Agenda item

Presentation by Kathy McArdle, Chief Operations Officer, Creative Quarter Company (sumbitted following the meeting)

Kathy McArdle, Chief Operating Officer for the Creative Quarter (CQ), delivered a presentation. the Forum noted that Councillor McDonald has been very active in supporting the development of the Creative Quarter.

Kathy McArdle highlighted the following points:

(a)  the Creative Quarter was launched in September 2013 so has only been running for approximately 7 months with the mission 'to make Nottingham a great environment in which enterprise can flourish, to start to grow and sustain a creative and innovative business';

(b)  the four strategic aims are: 

o  enterprise - information hub, website, signposting, property, workforce, finance, inward investment;

o  Ecosystem -connect, co-ordinate, integrate;

o  Energy - a vibrant area, dynamic, a special place; animation, events, digital engagement;

o  exposure - promotion, profile, positioning, reputation;

(c)  The CQ includes an area to the south east of the City incorporating the Lace Market area and Sneinton Market, promoting vintage warehouse buildings and a market culture;

(d)  a 'pop-up' shop next to the Lace Market tram stop has proved very successful during the Christmas shopping period. 40 different businesses traded and exhibited, allowing the opportunity to test their retail offer and attracting 15,000 visitors;

(e)  the 'Hockley Rocks' promotion during November and December proved very successful with live music at shops and restaurants and the header 'Discover Hockley - eat, drink, shop and be entertained';

(f)  many of the independent traders such as 'Wired' café bar, 'Dezigne' 'Pelican Jazz Club' and 'Annie's Burger Shack' are trading very successfully;

(g)  new business rates relief and business support is resulting in a rejuvenation of the CQ area;

(h)  Cobden Chambers is to be refurbished with facility for 9 retail units, the second floor will host independent retail, the third floor will offer furniture and home wares, while the fourth floor will be co-owner space. It is expected that the building will act as a 'retail incubator' for the City and encourage other older buildings to be brought back into use;

(i)  a large scale refurbishment of buildings in rows A-C of Sneinton Market is planned  to help rejuvenate the area. A working group has been established to ensure that the vision focus of the rejuvenation is appropriate and sustainable.

Kathy McArdle responded to Forum members’ questions as follows:

(j)  Sneinton Market area is already full of energy and the high specification refurbishment of the units will allow for scope for creative individuals to adapt the spaces to their needs and expressions so should be attractive to tenants who will continue to improve the area. Negotiations are underway regarding tidying up the existing privately owned shops and the facade of the Pegasus pub;

(k)  there is demand for creative, flexible work space as is proved by the success of the creative 'pop-up' shop;

(l)  A pro-active approach on all fronts, creative marketing of the area, supportive loans and grants to new businesses, and active property management are all essential to the continued success of the CQ.

Forum members made the following comments:

(m)  the Sneinton Market rejuvenation as part of the CQ is welcomed and will be a vast improvement on previous proposals for the area;

(n)  the inspiring achievements so far in the CQ are to be applauded;

(o)  there is still a lot happening and events planned for the future but there is still work to be done in further developing the CQ and maintaining the current momentum;

(p)  Sneinton Market should be a considered a heritage asset of the City, along with the Caves, to attract tourism;

(q)  funding is being sought to provide digital tours of some of the 100 caves beneath the City, specifically those which are not open or accessible to the public. The scheme is similar to the National Gardens Scheme which involves private businesses and proposes to hold 'Nottingham Caves Day/Weekend' involving actual and digital tours of caves;

(r)  the caves are a unique tourist attraction which need to be further promoted, especially as citizens are interested in opening some of the closed cave networks;

(s)  further focus needs to be placed on the heritage and tourist attraction properties of the City as Nottingham has a lot to offer.

Further information on the Creative Quarter can be found at: www.creativequarter.com

RESOLVED

(1)  to note the congratulations of the Forum to everyone who has been and is involved in establishing and developing the Creative Quarter;

(2)  for Councillors David Trimble and Nick McDonald to submit a report to the next meeting outlining the City's Heritage Strategy.