Cadishead job's crisis

Another excellent article from Salford Star revealing the immediate impact of the recession on local people - namely redundancy and job losses - with Cadishead experiencing a major hike in unemployment. Although projects such as Media City raise the profile of Salford, the reality is that this development and Salford Quays in general, has had little impact on the fortunes of local people, an island of regeneration in a sea of deprivation.

Irlam and Cadishead Community Festival

This annual Irlam and Cadishead Community Festival aka The Irlam Show takes place this August Bank Holiday weekend.  In a return to tradition, the show will take place over two days - Sunday and Monday.  Over recent, the struggle to fund the festival had seen it reduced in overall scale and to just one day.  This year marks the 60th Anniversary of the event.  There are three main events:

• Sunday 27th August - Picnic in the Park featuring live music between 2-8pm
• Monday 28th August - Diamond Day- including an array of entertainment from 12.30 to 4.30
• Monday 28th August - Diamonds Are Forever fireworks show from 9pm

Silcocks Fair will be open all day both Sunday and Monday.

Double Dip

Sure signals of a double dip recession occurring as local people are set to lose their jobs at Ingersoll Rand who operate a security technology business in Irlam. The corporation is massive, real global player with 40,000 employees worldwide and a business worth £11billion, although their Irlam plant is very small. I guess the irony is that security needs tend to increase as people lose their jobs, with a clear statistical relationship between rises in unemployment and increased property crime.

Section 27 follow up

To follow up the incident in 2008 in which Stoke City fans were served with a Section 27 order whilst innocently drinking in the Railway Pub, the police have finally admitted they were in the wrong. The orders were served illegally and the rights of UK citizens were breached. GMP have now paid out £185,000 to the fans involved, some of whom were escorted to Stoke even though they lived in Manchester.

Baby Deli & Junior Deli

Baby Deli is an Irlam based company supplying specialist baby-food products for the more discerning parent and restaurant. A local success story in the sense that their business has expanded this year to include two new restaurants, Baby Deli, perhaps might also be considered as a prime example of niche marketing. The theory goes that in a Post-Fordist and global world, there will be ever-expanding opportunities for small suppliers to occupy niche positions where outputs are too small for larger companies to operate profitably. This leaves markets gaps for small operators like Baby Deli. I guess the danger is that many small companies who do this well eventually come to the attention of larger suppliers, and become subject to buy-outs or takeovers. The now defunct DTI estimated in the 1990s that almost 80% of British SME's (small to medium sized enterprises) have lifespans of less than 5 years - some fail, but many are simply bought out to become parter of much larger enterprises.

Toxic Waste Processing Award

CSG Lanstar - polluting the air of Cadishead for many decades is up for an award for innovation.

Zero Sum Gains in regional development

A major criticism of regional inward investment strategies is that public money simply gets diverted to unelected regional development agencies who spend the cash competing against each other to attract companies to move into their boundaries.  Sometimes this has been done in a quite underhanded or corrupt manner.  For example, see the antics of the Welsh Development Agency in the 1990s who simply went around the country poaching companies from other places by convincing them to move to Wales by offering a ridiculous level of grants or tax breaks.

Whether any national interest is being served here is questionable.  Whereas there is some value in relocating jobs from growth regions to places which lack local employment opportunities, there seems to be little logic in companies moving from one declining region to another.  So news that a recycling company is moving to Irlam, bringing 30 skilled jobs, is obviously good news for local people and businesses.  The reasons for doing this maybe perfectly legitimate, for example, to access lower cost premises, skilled workers etc.

But Irlam's gain is the West Midlands' loss.  In national terms this is a zero sum gain.  No new jobs or investment are created, there are simply moved around the country.  In fact evidence from other company relocations suggests that when companies do relocate they often rationalise their business in the process, resulting in job losses not gains.

From the perspective of Regional Development Agencies, inward investment is an easy option, a quick fix and short term way of fixing the employment crisis in their area.  It is much easier to 'create' jobs in this way, than for example, working with indigenous companies to build their skill capacity and promote local in-situ growth over time.   Evidence suggests that companies who develop in this way or more likely to become embedded in the local economy and therefore much less likely to move on if they receive a better offer from another region.

Another concern is that companies who move in are much more likely to move out again compared to embedded firms.  Often many inward movers move on again within five years.  Global corporations, such as Nike, have this locationally built-in to their business model, to enable to move free across national boundaries extracting the  best surpluses they can get from what are otherwise poor national governments.  Other companies also use locationally flexibility to threaten government, to extract benefits simply to remain in the same place.

With the recent change of government the future of regional development agencies is being brought into question.  Is there a better model of promoting local economic development without recourse to needless and vicious spiral of place competition for mobile investment?

Coalition confirms plans to abolish regional spatial strategies - Regen Daily Bulletin - Regen.net

The much derided Regional Spatial Strategy is to disappear courtesy of the Con-Dem coalition. Hopefully this will mean Salford is no longer committed to building a ludicrous 10,000 new properties within its boundaries. A temporary reprieve for Salford's Green Belt, then? Perhaps, but now Salford City Council will have to deal with the might of Peel Holdings by itself.

Coalition confirms plans to abolish regional spatial strategies - Regen Daily Bulletin - Regen.net

Transport plans to be scrapped

Plans to improve Irlam Station announced prior to the election, identified as one of the most unsafe, least accessible stations in the county, now look likely to be scrapped after the election. Hmmm?

Local Election Results

Cadishead ward

Candidate	Party	Votes cast
CARR, Jennifer	Liberal Democrats	679
HUDSON, Christine	Labour Party	2,014
KELLY, Tony	Conservative Party	1,267
WARD, Colin	British National Party	346

• Elected: HUDSON, Christine (Labour)
• Electorate: 7,614
• Votes cast: 4,334
• Turnout: 56.9%
• Majority: 747
• Void votes: 28

Multisol Group and the Nomads of the Global Economy

Multisol (Irlam)

Multisol are head-quartered in Nantwich but have a small presence in Irlam.  Essentially they distribute chemical, lubricants and solvents to an international market.  The company also has offices in Spain, France and South Africa.  This profitable business generates around £113m sales and employs 120 people. 

Nomads of the Global Economy

It might not come as much as a surprise to regular readers of this blog, that the ownership of Multisol is  opaque, rendering the question of where its business is exactly located (See: Cadishead in Space, 24.8.08).  Resorting to binary geographies of global v local simply doesn't provide us with adequate theoretical tools to explain the complex geography of the firm in contemporary times.  Multisol is local, regional, national and global at the same time.

In 2008 the company was bought out by its own management team, even though the previous owners continue to hold a stake in Multisol.  The deal was rushed through to avoid the impact of changes to the Capital Gains Tax rules.  The move was facilitated by KBC Capital - a vision of KBC Bank NV (in other words they stumped up the necessary loan to enable the buyout to take place).  KBC Bank NV are actually based in Antwerp Belgium, which is in itself a subsidiary of the Belgium KBC Group.  Perhaps the bank is not too well known in the UK, but it is actually one of the largest in Europe.  

If Wikipedia is to be believed then the history of this bank can be traced back to 1889 with the foundation of the Catholic Volksbank van Leuven.  Perhaps not enough is understood how global companies with humble beginnings diffuse particular cultural practices across the world as they expand.  Whereas there is always something distinctly American about KFC or McDonalds, there appears to be something distinctly Flemish about KBC.  In 1935 KBC merged with two other banks to form the Belgian Kredietbank - which under the leadership of Fernand Collin, aimed to define a Flemish postwar economic recovery.

The Manchester Evening News recently reported there were plans afoot to float Multisol on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM).  This was news to me, an alternative self-regulating stock market, which runs in parallel to the Stock Market we love and loathe!  Companies floated on this alternative market are advised by a Nominated Adviser or Nomads, according to their jargon.  This figure of a nomadic financial advisor perhaps personifies the liquid and mobile qualities of the global market place, a world in which the notion of place has little fixed meaning, a figure left drifting on streams of financial data and investment flows, like a dull accountancy version of the Matrix.

Sources:

http://www.mmparch.co.uk/case_office_and_warehouse.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KBC_Bank

http://www.multisolgroup.com/

Multisol Group is set to take AIM - Manchester Evening News

http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/article/20100422/FREE/100429954/-1/breaking

Blooming regeneration

Plans are afoot to assist retailers on Liverpool Road to improve their store fronts. Whilst this initiative is only to be welcomed one wonders about the broader context which has seen the collapse of independent retailing in Irlam, Cadishead and Eccles. Each of these places were once retail destinations in their own right, but are now littered with cheap booze shops, charity shops take-aways and empty properties - all signals of long term retail decline.

At the same time there is pent up demand to find space on the high street, from small producers, creative businesses, restaurants and cafes, plus demand for living space above shops, as a source of cheap housing.

Putting two and two together however seems to be beyond the remit of powerful landowners and local government.

The key reason why so many shops have disappeared from the high street is the growth of hugh superstores, like Tesco, and out-of-town shopping malls, like the Trafford Centre.

These businesses act like retail vacuums, in the sense that they suck up as much retail trade as possible, whilst creating a business environment which makes it impossible for even niche businesses to compete.

Another fundamental problem is that Liverpool Road remains - in the main - a no parking zone. Parking restrictions that were put in place decades ago to assist traffic flow along what used to be main road in Manchester, are no longer relevant. However, the yellow lines remain in place. And so passing trade passes by.

Retail, however, rarely figures in the urban regeneration policy. In fact for decades it has been deliberately left out of urban renewal initiatives from the local to the European level. Policy makers assume that if they can sort out socio-economic problems then the retail growth will automatically follow. This is a flawed logic. It ignores how retailing can contribute to job creation and generate local sources of wealth through the growth of independent businesses on the high street. Independent retailing needs to be protected, otherwise huge retail chains move in and suck out the profit.

To improve Liverpool Road - this is what really needs to be done:

1. Stronger planning to restrict growth of superstores

2. A withdrawal of excessive regulation of parking in declining retail areas

3. Deregulation of land use restrictions to enable the conversion of shops into alternative uses

4. Crackdown on absentee landlords who allow properties to fall into disrepair.

5. Shifting public services to empty high street locations

6. Environmental improvements to hard and soft landscaping

7. Improved public lighting schemes

8. Introduction of alternative traffic control measures which don't involve additional regulation.

9. Rent-caps to protect the supply of cheap property for low margin businesses like creative producers and artists.

Nominated Candidates for Election in Irlam and Cadishead 2010

Nominated Candidates for Election in Cadishead

Christine Hudson (Labour)
Tony Kelly (Conservative)
Jennifer Carr (Liberal Democrat)
Colin Ward (BNP)

Nominated Candidates for Election in Irlam
Roger Jones (Labour and Co-operative Party)
Mark Armstrong (Independent)
Chris Bates (Conservative)
Katriona Middleton (Liberal Democrats)

Analysis of Regional Spatial Strategy Housing Targets for Salford

Analysis of the North West of England Plan: Regional Spatial Strategy 2010 for Salford

Published by the Government Office of the North West. 2008. 

Regional Overview

The North West regional housing target is 416,000 new units. The region's population is approx  6.7million (Census, 2001).  The North West is an area of 5469 square miles (14,165km2).  On average the region is expected to build 76 new homes for every square mile.

Each local authority within the region is set allocation of this broader target.  Clearly some authorities are bigger than others in terms of area and population.  So Manchester, for example, is expected to provide 15% of the 416,000 units - around 62,000 new homes, which will be quite of challenge given that Manchester is already relatively built up and has little space in which to expand.

But what are the implications for Salford?

 

Table 1: Greater Manchester Housing Targets

 

Local authority	Housing target as % of NW total	No. of units (000s)	Population (000s)	% of NW Population
Manchester	15	62.4	393	5
Salford	7	28.8	216	3
Wigan	4	16.0	301	4
Bolton	3	12.0	261	3
Tameside	3	12.0	213	3
Trafford	3	12.0	210	3
Bury	2	8.0	181	2
Rochdale	2	8.0	205	3
Stockport	2	8.0	285	4
Oldham	1	4.0	217	3

Table 1 shows the housing targets identified in the Regional Spatial Strategy for Greater Manchester.  The data is ranked according to size of the targets.  Salford is ranked 2nd after Manchester, as the city is expected to provide 7% new units to be constructed in the North West.  This equates to 28,800 new properties to be constructed within Salford's boundaries.  In other words – Salford with just 3% of the region's population plans to build 7% of the region's houses!

Several important questions emerge from this:

1. What is the justification of this whopping target?  Comparable local authorities have been allocated much lower targets.  Oldham, for example, has almost an identical population, but its target is just 4000.   So why is Salford required to build over 24,000 more new homes than Oldham?
   
   
2. Where are these homes to be built in Salford?  Salford is an area of just 37.5 sq miles.  To meet its target Salford will need to provide 768 homes per square mile.   However,  Chat Moss takes up 10.6 sq miles, almost a third of the city's area.  If we take this out of the equation, then Salford will need to build 1071 homes per square.  This is probably not  feasible, and hence the pressure to release green fields for development.

 

But, the stated policy is to concentrate new housing in the inner city on empty brownfield sites or redeveloping existing houses.  The regional strategy asks local government not to convert open space or green space: 

 

“Manchester / Salford and Liverpool / Knowsley – provision of sufficient new residential development to support the role of the Regional Centres and inner city areas, including those parts involved in the Government’s Housing Market Renewal Programme’s Pathfinder Initiative (including replacement and renewal of housing stock), as priority areas for economic growth and regeneration. Outside the inner city areas, development should be complementary to the regeneration of the inner core, and be focused on regenerating existing housing areas which suffer from high levels of deprivation” (emphasis added). Section 7.18. Part a. Page 63.

But if Salford is meet its target, inevitably this will put undue pressure on the release of green belt land for housing development.  This is preferred option of private sector developers, who in the most part oare unwilling to risk the expense of converting brownfield sites into habitable land.  Its much cheaper and profitable to build new homes in empty fields.

 

Where next?

• We need an explanation and justification of the 28,800 target figure?  Given the demographic trends of the region and the city, I would suggest the target for Salford needs to be a lot lower to bring it into comparison with similar local authorities.
  
  
• Why are there planing applications already going in to construct houses on green fields, when there is an abundance of empty land and empty existing properties within the city?  A thorough survey of the existing housing stock and availability of brownfield sites for housing development either needs to be completed or made public before any construction begins on greenbelt, farmland or unmanaged open space.  
  
  

I would love to see this data, because I suspect what it will show is that there 100s acres of suitable space within the city available for new housing which is currently lying empty because of unscrupulous private landlords just sitting on the land or through failed property developers, victims of the credit crunch.  I also suspect such a survey will show that the city suffers from a massive under-occupancy problem.  Salford has an ageing population, with many large family homes occupied by single people or couples.  And many new apartments in central Salford, like Manchester, are currently empty - as much as 40%.  Essentially the private sector has built the wrong type of housing and in the wrong type of area and nobody wants to live in their tiny expensive flats.  What is needed is stronger policies to construct family housing in inner city areas like Blackfriars, Chapel Street, Seedley and Langworthy.  But hey ho, we have just witnessed the demolition of hundreds of terraced houses in these areas.

Author: Steve Millington 8th April 2010

Contact: s.millington@mmu.ac.uk

Links

Communities.gov

Government Office for the North West

Drawing the battle grounds

Here is a link to a page which explains the boundary changes which affect Irlam and Cadishead for the General Election on May 6th. These changes probably enhance the chances of a Conservative being returned for this area for the first time, especially if the turnout is below 60%. History suggests that most non-voters would probably favour Labour - so if turnout is over 70% we can expect a swing back to Labour.

Of course the imponderables are Labours' national record - and their relatively new candidate Barbara Keeley.

There are four candidates:

Richard Gadsden, Liberal Democrat

Barbara Keeley, Labour

Ian Lindley, Conservative

Paul Whitelegg, English Democrat

I guess the unknown here is Paul Whitelegg. This party was established as an English equivalent of the SNP or Plaid Cymru, demanding a separate English Parliament, and return to the political conditions of middle ages. They also seek a withdrawal from the EU (where 80% of our international trade is) and return to the virtually defunct European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Despite claims distancing themselves from the Far Right, the party hold robust views about immigration - claiming they support the "wishes of the English people". I have strong misgivings about any political party making claims about Englishness, Scottishness or whatever. Ultimately such politicians are attempting to fix and essentialise something which is by definition fluid and dynamic and beyond a fixed definition.

Source: Worsley and Eccles - politics.co.uk