Level Up

‘Levelling up’ has become one of those empty political phrases in recent years (see also: ‘take back control’). Words that promise much, yet echo increasingly hollow when released from the mouths of politicians who fail to imbue them with any real sense of meaning through actual delivery.

Let’s look at the Government’s response to the increase in home working. Johnson, Truss and Sunak have all been vocal about people getting back into the office (ie: the City), with Jacob Rees-Mogg famously leaving passive aggressive notes on the desks of civil servants who were working from home. Aren’t they also missing an obvious opportunity here to back up their manifesto rhetoric?

Levelling up principally means encouraging jobs and investment in areas outside of London. The clear success of remote working for many businesses demonstrates that many people can work from anywhere for some, if not all, of their time. Which immediately disseminates capital further afield, in terms of workers spending their money locally rather than in London, whilst also supporting the potential of employing talent from all parts of the UK.

A recent report which tracked mobile phone usage demonstrated a huge increase in activity in towns, suburbs and coastal areas (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64118190). That’s more footfall on local high streets, more spending in local shops, cafes and restaurants. Surely - in the name of levelling up - this shouldn’t be discouraged? This is a clear basis for the development of local economies.

In turn this can be an exciting opportunity for design and construction investment: local working hubs, arts and leisure facilities, the inclusion of working spaces within new home development. There could be incredible amounts of new and vital work being developed alongside our evolving working practices.

Encourage businesses to exploit available technology to deploy their team more widely across the land and there will be a rapid rebalancing. It’s an easy win (and frankly, it’s going to happen anyway - you can’t turn back the technical tide) so why is this being resisted by the Government?

The technology is there. The desire from employees is there. The benefits to employers are there. The national and regional need is there. This should be a key element of the national industrial strategy.

Remote workers. Regional hubs. Local development. National infrastructure development. Levelling Up. Taking back control.

This time with meaning.