Why we struggle to compete...

Quoted from ska face

Completely agree with the sentiment, but it really is comparing apples with oranges looking at the differences between Leeds and NE Lincs.

Quoted from Mayaman

Used to go to Leeds in the 80's to buy records It was a rough as hell.  Get in, buy the vinyl and get out.  Went in the late 90's for a job interview.  It was a completely different place.   They'd revamped the old Victorian arcades. There was a buzz and people had jobs and any place that has folks with money in their back bin makes it a happier place.  Leeds is much better located than Gy but we have to start with what we are and where we are. We have to take more pride in the place. We can't even have a statue of our founder without it getting destroyed.  Gy has two great museums and Cleethorpes has a lot to offer , especially in the summer. I've lived in much worse places in the UK.  We need to big it up and stop the chavs and idiots destroying it and its reputation. Grimsby town centre needs revamping.  I am not sure how but we somehow need to revitalise it.  

Quoted from Dodorondon

We should remember also, and this is something the new owners are attempting to change, that the support for the club within the town has never been huge and often, at best, luke warm. During the height of Buckley’s tenure the gates steadily dropped prompting Arthur Mann to remark: “Sometimes we really do wonder whether all our efforts are worth it.”

Quoted from Meza

I think what RichMariner was getting at was the difference between the two councils, one forward thinking the other sat on their hands not wanting change, like as if they just can't be arsed.  

I completely get Rich's post as that's how I feel when I visit my parents from Lincoln, and every time I past the old Birds Eye location nothing has changed, it saddens me being a proud Grimsbarian / Grimsby lad.

Quoted from ska face

Thing is, what is happening at local councils is a reflection of wider trends across the country, similar in a way to what you see in football clubs. Resources, money, knowledge, qualified/talented people get pulled and pooled into major cities and smaller, less well resourced areas are left with scraps.

Local authorities have been cut to the absolute bare bones in the last 15 years, so unless you have a local knowledge economy that sustains innovative ways of working, alongside social benefits that attract certain demographics, a housing mix that suits, etc etc etc, then you’re going to be struggling. I work for a LA and a starting salary for my role is about £21k-£22k, I saw an advert for the essentially an entry level position in Liverpool at £29k-£31k earlier this week. Smaller councils can’t compete with that level of spending and so higher quality candidates end up working in bigger cities.

That’s not to say that nothing can be done, but there’s a lack of political will given the absolute dearth of talent or forward thinking by NELC councillors. You only have to look at how Fenty ended up as portfolio holder for regeneration, skills and housing - a man comically underqualified for such a role - to see why NELC are really lagging behind.

Quoted from RichMariner

This is going to go down like a lead balloon but here goes...

I've been living in the Leeds area for the past 15 years and working in the city centre for the last 10.

It's a city surrounded by out-of-town retail parks, like White Rose, but the city centre during the week and at weekends is as busy as ever.

It's unrecognisable from what it was back in the mid-2000s, which isn't that long ago.

They've developed Granary Wharf and are now building loads of new flats, accommodation and shops next door at Mustard Wharf, close to where the canal and train station meet.

I'm a Meggie, I never saw myself living and working in Leeds when I was younger but I've gotta be honest, I visited Grimsby a couple of weeks ago and it left me feeling very empty.

I can project memories over what it is now, but for my wife who isn't from there, it just looked what it was: a dead end. Loads of closed shops, hardly any people, no kids hanging out there, despite it being the Easter holiday.

Leeds city council have invested loads in data, it's grown from a financial hub into a digital city of excellence, and while I'm all for their football club failing I have to say it's not a dirty slum as we may have sung about them in the past. It's anything but.

It's also not perfect, but you can see how the city is constantly developing, it never rests. The council are investing, which invites so many more companies to do the same. It's snowballing and it's come out the other side of the pandemic stronger than it was going into it.