By Stephen Patterson, Chief Executive, NE1 Ltd
Newcastle is on the cusp of something special. Talking to businesses in the city centre there is a general feeling of positivity and tremendous optimism for the future.
This confidence has been fuelled in part by the multi-millionpound investment that is happening across the city in both the public and private sectors. With new buildings springing up before our eyes and cranes still visible on the horizon, there are clear signs that there’s even more development to come and Newcastle is destined for future economic growth.
At the heart of all this, nestled in the city centre, is St. James’ Park, standing as a beacon of Newcastle’s success and future prosperity. With the football club now in the Champions League, the club and the city are gearing up to welcome visiting supporters from Paris Saint-Germain for the first European home match of the season at the start of October.
With the eyes of Europe upon us, we need to make sure that the city and its public realm keep pace with this transformational change and investment and play to its strengths.
Our iconic city centre assets, including the Quayside, are housed between huge transformational projects, the East Pilgrim Street redevelopment in the North and Gateshead’s new international conference and events centre in the South. To make sure this and other areas of the city keep pace with this change and don’t get left behind, we must protect and invest to ensure that they continue to make a positive impact on people’s experience of, and in, the city.
Having attracted investment and convinced people to come to the region to live, work, study and visit, the experience needs to be second to none when they are here.
It is crucial that Newcastle raises its game to ensure that the city centre experience exceeds expectations.
NE1 is making this one of the top priorities in our five-year business plan.
NE1 is currently in the throes of a BID ballot to hopefully secure a further five-year term. Voting papers and a copy of NE1’s new Business Plan have been delivered to c.1,400 business members with voting having opened on 22nd September and closing on 19th October, 28 days later.
The next two months are pivotal for Newcastle as we ballot our members on the future of the city and NE1. This will be our 4th BID ballot. Over this time the focus and emphasis of our activities has changed.
In the early years, our ambition and efforts were focused on securing strategic investment for the city. Although still hugely important, our early successes have dictated a sharp refocusing of our efforts. With public and private investment in motion and a largely optimistic outlook from business, the question from all quarters is, what’s the plan to secure future success for the city? What should the day-to-day street environment look like in a modern, European regional capital city, like Newcastle?
Our mantra is that there is no point winning the battle but losing the war. We have managed to secure major and ongoing investment in the city, and to bring people to live and work here, we now need to up our game, and ramp up and improve the experience for people when they are here.
The optimism for the future and what it holds is tempered by the reality of the challenges facing Newcastle and other cities, particularly in the public realm. As a city, our focus needs to be on getting the basics right and tackling issues in the on-street environment to avoid any negative impacts on our customers, visitors, staff and residents.
This ‘getting the basics right’ has been the cornerstone of NE1’s work since its launch in 2009 and it remains one of the most valued elements of our programme. We want to redouble our efforts in this area because we need the city centre to be clean, well looked after and loved, and for it to feel safe. We need the city and our partners to prioritise this.
Together with Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Police we need to work together and map out a clear picture of what success looks like, what a fantastic city centre should look like, and then work together relentlessly to deliver this.
We can’t and won’t accept the status quo. This city is going places, and the scale of our ambition to get the basics right has to match the investment. It is non-negotiable.
Attracting and promoting major events and providing a stronger voice for business are two additional strands of NE1’s Business Plan that work hand-in-hand with getting the basics right. The full details of our ambitious new projects are set out in our Proposal, including plans for significant investment in the retail core and the Quayside as well as place-based interventions in the unique districts of the city centre. Full details of our Proposal can be viewed online at www.NewcastleNE1Ltd.com/ballot
Ballot schedule
c 1,400 NE1 business members receive their voting papers and the NE1 Proposal.
Voting opens on Friday, 22nd September and closes 28 days later at 5 pm on 19th October 2023.
If successful, NE1’s new BID term starts on 1st April 2024 and runs until 31st March 2029.