Worldwide OfficesGlasgow to join super cities?
HSBC Commercial Banking has just released an interesting survey which suggests that Glasgow, along with Bristol, is poised to join the ranks of what it calls ‘super cities’. The Future of Business 2011 report defines these as cities or regions which have become vital hubs for new growth industries. According to the report’s 2009 predecessor, the existing super cities are Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Brighton and, of course, London.
Glasgow is set to join them over the course of the next decade as it becomes a leading international force in the renewable energy sector. The potential growth is partly the result of a wider revival of high tech British manufacturing. The report suggests that Glasgow in particular will benefit from a happy combination of three factors: the world class research being carried out at Strathclyde University; the city’s traditional manufacturing skills and its close location to many renewable energy generating sites.
Jacques Emmanuel Blanchet, head of HSBC Commercial Banking, said: ‘Out of recessions come new trends and this report crystallises how adaptable entrepreneurs and small businesses are shaping a new business landscape that British business is set to follow.
‘The emergence of two new super cities and business specialisms developing across every region of the UK demonstrate the breadth of business ambition and advances being made. The industries identified as the driving force of the new British business landscape enable us to understand not just what the future may look like, but what is happening today to shape that future.’
Obviously, Vistage Scotland members won’t need to be involved in renewable energy or manufacturing to benefit from the survey. Some of the key themes of the survey (recession marks a period of transformation for the British business landscape; downturn acts as a catalyst for growth for entrepreneurs and small business; the interconnected world drives new ways of working) will already be familiar to members who have attended Vistage speaker events. That said, it still makes for fascinating reading.
Links:
Future of Business 2011:
the report’s 2009 predecessor:
http://www.100thoughts.hsbc.co.uk/downloads/HSBC-future-of-business-report.pdf
