Great Yarmouth is an example of how they set the strategic narrative with a vibrant brand for now. They live and breathe it and only talk about "This Is Great Yarmouth", rather than what it was. Heritage is still important, but there is civic pride and positive energy about what the town offers now.
Clear focus and detailed plans setting out what interventions can achieve success in securing a Town Deal with the government. There is recognition that development activity such as the new Marina Centre is important and acts as a catalyst for further investment, but projects must be linked into wider social outcomes rather than just the seasonal tourism agenda.
Wind won’t run out and the clean sector is growing fast. Great Yarmouth has brought together its partners under the new Generate brand to pull together the infrastructure, entrepreneurialism and investment opportunities that can put the region front and centre for 30 years.
The council has been working with all its partners to help unlock opportunities and deliver interventions across the board. Even before the Marina Centre was conceptualised in CGI, they were visiting other coastal cities to extract learnings. Collaboration in all these is absolutely vital.
Despite harvesting talent, it is often lost to other regions. The town will soon have a University centre and it is focusing on a programme of connecting the business community to education and entrepreneurs so that people who were born here, come back here to work, live and play. It’s about leaving a legacy.
In addition to the five key takeaways downloaded from the discussion, we caught up with Alister Broadberry, Area Director for the Eastern Counties, to get his immediate takeaways from the discussions. Hear his viewpoint in the short videos below...
Perception, opportunities and ambition
Alister discusses the opportunities the East coast towns have and how an ambitious strategy in these areas, from local leaders, can create a raft of opportunities for now and long into the future.
Sharing success and green energy
Looking at how a series of regeneration catalysts can create an all year round economy, whilst the natural capital of green energy can help long term sustainable industry.
