Graham Henderson talks Council's Draft EcDev Strategy & How it Connects to London's Downtown

Graham Henderson is joining us today to talk about a draft economic development strategy that has been developed by Deloitte and is moving through the council review and approval process, right now. The draft strategy includes 5 pillars” 1. Talent and Innovation 2. Investment Attraction and Retention 3. Regional Collaboration 4. Transportation and Access 5. System Optimization Naturally, Graham and the London Chamber of Commerce, along with other community partners, have been supporting the development of this strategy throughout the process. He’s been at the table and he and his team have been involved in the community engagement discussions - during this time, he picked up on a theme - “fix the downtown” came up again and again, no matter who he and his colleagues connected with. At the same time that this strategy is being developed, City Council is also developing a new plan for London’s Downtown. Graham sees potential synergies between the two initiatives and he’s submitted a letter and will be a delegate at a council committee meeting where he will request that council make a small “tweak” to the draft strategy, specifically - adding an additional round of targeted community consultation as well as adding a Pillar to the strategy that speaks directly about London’s Downtown: including a strong reference to London being a Unesco City of Music and identifying how a focus on Culture & Creative industries are significant potential economic drivers for London’s economy. Thanks for listening!