Reading City Centre Enews – July 2007

Reading’s economic success continues

Reading has come top of a table assessing the performance of 56 of the country's largest towns and cities. Bristol, Southampton, Cambridge and York were also in the top five, while Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Liverpool were found to be "lagging behind". Think tank Centre for Cities - currently part of the Institute for Public Policy Research, which measured employment, population and skills to create the table, claimed there is still a north-south divide.

Dermot Finch, director of Centre for Cities, said: "We have "two-track" cities in England. Over the past decade, some have done a lot better than others. Cities like Reading and Cambridge have performed very well, but others like Newcastle and Middlesbrough are lagging behind. Over the next decade, successful cities like Bristol and York will need to maintain their competitive edge and deal with challenges such as congestion, house price inflation and skills shortages. There's a lot more work to do over next decade, to ensure that all our cities succeed." The report follows hot on the heels of Experian's latest Regional Planning Report, which shows Reading outperforming London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow and Manchester in terms of its output growth.

The Centre for Cities report looks across a wide range of existing and new data, in particular the State of the English Cities 2007 Database.

Loddon Bridge Park & Ride

From 9 July a new bus ‘fleet’ will serve Loddon Bridge Park & Ride. The buses will be bright yellow designer styled state of the art 80 seat double decks, providing a 100% increase in seating capacity and more than a 50% reduction in emissions. They will be Reading's first double deck buses to ‘Euro4’ engine standards and are being provided to fulfil the five year contract (for Loddon Bridge) awarded to Goldline, a division of Reading Transport. The parking at Loddon Bridge is provided by agreement with Showcase Cinemas and has been extended by an additional 42 spaces.

There are also new stops on Kings Road to serve Thames Valley University and Royal Berks Hospital, and direct journeys for commuters from Reading to Winnersh Triangle Business Park have been added. Loddon Bridge Park & Ride is open from 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday and from 8am to 7pm on Saturdays. Full details are available from the Travel Centre in Broad St Mall or at: www.reading-travelinfo.co.uk.

Forbury’s Restaurant

The wine list at Forbury’s Restaurant has been recognised by the AA Restaurant Guide 2007-2008 and placed in the top 10 out of 1000 restaurants in the country. The Guide compliments Forbury’s for its wine selection, putting it amongst the top three in Berkshire.

AMEC Developments Ltd

AMEC plc has announced that it has sold, subject to final approvals, AMEC Developments Limited (ADL) to Morgan Sindall plc (MS). MS is a FTSE 250 company with a market capitalization of circa £600m, a national network of offices, over 5,000 employees and a turnover of £1.5 billion.

ADL will continue as a stand-alone business albeit with a separate identity and will continue to focus on large scale, mixed-use, urban regeneration projects. The next stage in the process is to proceed to financial completion and this is anticipated to be complete by the end of July. The new brand for the business will be announced in the near future.

England is now SMOKE FREE

A new law is now in effect to protect employees and members of the public from the harmful effects of ‘second hand’ smoke. From 1 July 2007 virtually all indoor public places and workplaces in England will be smoke free and all businesses will be affected by the new rules. A website is available - www.smokefreeengland.co.uk - for information about the new requirements.

Planning

Prêt A Manger’s application (for its second unit at 60 Broad Street) for a change of use to accommodate an external seating area for street cafe purposes has been refused (May enews refers).

An application has been lodged to install illuminated front and entrance signs, an illuminated directional car park sign, and two non-illuminated detail signs for Maxims Casino at 18 Richfield Avenue.

An application has been lodged to change the use of the second and third floors of 18 Cross Street (ex- Richard Marks menswear) from offices to residential.

Investment & property

18,250 sq ft of London & Cambridge’s new development, ‘bAse 329’, has been let to Storage King ahead of practical completion. Terms were agreed on a new 25-year FRI lease at a commencing rent of £8.95 per sq ft. The development totals 54,000 sq.ft. in nine warehouse/industrial units ranging in size from 3,900 sq ft up to 19,929 sq ft.

Malmaison opens its latest hotel in Station Road on 30 July. The choice of Great Western House as the new Malmaison Hotel in Reading is rather apt - this landmark building was originally built as the Great Western Hotel in 1844. It is reputed to be the oldest surviving railway hotel in the world and was designed in collaboration with the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, pioneer of the Great Western Railway. Many of Reading's most distinguished visitors stayed at the Great Western Hotel, including - on several occasions - Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Retail & leisure

Music retailer Fopp has announced it is shutting down its 105 shops, as the firm becomes the latest victim of the slump in CD sales. Fopp said it was profitable and well regarded but had failed to gain support from stakeholders and suppliers.

Fopp - known for cheap CDs, DVDs and books - had been in administration talks with Ernst and Young. It had also been in talks with its bankers, HBOS, about the future of the struggling firm.

Fat Face is moving from Cross Street to the ex-Principles unit in Broad Street. Principles will become a concession within House of Fraser (The Oracle).

Mix Cocktail Bar will open in The Walk on 11 July.

The Licensing Act 2003

The Licensing Act 2003 came into effect on 24 November 2005. The Act removed the responsibility for the issuing of licences (to sell alcohol) from the Licensing Justices and placed it with Local Authorities, who already had the responsibility to license entertainment and late night refreshment venues.

Under the Act, Local Authorities were charged with formulating a Licensing Policy Statement that encompassed the views of the community and agencies in the area, and took account of the four licensing objectives:

The prevention of crime and disorder
Public safety
The prevention of public nuisance
The protection of children from harm

The Policy should be updated as and when necessary and in any case every three years. This means that the consultation period for a review of the Policy is now underway and runs until 16 July 2007.

The current Policy can be viewed at www.reading.gov.uk and any comments that you wish to put forward for consideration should be forwarded to either Clare Bradley, Licensing Manager or John Mortlock, Licensing Team Leader at Reading Borough Council: Clare.Bradley@reading.gov.uk John.Mortlock@reading.gov.uk

Tim Smith
Executive Director
RCCM CIC
1 JUne 2007

This newsletter is for general information only. Whilst it is believed to be
correct, it should not be relied upon for any commercial or other decision
of value.

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