What next? No matter who you are, it can be a big question.
You may ask yourself, where do your career ambitions lie? How are you planning to provide for your children’s future? When do you hope to retire?
The answers may require a lot of thought. They will likely be complex, and will be the result of multi-faceted considerations.
However, apply the ‘what next?’ question to an entire city with all of its wide-ranging needs and concerns and it becomes a lot more tricky.
How to encompass the needs of a whole populace and deliver meaningful change that satisfies all?
The Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, Stuart Patrick, raised that very point last week when speaking at the Scottish Policy Conferences seminar.
He was seeking to establish exactly what would follow the delivery of the first £1.13 billion Glasgow City Region Deal.
Mr Patrick was urging action that would allow the city and wider region to prepare properly for delivering even greater economic benefits to more communities.
He spoke passionately about Glasgow’s need to maximise not just the current City Deal, but for a ‘City Deal Mark Two’ to be put firmly on the table, allowing it to better sell itself in global market places.
And it was difficult to argue the case when delegates at the event were informed that the likes of Manchester already has a whopping four deals in place in what has become an extremely competitive environment.
In fact, the UK government has concluded deals with Greater Birmingham and Solihull, Bristol and the West of England, Greater Manchester, Leeds City Region, Liverpool City Region, Nottingham, Newcastle and Sheffield City Region.
Even taking into account the differences in population, the very animated English City Deals drive clearly dwarves those that we currently have in place north of the border. Here, we have just Glasgow and Edinburgh, supported by the Scottish Government, though it must be stressed that Glasgow’s deal is the second largest in the UK.
Don’t get me wrong – those deals are significant indeed, helping to increase economic output and supporting jobs as part of a vibrant, investment-led outlook that will energise local economies. They’re also about heightening connectivity and widening socio-economic benefits to ensure that disadvantaged communities are receiving more opportunities to find employment, both of which are utterly vital.
But we need to keep the ball rolling and keep investing in order to gain maximum benefit.
Mr Patrick rightly pointed out that we must stop perpetuating the image of Glasgow as a city in transition – a city that’s still recovering from an often turbulent economic past.
As he stridently stated, Glasgow now has a growing population, up by 37,000 in the last five years, and expanding levels of employment, while the company base has increased by 25 per cent in the last seven years to 20,000.
In other words, Glasgow should no longer be conservative in talking up its successes. It’s not in transition – it’s already arrived and is very much open for business, particularly when you consider that the city recently beat off serious competition to secure the prestigious Barclays campus for Buchanan Wharf, generating 2,500 jobs.
A ‘City Deal Mark Two’ would help to further cement Glasgow’s status as a place where the big names want to be, firmly conveying the message that it’s refusing to rest on its laurels and is actively laying the foundations for fresh growth.
If we don’t start planning now for a second city deal, then we risk actually coming second to competitors, undermining efforts to become one of Europe’s leading destinations of choice for businesses and thus further investment.
I know which route I would take.
It was announced last week that drinks giant Coca-Cola had bought the Costa coffee chain from owner Whitbread in a deal worth a frothy £3.9bn.
When you think about the fact Whitbread bought Costa for just £19m in 1995 and transformed it into the UK’s biggest coffee chain, that’s a latte profit.
Coca-Cola have brands in just about every beverage landscape – hot beverages being the only exception until now.
They’ll have ambitious plans to grow the Costa chain on a worldwide platform.
It really is quite an incredible tale of growth when you look at the numbers.
When Whitbread bought the brand they had just 39 outlets. It now has more than 2,400 UK shops and a further 1,400 outlets in overseas markets and over 8,000 Costa Express vending machines worldwide.
Whitbread chief executive Alison Brittain has already described the deal as a win-win situation for everyone involved.
She thinks Coca-Cola will use Costa to create cold coffees. We could end up seeing cans of Costa everywhere you see Coca-Cola, and when you consider the scope of that statement, it’s clear to see the growth potential.
And that’s before they have even considered expanding Costa’s already successful physical footprint. Indeed, plans have long been muted to expand in China.
Many coffee brands are already taking steps to tackle their sustainability image, offering cheaper coffee to those who bring in their own cups. With Coca-Cola’s experience in dealing with ongoing criticism over sugar levels, it will be interesting to see what they have planned.
Whitbread meanwhile, who have said they will use the cash to invest in their Premier Inn business in the UK and Germany, have been buoyed by the sale – with their share price almost instantly causing a stir.
You might wonder also if major rivals will be counting the Costa of this huge move.
Laugh
Shoppers south of the border were stunned to see a 25ft Christmas tree decorated with fairy lights outside their local Tesco store last week.
Thankfully, the superstore later confirmed it was a prop for the filming of their Christmas advert.
Staying with the festive theme, discount retailer B&M has spotted a chance to make a sweet profit long before the tinsel goes up.
It’s already stocking Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup advent calendars for £4.99 a pop.
The popular calendars – which feature a peanut butter cup behind every door with a double white chocolate version on Christmas Eve – were snapped up by sweet-toothed shoppers last year.
They had been stocked in Lidl, Poundworld, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Wilko’s.
But savvy B&M has brought customers an early gift with an exclusive offering.
Weep
Normally I’d be crying with laughter at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The capital city event attracts thousands every year, as tourists and locals pack out the theatres, pubs, and clubs, with local business doing a roaring trade.
Unfortunately it wasn’t just jokes that had the tears running down Fringe visitors’ cheeks, as pictures emerged this week of miserable commuters packed into the aisles of trains running from Edinburgh.
Surely operators saw this one coming?
Passengers were crammed in, unable to access the toilets or food trolleys, on the last day of the Fringe.
Even if they’d had a great time in Auld Reekie, I’m sure that was soon forgotten as they sat on the floor for four hours back to London – and they likely won’t want to repeat that.
