council nine months ago to work on Olympic Legacy projects at the London Borough of Newham.

When I say replacement, I use the term loosely, for two reasons. Firstly, because the council has quietly changed the job title. Whereas Dutton had the clear portfolio of 'Director of Planning & Regeneration', his successor has the somewhat opaque role of 'Strategic Director of Development'. This is more than semantics, as I'm told that some elements of Dutton's job have been hived off to others, while the new boy will pick up additional responsibilities such as transportation issues.

The revelation last week that two major investors are set to snaffle up a large chunk of Brindleyplace (pictured above) for around £200m (click here for more info) has prompted some speculation about whether the deal might spark a run on high level institutional investment in the Midlands. Product in central London, the high-end property shoppers' usual stomping ground, is in short supply, so the argument goes, and therefore top quality goods, albeit further afield, will be more sought after. I hate to pour cold water on this, but I don't think it's going to happen.

I'm stepping outside of the Midlands for the next feature I am writing, this time on the Channel Islands. Please see the synopsis below for details and feel free to contact me to discuss further...

Island people
What's life like for property people working Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man?
Lisa Pilkington, Midlands editor, 07771 673458, lisa.pilkington@estatesgazette.com 

Island property (including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man)
An analysis of the local commercial market including up to date stats
Daniel Cunningham, senior writer, 020 7911 1822, daniel.cunningham@estatesgazette.com

 Please contact writers by 14th July 2010

Picture courtesy of Nik Sibley on Flickr