Thames Valley Forum launched a Green Paper in July 2020 setting out the key challenges for the regional economy in the future, and recommendations for turning those into opportunities.
The report can be found at the bottom of this page along with a short video setting out the content of the Green Paper.
The report is designed to aid conversations about the key issues facing the region, particularly in light of Covid-19. It provides a framework for matching up the impact of the crisis with future growth areas to provide a way of describing suggested support for different sectors and recommendations.
It is labelled as a Green Paper – this means that the items contained are by no means final and are designed to stimulate discussion. The Green Paper outlines that:
- We are at a pivot point, largely due to Covid-19, which has created a break between work, place and economy. Many office based functions are likely to remain performed from home, with large corporate offices reducing substantially in size
- The region needs genuine place based centres of excellence focused on future growth sectors to ensure a prosperous economic future
- The Thames Valley does benefit from many such centres and has particular place based strengths for Life Sciences and Tech in Oxfordshire. The wider region has such an offering for Advanced Engineering, Creative, Data Centres, Green Tech, and Logistics
- However, the region’s challenge is to retain and grow its Tech, Telecoms and Life Sciences sector in the areas where they have been office based functions, often around the M4 and M3 corridors. There needs to be more of a place based offering for these companies to retain these sectors, which have always been an historic strength
- The region has the ability to action many of the recommendations in the Green Paper around improving the offering for Green, Tech and Life Sciences. This can be achieved by re-using space to create innovation centres, encouraging collaboration between start-ups and corporates, and between business, academia and the public sector; better connecting the towns of the Thames Valley; and creating hubs for co-working near to where people live
- Thames Valley Forum will take forward this discussion with all stakeholders and policymakers in the community and start to scope out the next steps in the recommendations.
Please do get in touch with any views on the Green Paper and if you would like to discuss opportunities for working together on the next steps.
Partnership
Contact ian@thamesvalleyforum.org for a further discussion on Thames Valley Future including partnership.
thamesvalleyforum.org 