Date: Tue 30th September, 2008
Venue: Celtic Manor Resort, Coldra Woods, The Usk Valley, NP18 1HQ
Number of Guests Attended: 110
Coming the morning after US lawmakers voted down President Bush’s first attempt at a Wall Street bail-out, there was a danger that Insider’s Newport breakfast could be sidelined by international events.
But panellists had done their homework and attempted to gauge the effect of global events on the city by the Usk.
Newport Unlimited chief executive John Burrows admitted the city faced tougher challenges now. “We’re at the point of lift-off while world market conditions deteriorate,” he said. “The banking situation is a problem in Newport, particularly for the city centre retail scheme, Friar’s Walk.”
But he added: “We can’t be too depressed about it. There is also a large amount of development going in Newport already.”
Wesley Clover chief executive Simon Gibson said the city should concentrate on a few key projects: “Things like City Spires that we hoped that would be in place by 2010 are clearly not going to be there. So we have to move to a less ambitious Plan B and see what we can do to make the city an attractive place when the Ryder Cup comes around.”
Gibson had just returned from the Ryder Cup in the US, and had a few insights to share.
“To be honest, I don’t think Newport knows what’s going to hit it in two years time,” he said.
“Some things here are better – the viewing experience on the course and the clubhouse are better than they are at Valhalla. But what you noticed in Kentucky was the engagement of the population. And that’s something you don’t see here, and it worries me.
Chris O’Malley, vice chancellor of the University of Wales, Newport, said some of the city’s problems stemmed from a problem with image which didn’t necessarily reflect the reality.
“When students come here they say that their expericnce is a lot better than there expectation," he said. "So if the reality is already better than the expectation, we have work to do and the Ryder Cup gives us a massive opportunity to do that. The psychological issue is almost as important to the city as the availability of capital.”
Peter James, managing director of building protection company Cintec, called for a move up-market. “We’ve got to rid its image as a fish n’ chip town. Let’s professionalise the city – then we’ll get the kudos Cardiff and Swansea get," he said.
The breakfast was sponsored by Newport Unlimited, the Welsh Assembly Government’s Orb Building and the Celtic Manor Resort.
