Main Content

Just 12 winners? Or 371 or more? Town Centres.

Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2012-04-30 23:58:50 - Graham Ellis

If I were in a competitive bid for business, and I knew there were 10 other bidders all looking for the same single contract, and all putting a very great deal of effort into winning, I would think twice. I would ask myself "is this a sensible investment of our resources - a sensible gamble". And - chances are - I would walk away from the bid, preferrring to invest my time into other opportunities with rather better odds.

Bidding for pilot funding for High Street improvement, under the "Portas Scheme", has just closed, and no fewer that 371 towns have bid to be amongst the 12 selected. That's even worse than the 1 in 11 - it's 1 in 30. See [here].


But there's rather more to it than that.

• The very act of bidding has made 371 towns come together and take a look at themselves and say "what can we do that's positive and for us". There are major benefits from taking part, for the 359 towns that do not get a financial pot to spend as well as for the 12 that do. When Well House Consultants entered a business competition, we gained so much from thinking about how others saw us that not ebeing the 1 in 106 to win didn't matter (we just lost out, being in the final 6 and were rather pleased with that!)

• Even towns which didn't actually bid have taken a long (some longer than others, I'm sure) hard (some harder than others I expect) look at themselves and so the benefits will be seen far wider than the 371 towns

• Funding has been extended [here] ... so there will be a further tranche - much more that 12 financed.