In today's business briefing, Simon and Robyn discuss plans for a hotel next to Everton's new stadium, an X Factor star calling for industry reforms and a special interview with the new innovation secretary.
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00:00Everton Football Club gets a new neighbour, an X Factor star calls for
00:05industry reforms, and we have a special interview with the new Innovation
00:09Secretary. That's what's coming up in today's Daily Business Briefing.
00:19Hi, I'm Simon Keegan. And I'm Robin Hewson. So Robin, I have to admit I was a
00:25little bit jealous of you the other week because you got to go to my favourite
00:28hotel, the Titanic in Liverpool, didn't you, and do the Liverpool Property Awards.
00:33But again, all that area is quite an interesting part of Liverpool, isn't it,
00:38along the Dock Road, because there's always new stuff happening. So what's
00:43happening there just now? Yeah, I mean we did our breakfast there a few months back
00:48at the Liverpool Waterfront and something that came out of that as a really key
00:51project there is Everton's new stadium at Bramley Moor Dock. And you can
00:55literally see it progressing out of the window when you stay at the Titanic,
00:58which is nice. So the latest plans are for a hotel right next to the stadium.
01:02It's going to have spa facilities, things like that, 80 rooms, so plans are
01:07coming along for that. So the site comprises a vacant piece of land and a
01:10Grade 2 listed former mill, which will be converted as part of the development.
01:14So the scheme went before Liverpool's Planning Committee this week and it
01:19received a positive recommendation, so it looks like that's going to be
01:22going ahead. So yeah, somewhere for the football fans to stay. Brilliant, yeah.
01:26I think it's really interesting now with the Titanic Hotel and also with
01:29Everton's football stadium, they've tried to keep that sort of character of those
01:33old dock warehouses, but still obviously they're still really nice
01:38aren't they? So it'll be interesting to see what they do with this hotel and of
01:42course who ends up operating the hotel as well. I think that's something we'll
01:47be keeping an eye on. Definitely. So what's been your top story today?
01:51Well for me, I spoke to a former X Factor star called Katie Waissell.
01:56Oh yeah, I think I remember her. I remember her, she was really good actually.
02:00And she was speaking about the recent death of a good friend of hers, Liam Payne,
02:06from One Direction. They were on X Factor together on the same series and
02:12obviously they bonded over that. But nowadays, Katie runs a company
02:19called OWHL, which is all about championing reforms for that sector, for
02:28the entertainment and creative sector. And she's, after obviously the sad death
02:34of Liam, she's spoken out about the need for there to be greater support. I think
02:40particularly to young artists, I mean she's been through it, she knew what it
02:44was like to get kind of fame at such a young age. But then I think anytime
02:50you're in a position where somebody gets that quick fame, there also needs to be a
02:56duty of care to look after them. So that's what Katie's, you can read about
03:01that story, that's what Katie is working on. And she's looking to get a funding
03:07round so that she can grow the company and so that she can champion that.
03:12So we're now going to go to our Midlands editor, Kurt Jacobs, who is attending
03:17Birmingham Tech Week and he's got a very special interview with us. This is with
03:22the new Science and Innovation Secretary, Peter Kyle, who I haven't heard talk much
03:29since the new government. So they're going to be talking about the need to
03:34attract more investment outside of London, so not just of interest to our
03:39Midlands readers this one, and what would it take to convince these big
03:45investors in Silicon Valley to send their money this way. So Kurt, over to you.
03:51So tell me about how you're going to get more investment in tech, particularly
03:56international investment, from outside of London to the regions. Well the first
04:01thing to say about the West Midlands is you have the best thing to sell in the
04:06first place, and that is talent. It is innovation that's being spun out, it's
04:12being upscaled, it's being recognised. And you have these clusters, these groups of
04:17organisations from investors to the regional authority through to
04:22universities, companies, all working together in really steadfast ways. That
04:27makes it a really easy sell. So I don't want to make out that you need somebody
04:31to go out there and be a great salesman, because good sales relies on great
04:36product, and here in the West Midlands you have so much which is attractive. But
04:41we are in an environment where there are parts of the country that are hugely
04:45attractive to outside investors, simply because it's easy to understand. It means
04:50that we as a government need to make sure that we fully exploit everything
04:55you have and you're achieving here, and get it onto everybody's radar. These
04:59things aren't always easy. What we're doing is making sure when it comes to
05:02planning for example, that locally, you know, your regional mayor will have the
05:06ability to shape communities and make sure that the planning reflects the
05:09priorities you have, so he can shape the economy. Once that starts happening of
05:13course it becomes easier to invest. That in central government, when we are in
05:17these negotiations with global companies about investment, that we're always here
05:21to ensure that the talents you have here, the opportunities you have in different
05:26parts of the country, are fully recognised. And we'll do everything we
05:29can do to make sure that those investors come to parts of the country like the
05:34West Midlands and see all the great activity that's happening here.
05:36You've mentioned inward investments and so forth, but how are you going to
05:40encourage at a lower level? Because one of the challenges we've got is lots of
05:44innovation, but moving from start-up to scale-up has been a real challenge. We've
05:48only got two unicorns in this part of the world and I think we need more. How are you going to
05:52help the base level?
05:54We are an under-capitalised economy right now when it comes to investment. So we've
05:58already started the review, led by Emma Reynolds in government, to try and
06:02unlock the pensions capital, which is being pent up at the moment. The US and
06:07other countries are very good at taking these big investment pots and making it
06:12more investment ready for different parts of the economy. We need to learn
06:16from that experience, always make sure that pensions are cast iron and
06:21they are there to do their core business. But they are big, big sources of
06:25potential capital that we need to put to work for our economy to get growth into
06:28it and make sure that all parts of the country benefit from it. And that's just
06:31one thing that we're doing, to try and get more capital into the economy so
06:36that investors, whether institutional investors or private investors, can have
06:40far more access to bits of the country like this, so that where there is an
06:44innovation, they are spun out, that they don't have to go to the US or other
06:48countries to fully exploit their potential as a business. They can have
06:51that realised here with domestic investment as well.
06:54Last question, this is Jim, the last one. Tell me more about that question you put to potential investors.
06:59What's it going to take you to invest 10 billion in the UK? What are the three issues you say they keep raising?
07:04So I've been around, you know, when I go around the world asking about
07:08investors here, I ask this question about what it would take for another 10
07:10billion. One of the things is the price of electricity and also they want
07:14sustainable electricity because all these companies like Google and
07:17Microsoft and others, they have their own global commitments as well to
07:21sustainable electricity. Planning is a big issue, they're not going to invest a
07:24lot of money if it's going to take 10 years before to get through planning and
07:27actually have connection to the grid. And then regulation, they want to know
07:30that innovation is going to get through the regulatory landscape swiftly so they
07:35can start commercialising it, upscaling it and investing in it. These are the
07:39things that speak to a dynamic economy, a dynamic society, a dynamic government
07:44that we aspire to be. We've been working on it incredibly hard. All of these
07:48things we've spoken about, our government is already actioning in the first three
07:51months of the government. That's why last week you saw this investment summit
07:55where ÂŁ63 billion was committed to our economy simply because we're
08:00answering those key questions that were always put to us in opposition. We're now
08:04showing with action from government and it's unlocking investment that we need.
08:07Well some really interesting stuff there from Kurt. Really, really good interview.
08:11So if you want to hear more about any of the stories that we've
08:14mentioned today, you can go to our website insidermedia.com and give us a
08:18follow on social media as well. See you next time.
08:25you