Swansea: A city on the up!





Swansea: A city on the up!

Andrew Douglas - Swansea BID Manager
I’ve been knocking on doors of businesses in this city for the last 25 years. I worked in welfare to work helping people find jobs and I’ve worked in radio (RIP Swansea Sound/The Wave) before my time with BID. All three jobs involved me walking into businesses and chatting with them about their issues and how I could help.
Now I’m leading the BID, and getting involved with the nitty gritty of Swansea’s development plans, the past 25 years are giving me a unique perspective on how the city has changed for businesses and what changes are still needed.
Swansea is going places. The Times recently listed Swansea as one of best places to invest in Wales, and we’ve been credited with being the 7th fastest growing city in the UK. The developments across the city have been brilliant, and there is still more to come.
Obviously, my focus is very much on the city centre. The arena has been transformational, attracting over 750,000 people to the city since it opened. The Albert Hall and Palace Theatre redevelopment has brought these buildings back into use whilst preserving our heritage.
There’s more to come with 71/72 The Kingsway and Princess quarter finished and about to be occupied. This year we’ll see Y Storfa, the Biophilic building, the Cupid Way car park and retail units finished and open. Along with the completion of the refurbishment of the units on Oxford Street and the top shop unit. Work will begin on Castle Square and the McDonald’s building, too.
It’s a lot, and there is a lot more to come in the city centre and the city as a whole too!
Swansea Council have done an excellent job in securing the funding from the City Deal and, more importantly, private investment, and that’s the key. Council and government money is great but private investors only get involved when they see potential, and they can obviously see loads of it!
So, why is this important to the smaller businesses of Swansea, and in particular Swansea city centre?
Well, we all need to eat. By the end of the year, when all those buildings are finished and open, there will be a minimum of 1000 extra people working in the city centre.
Even if only half of those people wander into the shops for lunch, based on an average spend of £7 a day, that’s an additional £910,000 into the tills of our food businesses. To get to those eateries, they’ll have to walk past record shops, clothes shops, jewellers etc. Footfall in the city will increase, and therefore so will trade.
Swansea is also increasing its city centre residents. Currently, 19% of our population is city centre-based and that is set to increase dramatically. All using local services. Footflow will increase again. Now add in those extra 750,000 that the arena has brought in and will continue to bring in, and the reason for the confidence investors have in our fine city becomes self-evident.
It’s exciting times for the city at the moment, and BID will continue to be involved in giving our city centre businesses a voice in all that is to come. Hang on to your hats, people, it’s going to be an exciting ride!
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