Concerns over proposed business hub
Business leaders in Marlborough fear ‘‘competition’’ and looking like a ‘‘council puppet organisation’’ if they worked together under one roof.
A report detailing the pros and cons of a business hub has been released by four of the region’s business groups and the Marlborough District Council – who have christened themselves ‘Marlborough Inc’.
The idea was first pitched during last year’s annual plan, when the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce asked the council to fund a feasibility study into a business hub. The council instead offered to run meet-ups to pinpoint how to better support local businesses.
It had since held three meetings with Destination Marlborough, Marlborough Chamber of Commerce, Business Trust Marlborough and the Blenheim Business Association (BBA), the report said.
Council strategic planning and economic development manager Neil Henry said the organisations had supported an investigation into possible business hub costs, and creating a more ‘‘cohesive’’ business model.
But their report showed the organisations were concerned that setting up a hub would cause a loss of brand identity and independence, ‘‘community confusion’’, and difficulties over who owned the building and its data.
Written under the ‘cons’ section were concerns, including: ‘‘[the] bad performance of one partner affecting all’’, ‘‘[being] tarred with the same brush’’ and ‘‘dominant personalities winning out’’.
Business Trust Marlborough also queried the potential cost of renting a space in the hub.
Benefits of a business hub included reductions in duplication, a potential reduction in costs, and a ‘‘vibrant work environment’’. ‘‘[It could allow] cover while I am on holiday,’’ one person wrote.
Henry said a hub would also prove Marlborough was ‘open for business’, and could entice central government agencies to set up.
He said the organisations would decide whether to submit a funding request to the council’s 2020-21 annual plan in April, and would consider opening the meetings to others in future.