At Open House 2026, Mark Webb, Managing Director (The Business Hive) delivered the following opening speech. He set out the vision, energy and determination shaping Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, highlighting the qualities that are driving the town’s transformation: Growth, Grit and Opportunity.
Below is Mark’s full speech.
“Growth, Grit and Opportunity
Today I want to talk about three words that define this moment: Growth. Grit. Opportunity.
And I want to talk about a place that has known all three in abundance – Grimsby, at the heart of North East Lincolnshire.
If you talk to people who’s families grew up here, you’ll often hear the same stories. Early mornings on the docks. Families whose lives revolved around the tides. People who worked long hours in all-weather because that was simply what needed to be done.
That spirit built Grimsby.
Built on endeavour,
Built on the docks.
Built on fishing fleets that once made us one of the greatest ports in the world.
Built on people who were never afraid of hard work, long hours, and uncertain horizons.
But let us be honest with one another. Over the last few decades, Grimsby has faced profound challenges.
Most recently, the collapse of high street retail. The hollowing out of town centres across Britain. The shift to online commerce and out of town shopping centres. Economic restructuring and population change.
Like many northern towns, we have seen boarded shopfronts where there were once thriving businesses.
We have seen footfall fall. We have seen confidence dip.
We cannot – and should not – pretend it is otherwise. But…. decline is not destiny. Because alongside that deterioration, something else has been re-emerging. Something determined, Something resilient.
Grit.
Over the last few years the people of Grimsby have not stood still. They have organised. They have planned. They have invested. They have reimagined.
The organisation Our Future has been bringing partners together – business leaders, educators and civic voices — to shape a long-term vision for the town. Not a glossy brochure. Not a slogan. But a serious effort to ask a fundamental question:
What kind of place do we want Grimsby to be in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time?
This is an important question, because reinvention is never accidental. It is intentional and we are already beginning to see the results of that intention.
Across the town, change is taking shape.
A major new youth facility – the Horizon Youth Zone – rising as a statement of belief in our young people. A place not just for recreation, but for aspiration. I visited the Horizon Youth Zone. What struck me wasn’t just the building – it was the conversations happening around it.
People talking about what it will mean for young people here – somewhere to belong, somewhere to develop talent, somewhere to see possibility.
A new multi-screen cinema and leisure development that will restore energy and evening life to the heart of the town.
- The Hive – a facility for local businesses that will give entrepreneurs and growing firms a modern base right in the town centre – because enterprise should be visible, accessible and celebrated.
- Our Big Picture – an incredible conversion of an historic Grade 2 listed building on a Grimsby High Street, offer a unique blend of arts, heritage, and community activities
- A brand-new modern market – not as a nostalgic nod to the past, but as a confident re-imagining of what a 21st-century market town can be.
- And the C.A.R.E Hub – an extraordinary community centre in the heart of Grimsby designed by international award winning designer Scott Maddux open to all and rooted firmly in the life of this town.
These are not cosmetic changes. They are structural commitments to Grimsby’s future.
And now we stand at the threshold of further opportunity, with the prospect of support through the Government’s Pride in Place programme – investment designed to strengthen town centres, restore civic confidence and back communities that are serious about renewal.
But let us be clear. This is not about government handouts. It is about partnership. Because bricks and mortar alone do not create transformation. Buildings matter. Infrastructure matters. Public spaces matter.
But people matter more.
Growth does not arrive simply because funding appears.
It comes because investors choose to believe. Because businesses choose to expand. Because communities choose to engage. Because individuals choose to act.
It is importtnat to recognise that doing nothing is not neutral. It is a decision.
It says: It’ll never happen anyway, It says: let someone else deal with it. It says: it probably won’t change. It says: it is easier to wait.
But if we do nothing, the symbolic heart of North East Lincolnshire – our town centre – will fragment. And with that fragmentation comes something even more damaging: the erosion of confidence in our future.
That is why groups like the 2025 Group, formed by local business leaders, have been so important in changing the narrative. Their message has been simple:
Be part of the positive. Look not only at what has been lost – but at what is being built. Choose to counter the relentless doom mongering on social media with observations of positive developments and espousing positive potential for the future
To the investors in this room – both local and from further afield – let me say this clearly:
Grimsby is not a finished product. It is a town in motion.
Property values remain competitive. Our workforce is loyal and increasingly skilled. Our seafood sector is the largest in the country, The renewable energy sector along the Humber continues to grow.
There is ambition in our civic leadership and collaboration across sectors that many larger cities would envy. Where some may see risk, others will see opportunity. Where some see a town recovering, others will see a market positioning itself for growth.
And when national investment aligns with local leadership and private capital, the multiplier effect can be powerful.
To our incredible local businesses and enterprises:
You are not bystanders in this reinvention. You are its engine. Every business started, every shop refurbished. Every unique offering created. Every local person employed. Every collaborative event hosted.
These actions create momentum.
A thriving town centre is never the product of one development, one policy or one organisation. It is the cumulative result of hundreds of daily decisions you make to invest, to improve and to grow.
And to our community and cultural groups:
You are the social glue that holds places together. For what is a town without its unique culture and without a proud and engaged community
The festivals. The volunteer networks. The cultural initiatives. The mentoring programmes. These are what turn infrastructure into belonging. When a young person walks through the doors of the Horizon Youth Zone, or My Big Picture, or attends afestival in the town and feels possibility — That is a community at work.
We must of course be realistic about what lies ahead
Retail will not return to the levels of 1995. Consumer habits have changed and economic pressures remain.
The future of Grimsby will not be built by recreating its past.
It will be built by adapting. By blending residential life, leisure, culture, local enterprise and public space into a town that works for modern life. By embracing digital alongside physical commerce. By linking education with industry. And by ensuring regeneration benefits the people who live here – not just those who visit.
Reinvention is rarely simple.
It is complex. It can be messy. And it requires patience. But the alternative – stagnation – is far more costly.
So let us return to those three words.
Grit.
The quality Grimsby has always possessed and the thing that will see us through every challenge
The resilience of dock workers, factory workers, small business owners and families who stayed when it would have been easier to leave, people who stood up and said I’m going to try.
That grit is still here.
Growth.
Not just economic growth – but growth in confidence, skills, collaboration and pride. Growth through action and growth through working together
Opportunity.
When public investment prospects align with local leadership, private capital and civic determination, that is a moment and moments like this do not last forever. They must be seized.
So heads up, here is what I am asking
If you are an investor – come and see not only what Grimsby is, but what it is becoming.
If you are a business owner – engage with the plans, bring your entrepreneurial energy and help shape what comes next. Be part of the positive
If you are a community leader – bring the hopes and aspirations, the culture and creativity of your wide networks networks into the conversation.
And if you are a resident – Talk up your town, use the town centre and help shape it, talk about your ideas your hopes and your needs.
To everyone…..Be a proactive part of the Positive, because town centres rarely die from a single blow.
They decline through accumulated indifference. And they revive through accumulated belief.
Imagine a young person growing up in Grimsby today. In twenty years’ time they might look back and say: that was the moment the town began to turn. When Grit met Opportunity The moment people stopped talking about decline — and started building something new.”
Our Future has laid the groundwork. The Pride in Place opportunity can be the catalyst.
But it will not happen through grand words or wishful thinking. It will happen through partnership, realism and courage. Through the same spirit that has always defined this town.
Over the next two days look for those three words they are here in abundance.
Growth. Grit. Opportunity“
