if
it's about Cardiff..
Sport, Entertainment, Transportation, Business,
Development Projects, Leisure, Eating, Drinking,
Nightlife, Shopping, Train Spotting! etc.. then we want it here!
The whole United Kingdom is sinking in debt, from the national debt to personal debt (payday loans). The same applies to Cardiff. The only "growth" that I can see is in education (student debt). From the CAVC Canal Parade site, to Shand House, to Windsor House, Atrium 2, parts of Capital Quarter and half of Atlantic House and other new student accommodation developments. It is based on student debt, and when no one can afford such debt, it will all disappear overnight. Cardiff will be left as a ghost town, with shiny unused buildings.
Glass half empty? To be honest Cardiff is well placed for further expansion in HE Sector in particular. It is an attractive city for students and there is evidence of growth of retention of graduates. Alongside Cardiff Uni's increasing standing in world ranking is USW and its critical mass and two very good specialist institutions, so we should not have to break out The Specials single just yet.
The problem is that Cardiff ONLY has HE as a growth area. The discussion regarding Bristol is interesting because this city truly has a financial services industry. In comparison, Cardiff is nowhere near competing with Bristol. HE cannot be the sole area of growing for the city in the long term. Both Oxford and Cambridge have high tech science industries in the area, and they don't just rely on HE.
The "financial services district" in central Cardiff was first talked about in 2011 by Cardiff Council, yet all you see in Cardiff is empty office blocks (Callaghan Square has never even been finished off and Capital Quarter will be another), which are converted into accommodation, mainly student accommodation.
My view is that if the HE sector starts to contract, Cardiff will not have anything else to fall back on.
The future for Cardiff as a city looks bleak to me if, it expects to grow. You only have to look as Cardiff's history to see what can happen when a city relies upon one industry (coal) to seethe devastating effect this can have when it declines... just look at the Coal Exchange etc.
Whilst I can see the concern I don't think it'll be that bad. The city is vulnerable (where isn't? London aside) but ultimately it is in a far different position than it was in 20-30 years ago, and if things do go tits up the city probably far more prepared to weather the storm.
Whilst I can see the concern I don't think it'll be that bad. The city is vulnerable (where isn't? London aside) but ultimately it is in a far different position than it was in 20-30 years ago, and if things do go tits up is probably far more prepared to weather the storm.
It can't be that dependent on Higher Education?
Wales and especially cardiff is reliant on very generous English handouts and subsidies which are used to fund needless public sector jobs. These jobs help fund our lifestyles so cardiffi's well placed to ride out any storm as around one quarter of its workers are public sector
The problem is that Cardiff ONLY has HE as a growth area. The discussion regarding Bristol is interesting because this city truly has a financial services industry. In comparison, Cardiff is nowhere near competing with Bristol. HE cannot be the sole area of growing for the city in the long term. Both Oxford and Cambridge have high tech science industries in the area, and they don't just rely on HE.
The "financial services district" in central Cardiff was first talked about in 2011 by Cardiff Council, yet all you see in Cardiff is empty office blocks (Callaghan Square has never even been finished off and Capital Quarter will be another), which are converted into accommodation, mainly student accommodation.
My view is that if the HE sector starts to contract, Cardiff will not have anything else to fall back on.
The future for Cardiff as a city looks bleak to me if, it expects to grow. You only have to look as Cardiff's history to see what can happen when a city relies upon one industry (coal) to seethe devastating effect this can have when it declines... just look at the Coal Exchange etc.
I fear for the city, I really do.
I fear for the city too. Cardiff needs to develop other industries. Maybe Insurance, Legal and Media sectors. At the minute Cardiff doesn't have any representation at all in these industries, let alone indigenous firms. Jantra and Cardiff Boy are 149% correct. Their analysis could, IN NO WAY, be described as being puerile, completely lacking in vision and having no basis in reality.
I fear for the city too. Cardiff needs to develop other industries. Maybe Insurance, Legal and Media sectors. At the minute Cardiff doesn't have any representation at all in these industries, let alone indigenous firms. Jantra and Cardiff Boy are 149% correct. Their analysis could, IN NO WAY, be described as being puerile, completely lacking in vision and having no basis in reality.
Wales has a public/private sector worker ratio of 1:3 whereas the UK average is 1:4.
You couldn't really say that Cardiff has a mature financial services or legal services sector either.
I fear for the city too. Cardiff needs to develop other industries. Maybe Insurance, Legal and Media sectors. At the minute Cardiff doesn't have any representation at all in these industries, let alone indigenous firms. Jantra and Cardiff Boy are 149% correct. Their analysis could, IN NO WAY, be described as being puerile, completely lacking in vision and having no basis in reality.
Wales has a public/private sector worker ratio of 1:3 whereas the UK average is 1:4.
You couldn't really say that Cardiff has a mature financial services or legal services sector either.
You are abso-posi-lutely correctamundo. Firms like Admiral, Black Horse, Legal and General, Geldards and Hugh James are just stuff that you and I hallucinated after powdering our noses in the bogs of the Oystercatcher.
By the way, Jantra, how have you fared underneath Pont-y-Werin throughout this wet and stormy winter? A troll's luxuriant pelt is normally good protection against the elements but it has been frightfully damp!
I fear for the city too. Cardiff needs to develop other industries. Maybe Insurance, Legal and Media sectors. At the minute Cardiff doesn't have any representation at all in these industries, let alone indigenous firms. Jantra and Cardiff Boy are 149% correct. Their analysis could, IN NO WAY, be described as being puerile, completely lacking in vision and having no basis in reality.
Wales has a public/private sector worker ratio of 1:3 whereas the UK average is 1:4.
You couldn't really say that Cardiff has a mature financial services or legal services sector either.
You are abso-posi-lutely correctamundo. Firms like Admiral, Black Horse, Legal and General, Geldards and Hugh James are just stuff that you and I hallucinated after powdering our noses in the bogs of the Oystercatcher.
By the way, Jantra, how have you fared underneath Pont-y-Werin throughout this wet and stormy winter? A troll's luxuriant pelt is normally good protection against the elements but it has been frightfully damp!
black horse is predominantly a call centre. compare that to what Lloyds have in Bristol (around 5,000 people in two divisional HQs on Harbourside). I'm not suggesting Cardiff doesn't do well as the provincial capital, but Bristol owns Cardiff in terms of commercial presence.
I work for a private company that employs thousands.
It is not dependant on handouts.
It pays millions in taxes every week.
Many of the workers families do their retail shopping in Cardiff
Their children are educated in Cardiff.
They may buy their insurance. - our politicians work in Cardiff,
We buy newpapers printed in Cardiff,
watch news programmes made in Cardiff
Some watch Premiership football in Cardiff
Some fly on their family holidays from Cardiff
They go their for social events and flock to Caerdydd for the Six Nations.
Its a Capital City.
....Some fly on their family holidays from Cardiff
Watson: "Holmes,as you often state, 'when you eliminate the impossible, then whatever left, however improbable must be the truth' - I therefore deduce, from a perusal of the list of available destinations from Wales' premier airport, that our man must surely holiday on the Iberian peninsula."
Holmes: "Or Ynys Môn Watson .....or Ynys Môn"
Watson: "By Jove Sherlock, by Jove you could be right....."
Obviously it's good to have these financial services companies in Cardiff but I would agree with Jantra that the lack of high skilled jobs that involve an element of autonomy is disappointing. Bristol may be doing better but this is a UK story, it's not just about Wales as Jantra seems to endlessly assert. Other cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle - they all have the same problems. Some may seem to have more private sector opportunities than Cardiff but then they are bigger cities.
I think the view of us in the rest of the UK is that Cardiff is okay, although Wales as a whole has major problems. That seems reasonable to me. Vince Cable got hammered by the usual suspects when he said that London was draining the life out of the rest of the country. If you're a highly skilled graduate from Wales that is where you will likely head. These are the people Wales really needs though. It's a familiar picture in England. The main 'benefit' of HS2 to Birmingham is that it might join the London commuter belt.
I disagree that the only growth is HE. Cardiff's leisure and events scene, which is already the envy of the majority of UK cities is only going to get better too with a new arena/convention centre in the works. Work on a new ice rink is due to start ASAP with an indoor ski slope to follow in the ISV, our sports facilities and stadia we possess is phenomenal for a city of it's size. Hopefully when the Capital Square developments starts to come along, the financial services sector will have a kick up the arse as well, at the moment it's not great but the only way is up, Deloitte already starting to increase their numbers with more to follow.
....Some fly on their family holidays from Cardiff
Watson: "Holmes,as you often state, 'when you eliminate the impossible, then whatever left, however improbable must be the truth' - I therefore deduce, from a perusal of the list of available destinations from Wales' premier airport, that our man must surely holiday on the Iberian peninsula."
Holmes: "Or Ynys Môn Watson .....or Ynys Môn"
Watson: "By Jove Sherlock, by Jove you could be right....."
Sherlock wit that you are it appears
you have been taking copious amounts of opiates
not unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Cardiff Wales Airport is taking off
I disagree that the only growth is HE. Cardiff's leisure and events scene, which is already the envy of the majority of UK cities is only going to get better too with a new arena/convention centre in the works. Work on a new ice rink is due to start ASAP with an indoor ski slope to follow in the ISV, our sports facilities and stadia we possess is phenomenal for a city of it's size. Hopefully when the Capital Square developments starts to come along, the financial services sector will have a kick up the arse as well, at the moment it's not great but the only way is up, Deloitte already starting to increase their numbers with more to follow.
Cardiff has plenty of room to grow.
I'm not sure what Capital Square is...is it Callaghan Square or Capital Quarter? Capital Quarter is likely to be a white elephant (just like Waterfront 2000 is, with many of the units not occupied for many years) with only one small part of the Driscoll Building currently occupied (inexus).
Before the 1990s, tourism was non existent in Cardiff. I remember picking up a holiday brochure in the 1980s, Cardiff was not even listed! Tourism is a "luxury" industry that mirrors the general state of the economy. If Cardiff's economy starts to decline, so will tourism.
Tourism is a "luxury" industry that mirrors the general state of the economy. If Cardiff's economy starts to decline, so will tourism.
That makes no sense at all. Tourism depends on the state of the economy in the target market - not the destination.
Greece has a tanking economy but has just enjoyed it's best year for tourism for twenty years. Australia is doing well in other sectors while its tourism tanks.
It's pretty basic economics. A declining economy in a tourist destination tends to be good for tourism - economic success in other sectors deters tourism. It's about affordability.
Would you care to flesh out your rather novel theory?
I think Capital Square is one of the names for the area in front of the train station where the bus station is right now.
Correct. Another pipe dream by a council with no money in a nation that struggles to attract speculative office developments of premium quality (unless we all all think the AA is a quality development!!!)
