Hi Nic. We're sat at UKREiiF, but before I ask you about the show and the mood here, I wanted to ask you first about your work as chief exec of the South Bank Employers Group and chief executive of the South Bank Business Improvement District. Where are we currently with the South Bank? What's in your inbox? 

As always, very busy! We are collectively celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Festival of Britain, and by extension, the 75th anniversary of the Royal Festival Hall, which was always intended as the physical legacy, and therefore celebrating 75 years of the Southbank Centre. But really that is about how the South Bank over those 75 years has powered ahead – with some dips – but ultimately how it has evolved and grown into a very successful neighbourhood where culture is centre stage, but where that cultural infrastructure of those enormously important organisations: Southbank Centre, BFI, National Theatre, but also Ballet Rambert, who have their base there, has created a neighbourhood where people want to work, people want to visit. What has happened over those 70 years is this economic growth, with so many sectors wanting to be on the South Bank because of that cultural vibrancy, but also a place where people live. So, long-term residents, new residents, and increasingly a growing student population. 

And of course, that's not overlooking the fact that we have Waterloo Station right at the heart, which collectively brings many, many million visitors to the area. Last year, just over 38 million people came to South Bank. Across all those types of uses, people working there, people visiting there, people living there. So: very busy place. Managing that is a big part of what we do as a membership organisation. We provide services – we keep the area safe, we keep the area clean. We promote the South Bank through the South Bank London brand, and we also advocate for South Bank. You know, it's an amazing neighbourhood, but it has its needs, particularly around ongoing investment. How some of those urban challenges inevitably can be met, whether that's some aspects of things like Lime bikes, for example, ensuring that we're on top of how those are managed. 

But also, perceptions of safety, making sure that anyone that's in South Bank, particularly young people, women and girls, making sure that they feel safe. There’s a very big nighttime economy, which obviously is a big part of that cultural offer, but lots of bars, lots of restaurants, lots of cafes. So South Bank Employments Group is at the heart of it. We've been around for 35 years. We predate the Business Improvement District model by some 15 years; we were looked at when BIDs were first introduced as that sort of pioneering model - how, as a not-for-profit, we bring employers together. So yes, big business, whether that's Merlin, whether that's Park Plaza Hotels, but alongside the cultural organisations, alongside St Thomas' Hospital, alongside Network Rail, this coalition of the willing who came together back in 1991. 

The membership has grown over that time, and we work in tandem with the Business Improvement District. We set the BID up in 2014 and we deliver all services to the BID, so it's a very lean and effective model of shared costs, which means that we direct the revenues that we've raised to the betterment of the neighbourhood. And a really important part of that is the innovative Section 106 agreement with Merlin and the London Eye, where 1% of the London Eye's turnover is reinvested back into the area through a Revenue 106 agreement, and that goes to the management and maintenance of Jubilee Gardens - that incredible green space in front of the London Eye – but also supports the range of neighbourhood services that we provide, including extra safety, extra cleaning. So, it's a complex ecology. At the heart of it is our members and how we work with our members, but also how we work with our partners like Lambeth Council, Southwark Council, the GLA, TFL; a long list of partners inevitably, given the central location of South Bank and its importance to London's identity. 

Just as a quick aside, you mentioned the London Eye just then. Didn't they have a temporary planning permission? 

Yes, and... 

...surely that's coming up for renewals? 

So, when the London Eye was originally consented, it only had a five year consent, incredibly, in 2000-2005. That was then extended by a further 20 years, and then two years ago Lambeth gave consent to what was called the lifetime extension, so the London Eye now has permanent planning permission in perpetuity, and the great thing is that Merlin were very keen to ensure that that 1% mechanism, which was introduced at that first extension, is maintained in perpetuity. So, it's a very, very successful model of something that generates a lot of visitors. Seeing that reinvestment back in the area is a fantastic model of corporate responsibility, but also how those revenues in turn are supported by the revenues raised by the BID, and SBEG's role is to play a sort of coordinating part in terms of how those revenues are best managed and deployed. 

So, we're here at UKREiiF. What are you here for? What are your aims and ambitions for being here? 

Nic Durston  

UKREiiF is a fantastic networking opportunity. I was just talking to a colleague from the City of London, who was saying that you can't do this in London because diary management is just impossible, whereas here you can stand here in the middle of UKREiiF, and meet a whole range of people, have those opportunities and conversations, but also just diarise stuff, catch-ups, coffees, more formal meetings, and also we work with a range of organisations who will put on receptions, put on events. But I think also it's a great opportunity just to hear the mood of a range of economic sectors. 

David Taylor  

And how would you assess that? 

Well, I think the interesting thing is that, despite, obviously, some very challenging economic headwinds, and a political situation, which is uncertain – I think that's the best way to describe it, both in some parts of London and nationally – there seems a real confidence. I was quite struck at the minister's speech yesterday, Matthew Pennycook – a lot of the commentary around that was positive from investors, from developers, a real sense of a willingness to work together; to bring schemes forward, which I think is very positive to hear that. 

What's next for you in terms of the South Bank, and what are the kind of challenges you're facing? 

At South Bank Employees Group, we are just in the process of setting our new strategic plan out, and that's very clear. We have big opportunities; there's a lot of redevelopment and change happening on South Bank; the Waterloo Station Master Plan, we've got the new Vista scheme, which is the old London Weekend Television scheme going forward, so there's lots happening. A big part of what we do is ensuring those opportunities for investors. And for people who want to see inclusive growth happening in obviously a part of London that is central to the London Growth Plan, that those can come forward. So, we've got the SC1 London, the big med tech cluster opposite St Thomas' Hospital; we've got the Royal Street site, so we've got a number of really, really important schemes that need to come forward. A big part of that is how we then bring everyone along that journey. 

Inevitably, big development projects do have downsides in terms of noise, big schemes generating dust, etc. A very practical thing is that we manage a construction coordination group, so that ensures that those developers come forward. So there's a group coordination in terms of how these schemes come forward. I would say also that there is an aligned ambition around ensuring that South Bank gets the investment that it needs. It is a very busy place, as I said, 38 million visitors last year. People want to be on South Bank. We know this. We do audience research – 94% of people that came to South Bank last year rated it very good, or good, and that's a really strong testament. But what that means is we've got to keep on top of things, we've got to keep on top of the cleaning, the security, making sure the place is looking its best. So, ensuring that the right levels of investment making sure pavements, delivering certain capital schemes in conjunction with Lambeth Council and TFL, those are important projects. And then the final area is ensuring that we're all collectively addressing the opportunities around climate. We have a big programme called Sustains Us, which is a way of describing positively our ambitions around net zero and climate. Sustains Us is a way of saying that our neighbourhood is our place, whether it's our place of work, a place that we live in. If collectively we can address aspects around biodiversity, carbon reduction, we do that through this Sustains Us programming. So, bringing residents, bringing businesses on board to address those challenges is the third sort of plank of what we're focused on over the next few years. 

My personal view, in terms of the master plan you mentioned, is that it's always felt to me that the connections between the station and South Bank are fairly problematic. Is that something that's going to be part of your focus? 

Yes. I mean, that's core to the master plan's aims. There has obviously been change. Platform4 has now been created, so that's a great opportunity of looking at how, as the property-focused arm, that means you can get join-up with the sidings, which is part of the station that was under the ownership of LCR, so that's now all combined in Platform4. Big opportunity to then work with plans for Elizabeth House, and then with the completion of the Southbank Place scheme, which is the Shell site, as some people will know it, you do actually have those improved routes. There is the plan to extend Jubilee Gardens. That's been a long-held ambition, so there is all that join-up. So, we are down in the detail in terms of how you make those connections, as well as looking at things at that sort of strategic level as well. So, it's a fascinating job; we’ve got a great team. Our members are critical to what we do, because all of those organisations that I've mentioned, all the cultural bodies, Platform4, Network Rail, they're all part of our membership. So that's at the core of how we bring our members together; aim at sort of a set of common ambitions and then get forward to deliver them. 

Thank you very much, Nick! 

Thank you. Great!