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John Read, Arup: What does Nottingham need to do better to retain and enhance its reputation as a premier regional shopping destination, cultural centre and great place to live and work?

Helen Sisson On the product side we need to realise our potential by getting our retail sites up and running, schemes such as Broadmarsh. When that happens we can compete with our regional counterparts. It’s time for joined-up thinking and for people to work together to promote the city. We are still in top ten retail rankings and we’ve still got a great offer. From my point of view we are trying to promote the unique selling points of the city.

John Nicholls The Highcross development in Leicester is a bit of a beacon for what can be achieved. Contrast that with Broadmarsh, which, frankly, is a dismal experience and Nottingham has some catching up to do. The good news is that Broadmarsh is one of only two centres where Westfield is going ahead with land assembly and pre-development work. The range of Nottingham’s cultural offer is pretty vigorous and that is an important element of regeneration. The competition in the region and beyond is getting its act together in terms of public private vehicles.

Steve Green If we are going to develop the city we have to develop the infrastructure. For Nottingham to become a premier destination we have to make hard decisions about how transport works and how we deal with people’s security. From outside there is a positive view of the city. They see the great places to live and the entertainment options. They see the quality of life. The two areas where people have reservations are whether their children will get a good education and crime.

Julian Healey I’ve been shocked by Derby’s ability to market itself. I’m not convinced Nottingham is doing anything like that. The point about having good schools and a secure environment is important. Unfortunately, the reputation of Nottingham is not that brilliant. I often get asked the question about the city’s crime rate. That has to be addressed seriously.

Ian Leech, Axon Resourcing: Does Nottingham and the East Midlands as a whole feel that it plays second fiddle to cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds?

Nicholls In terms of economic development there is a critical mass in some of the other cities you mention, which makes them more powerful magnets. In terms of the quality of life, the cultural offering and diversity and the impact of the recession, the East Midlands has done better than some other regions. I’m not sure it is playing second fiddle. I wouldn’t have thought that Nottingham was badly placed, not in terms of universities and the science base in the city. It has selling points it can play on.

Healey Cities such as Leeds have grown tremendously over the past ten years and changed the way they operate. Leeds has focused on being a service centre. Having said that, there is more vacant office space in Leeds than anything. Nottingham is a lot more stable. But the situation is completely different in Birmingham. It is the second-largest city and has a different set of dynamics. Nottingham, in my view, will always play second fiddle to Birmingham.

Sisson When you compare Nottingham on a business tourism level with other cities such as Newcastle, Gateshead, Liverpool, Cardiff and Belfast it is different. We are sixth in the league table of desirable cities for conferences. That, to me, shows that Nottingham’s conference offer is appealing.

Green From a business point of view we measure the veracity of the question by whether we are losing business to other cities. Quite frankly, we are not. We are able to make credible bids to win business in other cities. You can set up businesses with a national footprint from here.

Insider: How important is future regeneration to this city?

Nicholls Extremely important. Regeneration needs to be focused, have a purpose and be prioritised. It needs to reinforce and diversify the employment base in the city. To my mind it needs to reinforce the growth sectors in Nottingham’s economy, particularly in the science sector. The other area that is important is around the railway station. Recession is an opportunity to assemble sites and be ready to take advantage of opportunities when the uplift comes.

Healey The area around the railway station looks pretty poor. There is a lot of scope for regeneration and we need to exploit that. But people are simply land banking and waiting.

Ian Collinson, Parker & Collinson: Has Nottingham given up on manufacturing?

Green I think the answer is no but manufacturing looks different now. The big industries have largely gone and work is now done on a much smaller scale, focused on particular niche markets.

Insider: Is there a danger of putting too much emphasis on niche sectors such as biotech?

Green Having the good idea is very much alive. But after the companies have that good idea they seem to be outsourcing the low-value work abroad and then doing the finishing, high-value-added stuff here. They can add the Made in Britain stamp to it. Maybe that’s what manufacturing is going to look like in the future.

Healey I don’t think Nottingham has given up on manufacturing in terms of the innovative approach but in terms of manufacturing where thousands of widgets are pushed out, that will not come back. Innovating and added value is the strength of the UK as a whole rather than Nottingham. The science park has been a success. The companies may be niche operators but there will be lots of them.

Insider: Is the public sector doing enough for local companies in the city?

Nicholls In the regeneration field the sole role of the public sector is to underpin private sector investment. In a wider sense there are a range of agencies but a singular lack of coordination. For example, there is precious little tie-up between physical regeneration and the skills and training sector. There needs to be greater joining up between different public sector bodies.

Insider: Should local public sector organisations and universities attempt to support local businesses by purchasing from them?

Green The police, for example, are audited for value for money. Maybe it’s time to start putting pressure on organisations such as the Audit Commission to start questioning that. Unfortunately we have created a series of boxes in public services that need to be ticked. And sometimes you need to be careful that what you wish for doesn’t come true. I would hate to lose business to Birmingham and Manchester because they were practising a business ethic that said they have to procure locally.

Richard Bonnello, Page Kirk: Will the workplace parking levy reduce Nottingham’s competitiveness?

Sisson It will be a consideration for companies but the city has to raise funds when resources aren’t there. It’s a double-edged sword.

Healey It’s a sensitive subject as far as occupiers are concerned. Occupiers are selfish like us all. They want to park their cars close to their office, shop or warehouse. As demand increases for car parking the pressure is on to move occupiers to out-of-city locations but that does little to encourage those people to spend money in the city centre. It also has an impact on recruitment. The general view is that it will affect take-up and relocation.

Nicholls Whether you think it’s good or not, it’s likely to happen. What is important is that the gains are invested in public transport.

Green If we want evidence that Nottingham is taking the lead in the region, this debate is good evidence of that. If we want to develop as a city we have to invest in infrastructure and make hard choices about that.