We’ve had this type of conversation on Opinions back in the day. I’ve always been convinced that Plymouth fails to exploit its many benefits. It - and the surrounding area - has scenery, history, culture and the potential to be a gateway to and from the UK far beyond what it currently does. What it lacks in abundance though is vision and ambition.
Some of this is being addressed in the Freeport strategy but it could be even bigger, so my musings:
Vision - establish a team across all sectors to create a vision for the city and surrounding community (. Politicians, council leaders, land owners, public services and agencies (inc. Defence sector given its incumbency), SMEs, big business, technology, citizens etc.
Strategy - a gamble but one which could be made. Employ forward thinking consultancies to work with the visionaries to develop the strategy and business case including returns on investment. I doubt very much that Plymouth itself has the capability required - Management Consultants, Business Architects, Analysts …. but can exploit the capabilities of business and technology partners.
Finance - Inward investment (public/private), co-ordinated use of politicians and business leaders for lobbying (as appropriate). Seed-funding opportunities and expertise in exploiting Government issued Calls for proof of concept.
Transport links - should not be considered in isolation and frankly will never happen until the business case is demonstrated. Public/private partnerships likely needed. Issues with internal transport links are obvious (personally, other than driving 12-13 hours I have to fly Inverness to Bristol and then hire a car which is inflexible and costly), but I would be looking beyond this and positioning Plymouth as a gateway to and from Europe and the world, by sea and air. Freeport again… and accommodation (including hotels).
Smart City - having worked on several projects and managed experts in this field I know this can be a real door opener for public/private partnerships and investment. Air quality, Transport, Waste management and digital infrastructure in general exploiting some of the dark fibre. This would support public service integration as well as improved digital benefits for business in general including SMEs. This is being done in other cities so we are not reinventing the wheel here.
Marketing - not to be under-estimated. Sell the vision, sell the benefits and and continue to sell it post implementation for adoption. Hugely important.
These are thoughts off the top of my head and only scratch the surface, but I genuinely believe Plymouth’s location and overall attraction gives it real differentiation. Given, in my work, I used to have conversations with cities of similar proportions on the North and East coast, how can Plymouth not be a more attractive bet?
So Plymouth, how ambitious are you?