| Service Industry Vital for Future Thursday, 18 December 2008 00:00 |
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SERVICE INDUSTRY VITAL FOR FUTURE 18-12-2008 John Downing assesses Cork’s future in the services sector The future for cities like Cork is service-based industries. The city’s industrial base since the turn of the previous century has been transformed from an agricultural/manufacturing/port-related and based industrial city to include a major service-based sector. This service industry base provides us with a new and vibrant aspect to commercial life in Cork. There has been substantial job creation with service industries having a wealth of location choices. All of these locations offer top class facilities in the form of so-called 3G or third generation offices.There are a number of features that make Cork attractive for incoming service industries — four third-level colleges namely UCC, CIT, the School of Music, and the Cork College of Art. One of the other infrastructure features that make Cork attractive is Cork Airport. It has numerous connections to the main hubs of Heathrow, Charles-De Gaulle and Schiphol, all of which link to the four corners of the world. In a global economy these links are vital to a growing business; immediate access to them is vital if you are in a global business. Whilst still a small city with a large catchment, Cork is now a real alternative location to Dublin for incoming service industries. Provided we keep supplying the requirements of incoming service industries, Cork will continue to attract new businesses and allow businesses to grow and prosper. With all the doom and gloom in the current market and wider economy it is easy to forget the success stories, and to downplay how successful and attractive Cork has been in attracting service industries. However, it is a highly competitive market and Cork developers do not just compete with each other, they also compete with developers in Dublin, other Irish cities, Cardiff, Swansea, Norwich, Wolverhampton, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and further afield. Cork has attracted major national and international employers in the office-based industries, they include: Mellon Bank of New York, Amazon, Solar winds, Black and Decker , Citco, VM Ware, McAfee, PepsiCo and GSK. Citco and Marriott have two locations in Cork to name but a few. This has been achieved on a low-key basis and has been actively supported and driven by the IDA. These companies are located all over Cork, including the Airport Business Park, EastGate, Ballincollig, Blackpool and Cork’s latest emerging office location, City Gate in Mahon. All of the developers in the UK offer the same package of 3G offices with free car parking and four car parking spaces to every 1,000 sq ft, on flexible lease terms. In some locations they are prepared to offer very generous rent-free periods. However, Cork has still managed to compete successfully against the UK and Dublin. It is important that we don’t become complacent as there is plenty of vacant office space in the UK, and we must ensure that we continue to provide service industries with what they need. We cannot assume that we can change the requirements of the service industries — or reduce their requirements — to suit us. This is particularly important in the role of car parking and air conditioning. The first thing that every incoming occupant will ask is “where will the staff park their cars?” The importance of this can be seen where developers have provided free parking in all their office developments in suburban Cork. The second question that is asked is “are the buildings air conditioned?” and it is pointless to point out that you don’t need air conditioning in Ireland, the same as you do in the UK or the US, particularly when it is corporate policy that all staff work in an air-conditioned environment. Changes to car parking requirements and air conditioning may be green and fashionable; however, if you do not give a customer a product that he is looking for he will not take it. Currently, there are many proposals circulating regarding the lowering of car parking spaces in suburban offices and changing the heating systems. It may well make green sense, but green sense and common sense are not always the same. In our current economic climate we should remember a few basics as follows: The markets will recover, as they always do. The recession will finish. It may take some time to recover, but if we continue to provide the services that incoming industries require then they will continue to locate here. Once more, we will prove successful and offer good quality employment to our young workforce. Overall, the future is bright and hopeful, provided Cork as a location continues to provide inward investment with the product that they require. This article is copyright of the Examiner |
