British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC)’s Post

☀🤝 We're proud to launch our new report — True North: defining Northern ambition. This highlights the challenges that exist within the Northern economy and explores practical solutions. It's the culmination of insights we gleaned from hosting events with local leaders across the North in Lancashire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield. Each focussed on just some of the Northern organisations and people delivering positive change around four core areas: skills, sustainability, society and innovation. Our report offers the perspectives of local leaders about the challenges we face, the opportunities in front of us and the role of business in driving progress for a brighter and greener future. 👇 Download the full report below 👇   We're also officially launching the True North network. If you're a like-minded organisation, committed to collaboration and supporting the future of the North, we want you to join us. Sign up to join our network and be among the first to hear about future events, insights and opportunities. ➡ Join the True North network: https://lnkd.in/edQb9Ws3 #BrabnersTrueNorth

If you are not using Resilient Futures yet you should definitely get in touch with them and see how they can evolve your strategy and organisation in these times of disruption.

🤝 Sky-high CEO Networking and insights at Varso Tower 🌃 Really enjoyed this event by CMS and British Polish Chamber of Commerce (BPCC). „Leaders in a complex world: how to adapt, how to navigate, how to succeed” with panel moderated by Andrzej Pośniak, Managing Partner in CMS: 👉 Anna Clunes - UK Ambassador to Poland 👉 Agnieszka Kłos- Siddiqui - CEO of Provident 👉 Elzbieta Cichonska - CEO of Arup 👉 Dariusz Kucharski - CEO of HSBC 👉 Bogdan Kucharski - CEO of BP Common conclusions include cautious optimism for 2024 with a number of focus points for business and the government to work on. What I took away: ⭕️ Stability, predictability of law is key for existing and new business. The complexity of regulations has increesed significantly in the last years, the legislative process has shortened with less time for consultaions, vacatio legis was cut down as well - time to reverse the trend ⭕️ In essence, we are all on the same side. We as businesses, the society at large and governments want the same thing: safer, more affluent societies were we can develop and thrive ⭕️ We need to think about the greater good in a longer perspective. There are key investments that need to be made over decades, regardless of who will be in power at a given point. This needs to be our North Star ⭕️ Some ESG topics need to be a revolutionary evolution: the overall energy market is still based on 1/4 coal, 1/4 crude, 1/4 gas and 1/4 low carbon sources. We can’t make a shift to low carbon overnight ⭕️ Circular economy is one of the ways forward. Interesting example by Arup of a circular buildings toolkit to decrease material waste and increase sustainability ⭕️ More green investments are under way. The understating of ESG topics by large caps is high, smaller organizations still on a learning curve. Investment overall will be driven but focus on sustainability ⭕️ The battle for talent continues with a lot of competition on the market. Not only recruitment but also retention is king. The cost of hiring someone, training them and having them leave too early is very high. A welcoming corporate culture allowing for authenticity and self-realization is a great attractor Thanks to Andrzej and CMS for hosting. Very good networking with more than 40 CEOs and good to speak to everyone. Aneta Jozwicka, Jen Tyldesley, Pawel Bandurski, Pawel Bajorek, Piotr Kuberka, Kamil Majczak, Marek Matraszek, Nick Lakin, Michał Obiegała, Pawel Swietochowski, Michal Slawski, FCCA, Pawel Siwecki, MBA, Michal Dembinski, Tomasz Prus and others

THE FUTURE OF PLACE Over the past two days, I've been privileged enough to contribute to some really thought-provoking discussions in the future of place during the International Downtown Association's World Towns Leadership Summit. Roundtable sessions mixed with high level presentations both in London and Manchester have thrown up some very interesting topics that a global place management community has to confront head on. Jessica Lappin gave fascinating insight into the loss of office space in one of the World's most iconic business district's.... Lower Manhattan. We heard how New York adapted in terms of the reuse of that office space to residential and how it's culminated in changing dymanics of the city over the years. Great presentation from Mark Williams and Anna Mansfield for the Heart of London Business Alliance on the proactive development of a night time strategy for one of the world's most iconic leisure and entertainment destinations in London's West End. Delighted with the contribution of Sophie Alexander-Parker who sparked a serious debate about how we engage with communities given the stakeholders that urban centres serve are evolving because of the changes in demand for commercial space. Her insight into the work of Ipswich Central changed the nature of the conversation. In Manchester was an in-depth discussion led by Paul Levy, Alexandra King-Byatt and Phil Schulze on the evolution of modern industrial cities and the services needed for them to remain relevant and vital. Paul Levy went into detail on the importance of density and flexibility in use and Alexandra King-Byatt and Phil Schulze discussed the broad range of excellent work in Manchester across CityCo & Manchester BIDs to deliver for a myriad of stakeholders from influential property investors to businesses, international visitors, city centre residents and even people from more deprived neighbourhoods across the Greater Manchester area. As if that wasn't enough, we moved on to an open debate on what the future of places looks like and where economic, societal and technological trends might take us. AI came up as did the relevance of offices in the modern day economy. Crime, security and ASB were on the agenda as well. So much to take in!

huge well done to everyone involved in what has been achieved up to now.

The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre has stated how the Northern Creative Corridor could bring in an additional £10 billion each year across the region. Last week £10 million of targeted support was announced by the Culture Secretary at WeCreate to enable creative industries to forge ahead with plans to scale their impact. This was a key focal point brought to the table by Helen Barrett during a breakfast discussion we hosted in #Manchester. Gathering various local authorities, public sector bodies and consultants, we delved into the opportunities, challenges and best practice of embedding #culture in our cities. It was uplifting to hear what cities in the north are doing to push the cultural and creative sectors, and how they are supporting each other and collaborating to further this. However, it was clear that there is still a long way to go, and relying on government funding or policy changes is not sufficient. And with other major factors such as transport constraints impacting opportunities, what can we do to see the cultural sector thrive? Some thoughts to take away: 👉 We need to shift from a ‘reactive’ stance to a ‘proactive’ one, engaging various stakeholders and the community through longer-term strategies. 👉 Collaboration is key to becoming a more robust and appealing region, with different cities collectively celebrating each other's successes. 👉 Cities need to engage with the business community and sector leaders to highlight the real value in investing in culture. In conclusion, culture plays a crucial role in the socio-economic prosperity of the country and creative corridors have an important role to play. With support and investment, it can be a real catalyst in uniting people to shape a more promising future for everyone. Many thanks to our chair, Helen and our guests Darren Grice Salford City Council, Martin McKervey Sheffield Property Association, Sarie Mairs Slee, John Owens Design Manchester, Lauren Newbyekosgen, Sheona Southern Marketing Manchester and Eve Avdoulos, PhD #investment #transport #publicsector #socialvalue #cities #regions #levellingup #cityofculture

Cheshire East Council’s leader and deputy leader, councillors Sam Corcoran and Michael Gorman, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram – the ‘Metro Mayors’ of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region – and businesses leaders gathered at Crewe’s Market Hall yesterday under the banner of ‘Connecting Through Crewe’. They discussed how Crewe’s 360-degree connectivity and strategic position puts it at the heart of delivering on the region’s transport ambitions and why the opportunities for the town and its ongoing regeneration remain despite the cancellation of HS2 in the north. Cllr Sam Corcoran said: "Crewe remains at the heart of the UK’s rail network & was at the heart of plans for HS2 in the north. It therefore needs to be at the heart of whatever follows in place of HS2. "We are pleased that the Mayors of Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester have reiterated the need for improved north-south connectivity and that this needs to be via Crewe." Mayor Andy Burnham said: "The North West of England, the place that gave railways to the world, should be the place that expects a modern railway that connects people north-south, and east-west – and that’s what we need to hold firm to and that’s why we are here today. “It is very important that we do this together and that we put forward a vision for the right railway for this part of the world as we go into the rest of the 21st century.” Mayor Rotheram said: "“We need to revisit plans for both north-south and east-west connectivity and have a strategic vision of connected places. “It isn’t just about connecting towns, and it’s not just about connecting people, or allowing people to go and see wonderful places – it’s about connecting people to opportunities. “We should not accept a second-class transport system.” https://lnkd.in/ecEvbDHR

A number of good questions were asked yesterday at Committee for Sydney's Benchmarking Sydney event in PwC. One which was asked a few different ways was essentially, "How do successful cities usually achieve meaningful change? Is it a particular crisis or event that propels action, or is it a methodical roadmap?" Dr Tim Moonen's research seemed to indicate the former, or at least a series of landmark projects which galvanise everyone. He gave the example of Sydney's Central Station renovations and the Olympics in various parts of the world. Other well-known examples are the cycling lanes in Paris triggered by Covid, and the rebuilding of Christchurch after the 2011 earthquake. It's easier to achieve change when you've got a clear majority pulling together in the same direction: governments, industry, community, media. Having said that, we needn't lurch from one big expense / crisis / election cycle to the next to implement change. It's not as 'newsworthy' but when all the players are aligned it's a beautiful thing. #placemaking