company had worked on a number of successful projects with the council. “Because of that, the council approached me and asked me if I could help forming this new company and I agreed. “I was originally intending to do
“It was a fight in those early years. Maintaining that independence was the big issue we had, because the whole project was being bankrolled by the city council. “It was the height of the recession and investment was challenging, and a lot of the board got nervous because we had to spend money to get things done and done right. “The saving grace was that some of the work we did bore fruit. People could see that the events were working and throwing light on the positives in the city. “We had what we called the Pirate Festival and then the first of what we called the Tall Ships Festivals in 2009 and it took off from there. “When our first chief executive GrahamWalker left, we managed to persuade Chris Oldershaw to take over. “He was a safe pair of hands who knew the city well due to his work with the Heritage Urban Regeneration Company. “Chris had done such a brilliant job with the GHURC that, when he became available, it was a no-brainer to get him on board in a holding role, until we could appoint a new chief executive.” Change came as Mr Owen and the original directors stood down – although city council leader Paul James remained in place as chairman of a new-look board and soon there was a new CEO too. Jason Smith took those reins in 2013 and, looking back, he can see that the early success of theTall Ships Festival was key to giving the organisation solid foundations. Mr Smith said: “That 2009 festival was an overriding success as a placemaking and branding exercise.
Mark Owen
it for six months while we chose a new chief executive, but I ended up staying for two years and becoming chairman. “We got great buy-in from the city, we had representatives from the rugby club, the university, the Cathedral, both the big city shopping centres and the Quays all on our board. “It was all set up and ready to go, but the problem we had in the early days was that, despite the reports saying that we should be independent from the council, the council couldn’t let go. “Throughout the city there was a communality about getting things done. The report recommended that a £1million project was started, that wasn’t the case in practice. “Developing a pride of place was the key thing. How do you get investment in to the city from elsewhere if the people don’t like the city they live in? “People used to come to Gloucester, get in a taxi at the station and ask the driver ‘what’s good about Gloucester?’ Let’s just say the reply they would get wouldn’t be positive.
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