Mark Barrow is joining Birmingham City Council as strategic director of development on 27 September. By the time Barrow joins, the position as leader of regeneration at the council will have been vacant for a year, after former regeneration director Clive Dutton vacated the role.

Barrow will join from Newcastle under Lyme Borough Council, where he is currently chief executive. He says he aims to use Birmingham’s council land holdings more efficiently, to promote regeneration, stimulate inward investment and run an efficient department. He is already spending one day a week meeting public and private sector contacts.

Barrow says one way to attract inward investment will be to offer incentives for prospective occupiers and show them appropriate sites for relocation. For international investors, he says one of the big issues will be helping them to get settled in the UK market.

“Property is a fast-moving industry and relies on creative deal making,” he says.

“In order to instigate regeneration, we need to be as responsive as possible and competitive in doing business.

“We need to be brokers and show that we can provide a competitive supply chain that businesses can fit in to,” he says.

He adds that achieving these goals will rely on using council land to create partnerships and prompt development: “The council owns about 40% of the land in Birmingham. We need to look at how we sweat those assets and create public-private partnerships that will add value and create jobs.”

Public sector quangos – such as the soon-to-be-abolished regional development agencies – have come under attack for wasting money on creating plans that have not come to fruition. Barrow says that to spend more efficiently, such initiatives have to stop.

“How many ’visions’ do we need?” he asks. “We just need the right people round the right tables focusing on delivery.”

Birmingham will hope that Barrow is one of those “right people”.

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