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Speech at the Launch of the Paddington Business Circle on the Paddington Regeneration Project - II
7th October 2001Stephen Wegg-Prosser
Frankly I wonder if they can. I see the closure of the small family businesses and the long-established shops. I know what kills them - increased rents, no parking, high business rates, and multiples with their purchasing powers and their advertising budgets.
What can be done? Well we at WPF glasner gerber shapiro (soon to be WGS) have done several things. We have more than doubled in size, to give a better service and to gain economies of scale, the old firm of Wegg-Prosser's realised that we lacked in depth litigation expertise so we merged with a firm of litigators, now we can offer legal services to businesses of all sizes and to individuals, across the social and economic spectrum. We became more modern, and accessible. We became more IT savvy. We didn’t try to get cheaper. We did try to get better. We also decided to stay at an accessible size. We realised that clients want to know which individual they will deal with in an ongoing relationship and so decided to avoid the anonymity of the big City firms.
And it’s not just us. Barry Brothers originally just Locksmiths have done the same. They more than doubled in size, they advertised, they enjoy a national reputation. They, like us, will survive, and, I am sure, will prosper. But will others? Surely the Council should turn its attention to this issue. How can Visa and M & S work with my firm? I rather doubt that they can or will. So what do we do? Use our imagination. Let them know we are here. Their staff buy houses, need to make wills, and, sometimes, to get divorced.
We can deal with all of those problems. Did those businesses use Barry Brothers for their locks, safes and security supervision? Possibly not, but they should, and if they are represented here tonight, I hope they will. I know that those companies make charitable donations - for instance, a number of them, and especially British Waterways, have supported Beauchamp Lodge a local charity. But they must do more. They must also support the economic community.
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And what about the Council? Well, they can enforce planning legislation, discourage late night cafes, limit the internet cafes. But let us hope that they will also use their imagination, spend some money, improve the street furniture, sort out the nightmare of taxi access to Paddington Station, cosset the local businesses and the local residents. We must continue to be able to offer to our local businesses the service that my firm, and others like us, have offered for many years. We must not be intimidated by the new businesses that will move in. It is obvious to us all here today that this is a huge opportunity for the area and those who work here. Ten years ago the images that came to mind of Paddington Station and Praed Street were almost universally negative - petty crime, prostitution, and run-down shops. Today the image is completely different, tower blocks, the regeneration of the Canal, one of the biggest hotels in Europe, the new hospital, the £60m refurbishment of the old Great Western Hotel. No one who has watched the quality of the work to that building can be anything but excited at the prospect of it being completed, and not just because it’s so good to see the traffic jams in front of the hotel eased at last. So we should be positive, optimistic, purposeful, demanding, imaginative and resourceful. We must seize the opportunity, nag the Council to make sure that the public spaces, between the high rises, are oases and not wind tunnels. The future can be influenced by us. The Council need and welcome our input. Let us make sure we give it. Please
support local businesses, buy your flowers
from the florists in Praed street, get involved in the community,
help local schools and colleges, and enjoy Paddington, and imagine
that, in a couple of years, we will be working, and maybe more
of you will be living in, not any longer a small town, but a
vibrant big town, Paddington. |
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