View from St Enoch: Update

From GWRA

Hi Folks

Next week see’s the official launch of St Enoch working with Steven Purcell. That’s on Thursday morning and all the retailers at St Enoch have been invited along with the other LRAs and our partners. This is followed by the Jobs Fair. Last year 1,400 people attended so we should be kept busy!

A view from one of Scotland’s leading shop fitters, Havelock Europa, is that the outlook is very negative for the retail sector but you may also have seen the Evening Times article on Jane Harrison, the new City Centre Initiative Manager at Glasgow City Council. She will be looking to build on Glasgow’s success over the last 10 years and the co-ordinated effort she is encouraging can only be good for retailers at St Enoch and elsewhere in countering the effects of the recession.

Another reason for being positive is Glasgow’s ability to attract people from abroad and elsewhere in the UK. Did you know, for example, that in 2008 Glasgow attracted more international conference delegates than any other British city? That’s got to be good for business.

The Enterprise team has recognised that there is a need for increased support for small businesses particularly in these difficult times. Next week we’re launching a new Business Club for the West of Glasgow. We’re supporting it for the first year and there are speakers on Entrepreneurial issues as well as specialists on marketing, finance etc. The aim is to establish a club that the businesses will run themselves and over the next few months we’ll be establishing a Steering Group to provide direction to the Club. You can find out more at www.glasgowwestbusinessclub.com.

You’ve probably seen in the news that Tesco’s Personal Finance division is looking to create 800 Customer Service Centre jobs in Glasgow City Centre by mid 2010. This is a strong indication that despite the credit crunch Glasgow is building on its strong position as a centre for banking and finance jobs.

Best wishes, Rob

P.S. There was considerable evidence from a recent Scottish Government sponsored conference that the area based approach to employability is still the way to go. See http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/regeneration/fairer-scotland-fund/EvidenceEvent for more information.