At the 120th Annual Lunch CPA Chair Ross Sayers praised the City of London’s extraordinary growth, which has surpassed £100bn annual GVA for the first time and seen a 25% surge in jobs post pandemic, with 1 in 50 jobs in the UK now based in the City. These high value roles also generate the lowest carbon emissions per job of anywhere in the country.
Ross said: “In a world of rapid change, where yesterday’s critical is tomorrow’s obsolete, it’s amazing to see this square mile of land on a cold, usually rainy, island is as critical to the world economy today as it’s ever been. The City is going from strength to strength…with occupiers drawn to core locations and demanding the best buildings for their staff.”
The new City Plan aims to deliver a minimum additional 1.2m sqm of office floorspace by 2040, striking the “balance between, on one hand, maintaining and enhancing, the Square Mile as a global centre for business, innovation and finance, while on the other hand celebrating the City’s unique, rich history”.
He continued: “And the juxtaposition of the old and the new in the City is one of its unique assets, and what makes it such a special place.
“We have the Destination City vision, underpinned by a cultural strategy, growing in breadth and ambition and evolving into a proactive and progressive growth agenda to attract the best talent into the Square Mile.”
Ross paid tribute to the previous chairman of the City Corporation’s Planning & Transportation Committee, Shravan Joshi MBE, whose successful three-year tenure ended earlier this month.
“Shravan your strong political leadership and clarity of vision throughout your tenure have given us all confidence in the City. Thank you. I am delighted to welcome to today’s lunch the new Planning Chairman, Tom Sleigh.
“Tom has committed to making the City a place to work, thrive and belong and we look forward to working with you on our shared ambition for continued, sustainable growth. “
Ross summed up some of the CPA’s work throughout the year, pointing to more events, reports and whitepapers than ever before, as set out in the CPA Annual Report. One of the most pressing, he argued, was Supporting the City’s economic growth and development pipeline given the financing and viability challenges facing the sector.
Pointing to progress on issues raised in the research, set out in a supplementary analysis Cycling in the City, he praised the level of engagement from officers at the City Corporation, TfL and GLA, with the Mayor’s consultation Towards a New London Plan earlier this week referring to the issue of cycle space overprovision, which CPA had raised.
He added: “It’s a tough market for developers as we all know. But with strong tenant demand, there are reasons to be cheerful. We just have to try and find our way through these headwinds to get the city building again.”
“We need investment and we need occupiers. We need developments to be financially viable, and we need to the City to be founded on fairness and equity. To be diverse, inclusive and welcoming for all.”
Turning to the City of the London Corporation, he urged its leadership to “keep talking to investors, driving inward investment; keep talking to national government banging the drum for how important a thriving City is for UK Plc; and keep talking to Occupiers, understanding their wants and needs” creating policies that are flexible enough to react to inevitable change.
The next 12 months will see the CPA undertake further research and analysis to “champion the Destination City vision, supporting investment in public realm and placemaking”, with a Delivering Destination City report and seminar planned for 18 June.
The CPA will also continue to support the Local Plan all the way through EiP; build on its development viability research and continue to drive the social value agenda, making the industry more inclusive, more diverse and more representative of the community we serve.
He added: “The average City worker is younger, more likely to have been born outside of the UK, and more likely to be high-skilled than anywhere else in the country.
“Our industry needs to reflect this demographic. How can we deliver for a workforce we don’t understand?”
And summing up his ask for industry he continued: “Never accept the status quo. Challenge everything. Everything. Whoever you are. Whether you’re a CEO with 40 years’ experience or a Part one architectural assistant or an apprentice Project Manager straight out of school.
“Your voice is needed. We need innovative solutions to make the design and construction process less risky. We need designs that meet occupiers demands today, while being flexible and adaptable to whatever the future holds.
“But my biggest ask is that you engage. Engage in events, research, request for data, provide opinions, because they really do matter, more so now than ever before when change happens so rapidly.
“So, this workload over the next 12 months should keep us on the straight and narrow and prepare us all to face into the uncertain world on a firm footing.”
