Helping the country bounce back
By Rob Groves, regional director, Argent LLP
Every sector and part of the economy has its role to play in assisting the nation recover from Covid-19.
Helping the economy bounce back will be a key part of not just demonstrating our national resilience to the challenges we’ve had to face, but also as a way of helping others so families can look after each other and the communities they live in.
We all have our part to play in this process and in helping create and sustain jobs. In our job as a developer we are focused upon helping other companies through the supply chain and this has never been more important.
The development and construction industry is a very people-intensive part of the economy that employs a lot of people doing hands on jobs, which means it is also a key driver for the wider education and skills agenda.
The importance of schemes like Paradise and the wider construction industry to help lead the economic recovery in a place like Birmingham should not be underestimated. As well as the capital invested in the scheme itself and the initial construction phases, the work spaces and wider world class environment we are creating means companies can expand and recruit when they come here.
Despite the recent lockdown regime, we have continued to attract interest as the forthcoming series of occupier announcements about our buildings will demonstrate. There is still healthy demand to bring forward new commercial buildings and along with this we continue to support sustainable transport as well as creating new places for people to live as well as work, as our recent Octagon proposals demonstrate.
Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, recognises the role of Paradise too. He says:
More than ever, this city and the wider region needs successful commercial projects to help get people into work and create demand for the skills and experience that will help drive a successful economic recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic.
“Before the outbreak Birmingham and the West Midlands was more than pulling its weight by attracting significant investment in sectors such as manufacturing, information technology, and professional services, helping to spread prosperity.
“And we will need to re-capture this level of investment if we want our region’s economy to bounce back quickly and effectively. One way to start is to make sure we hold our nerve and stay committed to existing investments, and Paradise has a very important role to play in that regard.”