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Gloucester City Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee will meet tonight, Thursday, to discuss the future of Marketing Gloucester - the company it owns and which stages some of the city's biggest events.

The authority is set to take control of events like Tall Ships back in-house after commissioning an independent review into Marketing Gloucester as part of an agreement that saw the council loan £240,000 to the organisation to assist with 'cash flow problems'.

Here, Ian Mean, a former editor of the Gloucester Citizen and now director of Business West, says Marketing Gloucester is vital to the prosperity of the city.

Gloucester City Council needs to take a long hard look at itself tonight when it discusses the future of Marketing Gloucester.

It needs to answer some very basic questions before it takes the knife to an organisation which has, in my view, performed well against the odds.

Question 1

Do we want to continue to promote Gloucester as a thriving small city?

Patently, yes.

Gloucester had been in the doldrums for 20 years.

Developers would not touch it with a bargepole. Do we want to go back to those bad old days?

Certainly not.

Question 2

Do we really want an arms-length organisation like Marketing Gloucester to drive promotion of the city?

Yes, we do.

I am afraid the city’s track record of trying to run major events like the Tall Ships from within the council‘s departments is poor.

It will be far more costly to try and set up a similar operation within the city council if you scrap Marketing Gloucester.

(Image: SIMON PIZZEY)

Question 3

Can we afford Marketing Gloucester?

The statement should be that we can’t NOT afford an organisation like this.

I made the point over 17 years ago when I was appointed editor of The Citizen and first met the then chief executive of the council because I thought their marketing was lamentable.

Put simply, Marketing Gloucester has not had the budget to do its job properly.

No wonder it has landed up with a deficit. If you want to have Marketing Gloucester, you have got to pay for it.

Some of our councillors must realise you cannot cut out about £500,000 of Marketing Gloucester’s budget over three years and expect the finances to be rosy.

That’s not to say I am not in favour of far tighter financial and managerial controls - that must be put in place.

Question 4

What now happens to the Marketing Gloucester people?

As vice chair of the former Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company, I was involved in the setting up of Marketing Gloucester.

We realised there was no point in regenerating the city with key partners like Peel Holdings at The Quays unless you actually sold and promoted the new look and feel of little old Gloucester.

I think we were right then and without doubt we are right now.

That’s why we must retain as many of the excellent Marketing Gloucester team as possible.

This is not a leap of faith the council needs to take tonight.

It is simply logical and makes economic sense - Gloucester cannot stand still.

The council must not be allowed to stifle the marketing of our city for its future growth and prosperity.

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