Agenda item

That the committee note the amended motion presented to March 2021 Council and Council minute 82.

That the committee note the work to date and planned work by the Economic Development and Place Services relevant to the items listed within the motion and recommend any actions to Cabinet. 

Mrs Hotchkiss introduced the report and explained that the Chairman had tabled a motion, the details of which were set out in the report.  Following a discussion with Cllr Dignum and Cllr Sharp, amendments were made to the motion, which were also included within the report.  The Council resolved the amended motion at the March meeting.  Mrs Hotchkiss highlighted further points within the background section of the report including the budget figures. 

Mrs McKay introduced the Inward Investment Strategy and explained that this was adopted in 2020 with a review after two years.  Since this time the Covid-19 pandemic had occurred and officers had carried out a review of the strategy and were confident the main principles remained sound.  One of the key objectives in the strategy was to consider branding, and launch the Inward Investment agenda.  Engagement had taken place with an expert called White Label to undertake the launch on the Council’s behalf.  White Label would put in place a series of launch events including the Invest Chichester website, to be launched later this month.  White Label would also be brokering a stakeholder engagement with landlords on the high street.  The work with White Label will continue until late autumn 2021, at which point the renewing of the Inward Investment Strategy would be considered with the impacts of post Covid-19 being more evident.  The Economic Development Strategy was likewise adopted in 2020 and remains in place until 2025, covering the key areas of Inward Investment, supporting the high street, and business growth.    

Mrs Murphy provided further information regarding branding, explaining this could be applied to geographical areas, to promote an area as desirable for tourism, business locations and places which local residents can be proud of.  It was necessary for branding to appeal to many different groups and developing a place brand was a long term commitment.  Towns and cities across the UK had already produced place brands and had seen the benefits relating to inward investment.  Currently the district does not have a place brand, and establishing this would be for the benefit of the district, not the council.

Place brand was wider than inward investment strategy (which focusses on businesses).  Mrs Murphy drew Members attention to the report and the key challenges including the need for agreement from partners, the varying nature of the district with the city, rural towns and the coast, how this work would need to be resourced and the number of brands already in existence.  Mrs Murphy added that it could be argued that a Place Brand could still help the area with an estimated cost of between £50-£65k to develop, plus ongoing costs.   The report further included the setting out of the anticipated process as suggested by the Local Government Association and Mrs Murphy noted that it could be seen as increasingly important, as part of the recovery process following the pandemic.

Officers responded to Members’ questions and comments:

·         Mrs McKay confirmed that Global Baby (the French parent company having the name of Materna SAS) and Babynov were producers of pouched organic baby food in France, which also undertook the manufacture of its own brand and also packaged baby food produce for significant branded names. Their focus was on sustainability and organic, which aligned with the type of companies encouraged within the district.  Their plans are to invest in the site at Terminus Road.  Mrs McKay advised that it may be possible at a future date for Members to visit the company when safe to do so.

·         With regards to the budget for branding work and promotion, Mrs Murphy responded that a ‘brief’ would need to be created and put out to market and progressed via the Council’s procurement process.  The figures within the report were based on historic work and decisions would be required in relation to the extent of the brief.

·         With regards to the number of initiatives in the city, and the associated challenges and benefits, Mrs Murphy advised that details of both were set out in the report.  Mrs Hotchkiss explained that £40k had been allocated for inward investment, a strategy had been developed and as part of the strategy a ‘book of values’ which was a brand for inward investment and a logo had been recently launched, with LinkedIn pages also launched for ‘Invest Chichester’, being the  brand for businesses to come to Chichester going forward.

The Chairman made a proposal for an additional recommendation:

The Committee recommends to Cabinet that a comprehensive Place Branding and District Identity Plan that includes Place, Business, the built  and natural environment and Community is produced by a specialist company for the District as soon as possible in 2021-2022.

The Chairman further suggested that the final words within the second recommendation, ‘… and recommend any actions to Cabinet’ were removed.

The additional recommendation and the removal of the words from the second recommendation were seconded by Mrs Lishman. 

RESOLVED

That the committee note the amended motion presented to March 2021 Council and Council minute 82.

That the committee note the work to date and planned work by the Economic Development and Place Services relevant to the items listed within the motion. 

That the Committee recommends to Cabinet that a comprehensive Place Branding and District Identity Plan that includes Place, Business, the built and natural environment and Community is produced by a specialist company for the District as soon as possible in 2021-2022.