Agenda item

This report presents to the Committee an update on the development of the next phase of the Council’s pioneering Industrial Strategy: Upstream London, launched in late November at an event at the new WEST Youth Zone in White City. The goal is to make the borough a global hub of innovation and inclusive growth.

Councillor Stephen Cowan (Leader of the Council) introduced the item and provided a comprehensive update on the development of the next phase of the Council’s pioneering Industrial Strategy: Upstream London. This was launched in late November 2024, at an event at the new WEST Youth Zone in White City. Building on the first phase of the Strategy, the Committee noted the aim was to make the borough a global hub of innovation and inclusive growth.

Councillor Stephen Cowan provided details on how the strategy had initially developed, following the establishment of a partnership with world-leading Imperial College London in 2017 to establish a cluster of science, technology, engineering, maths, medicines and media (STEM) businesses around Imperial’s existing research and development, to create a world-leading economic ecosystem in future industries.

Councillor Stephen Cowan explained the Council had developed a clear strategy to grow a localised economic ecosystem, with a focus on the sectors that were set to grow and that were deemed right for the local area. He highlighted the importance of creating the conditions for serendipity to occur and the innovation which stemmed from this. It was noted that since the inception of the Industrial Strategy, the Council had helped to generate £6billion of high-growth business investment, creating over 13,000 jobs. This had led to increased opportunities in the community through working closely with partners including anchor institutions, businesses and investors.

At the same event and as a central part of Upstream London, the Council also launched the Upstream Pathway Bond. Councillor Stephen Cowan explained this was a groundbreaking initiative giving people a clearer pathway into new careers and more opportunities to develop new skills. The Committee were informed that utilising relationships with businesses and with the international partnerships the Council had developed, young people would have significantly more opportunities. 

Councillor Ashok Patel congratulated Councillor Stephen Cowan on Upstream London / the Industrial Strategy. He noted the innovation districts which had been set up in Europe and Australia and asked if there were any plans for these to be developed in the Far East, particularly Singapore and India. Councillor Ashok Patel also commented on the work of the Sands End, Arts and Community Centre and the events which had been taking place there. In response, Councillor Stephen Cowan explained that next year, the Council would be launching the Innovation District Convention, and the council was currently in the process of speaking to all its partners and stakeholders in Hammersmith and Fulham about this, which would be open to people from around the world.

He explained that the Council was keen to extend the number of innovation districts in the democratic world as this was the best way to share learning and ensure the Council made the right decisions. He explained that the Council had met with the Leaders of Kanataka about linking with them in India and the Council was particularly keen to develop its Life Science connections. It was noted the Council had signed a letter of intent and memorandum of understanding with them in 2024.

Councillor Stephen Cowan explained the Council had been in contact with the Korean Embassy about establishing innovation districts in the Republic of Korea and Singapore was another area of interest. Given that Hammersmith and Fulham was an economic hotspot and was world renowned for having produced fast economic growth, the opportunities to share and learn were increasing.

In relation to the Governance structures – the Upstream London Delivery Board and the Upstream London Political Oversight Group, Councillor Ashok Patel asked for more details to be provided on these, including their composition. In response, Councillor Stephen Cowan confirmed that he Chaired the Delivery Board which also included several Cabinet Members and prominent members of the community. This was the formal body that steered decisions and ensured that land development connected with skills, which then connected with entrepreneurial support.

Councillor Stephen Cowan also explained there was an Oversight Board, Stakeholder Board and day to day delivery was monitored by an Advisory Board which aimed to meet about three times per year. He confirmed that Elanor Gunn had met with the Council last week to discuss the Pathway Bond, which Councillor Cowan felt needed to act like a steering group. The composition of the Boards was still to be confirmed, but Councillor Cowan confirmed he was pleased with the number of people who had agreed to sit on these at this stage. He also provided comprehensive details on the Pathway Bonds and what these sought to achieve.

Councillor Rory Vaughan asked about the delivery of Scale Space and how this worked in practice, as well as sharing innovations more widely within the borough. He also mentioned the CO2 absorbing paint amongst other exciting innovations and how these were being shared. Councillor Rory Vaughan commented that Upstream was not purely focused on White City and there were also a number of places around the borough such as Fulham Riverside which had focused particularly on health and well-being.

Councillor Rory Vaughan also highlighted it was important to consider how the industrial and cultural strategy interacted with each other and helped to increase visitor numbers to the borough. In response, Councillor Stephen Cowan commented that next week there would be visitors from Poland who would be shown around the innovation district as well as share learnings. He commented that it was positive that the new Government had talked about economic growth and growth plans were now increasingly commonplace. It was noted the Council introduced its growth plan in 2017, and by working in partnership with Imperial College, this had given the council a significant advantage over late adopters.

The Chair thanked Councillors Stephen Cowan, Andrew Jones and the officers supporting Upstream and the Industrial Strategy work. He confirmed the Committee looked forward to a further update in due course.

RESOLVED

1. That the Committee note and comment on the recently launched Upstream London ‘white paper’ vision document

2. That the Committee note the intention to develop and cost a delivery plan