Does The Forum point to the mindset Gloucestershire needs to succeed?

It was meant as encouragement, and with investment needed and the Golden Valley pending, could a major London developer's insight into The Forum signpost the way forward for Gloucestershire?

Dear reader,

Matched in sheer volume of publicity only by the Golden Valley Development, The Forum - the £100m-plus office, retail and leisure complex in Gloucester - has already done something the other scheme has yet to do. It’s been built. And it’s already changing minds about the city.

We wanted to know why a London-based developer like Reef + Partners would put so much energy into a project in an unfashionable West Country city and partner with a local authority to do it. And whether it had all been worth it.

Its answers point to how we need to view ourselves in Gloucestershire if we are to continue to succeed in attracting investment, which brings us back to the Golden Valley Development.

It’s the kind of perspective championed up in Leeds this week by the team from Invest in Gloucestershire and others at the UK Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) - which saw them pitch the county to the UK’s biggest investors and developers. We will publish a story on just how t…