Strong, local leadership ‘vital’ to boost regeneration in North, store chain chief tells summit

Nov 7 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

THE managing director of depart-ment store chain John Lewis has praised Liverpool City Council for its help in pushing through plans for its new store in the city.

Next year, John Lewis will open its anchor store in the £1bn Liverpool One retail development, relocating from Church Street.

Speaking at the 2007 Northern Regeneration Summit & Exhibition, Andy Street said strong local leadership was essential to help boost investment into the region.

He praised local authorities in Liverpool and Sheffield for their support and help in pushing through development plans for John Lewis stores in their cities.

Mr Street said: “We wouldn’t have invested so heavily in Liver-pool if it hadn’t been for the confidence instilled in us by the city council. They have been immensely helpful in terms of helping us meet the development targets and timescale we set.”

Mr Street underlined John Lewis’s support of “town centre first” planning policy and express-ed concern regarding the Compe-tition Commission’s grocery market report, adding that find-ings could lead to national plan-ning policy changes. These changes could undermine invest-ment and regeneration in the northern city centres, he claimed.

Climate change, the Compre-hensive Spending Review, changes to planning policy and road con-gestion were some of the issues tackled by speakers and delegates at the event in Manchester.

It brought together the public and private sector with the aim of increasing investment in the North. More than 1,500 delegates from across the UK attended.

Iain Wright, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, referred to the Comprehensive Spending Review and its likely impact upon Northern Regeneration.

He stressed that local authorit-ies would now have more flexibil-ity to accord funds to the areas that needed them most, helping resources to be focused on the most deprived parts of the North.

Mr Wright also underlined the need for the region to “go further and faster if its cities are to compete on a global scale with places like New York, London and Shanghai”.

This would come about through “strong local leadership, the creation of strong, cohesive, prosperous communities and robust partnerships between the public and private sectors.”

tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk