Be proud and loud for Brum; InsideView.Byline: Anthony McCourt I WAS asked last week what is Birmingham's greatest challenge during the recession. It could be the future of manufacturing, the plight of the Midlands car industry or maintaining inward investment Inward investment is the injection of money from an external source into a region, in order to purchase capital goods for a branch of a corporation to locate or develop its presence in the region. into Birmingham. Each and all are important. But I think our greatest challenge is coming out of this recession with a better product and better brand in our city. Our challenge is also our opportunity. Every city and country across the world is now having some downtime The time during which a computer is not functioning due to hardware, operating system or application program failure. thinking - battening down the hatches and hoping they escape the worst of the economic blizzard. We are doing the same, and so we should. Let's use this time effectively. The Big City Plan, plans for our own city pride and joy, the new library, fighting for our workers and businesses; these actions and initiatives are more important than ever. But when the upturn happens Birmingham needs to be in pole position pole position Noun 1. (in motor racing) the starting position on the inside of the front row, generally considered the best one 2. an advantageous starting position Noun 1. . We need to get ready for that now. Practically, what can the Brummie do to help? A lot! The litmus test litmus test n. A test for chemical acidity or basicity using litmus paper. of any great city is its people and we are streets ahead of any other regional city with the character and breadth of people living and working in Birmingham. One million people speaking loudly and proudly about their city, their street, their business, the charity they are a member of or the school their children attend. That's what we need. Brummies are infamous for 'doing their city down;' we couldn't afford this in the good times, and it'd be catastrophic in the challenging times ahead. I read recently that 'when you're facing a hurricane, standing still is good progress.' Let's leave Manchester, Leeds and Bristol to stand still, Birmingham can and should hold her head high (recession or not) and build a brand for our city of which we are proud. Tourists, businesses and money will come and see what all the fuss is about - get them to Birmingham and the rest is easy. Anthony McCourt works for * Birmingham Development Company and is currently Birmingham Young Professional of the Year.. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion