PLYMOUTH is to get a complete rebrand in a bid to help create thousands of jobs.

The Plymouth City Development Company (PCDC) wants to find a new image for the city in a bid to sell it to potential investors, workers and visitors.

The city will get a new logo, a bank of photos and slogans to use in attracting investment.

PCDC has interviewed two local and two London branding agencies and is expected to announce its choice next week.

That firm will then spend about 12 weeks working on creating a "tight set of brand identity components".

This will include a "visual identity" logo and image library, an "aspirational statement" and simple one-line descriptions of what the city is.

Matthew Cross, PCDC's new director of inward investment and marketing, said: "A strong brand is very important."

He said this would be "based in reality" and will mean taking a new look at Plymouth and raising the aspirations of residents.

"We need to project Plymouth in a certain light," he said.

The finished branding will then form a 'tool kit' which other organisations can use to sell Plymouth.

It will fit with the wider objective of creating 42,500 jobs for Plymouth by 2026.

Mr Cross described the branding exercise as "the first major clearly definable milestone" for the city's progress.

He said the project, funded by PCDC, is about looking for a "core set of values, a core identity" that will "allow us as a city to understand who we are".

Once the 'brand toolkit' is in place, he said: "We will have created a very robust and solid foundation that we as a city can use to build a much more complete and involved and detailed campaign.

"We feel this has been missing from the city to date. There has not been a clear foundation that everyone in the city understands and provides context and meaning for any other campaign we want to run."

He said that could include campaigns to attract inward investors, Government departments or hi-tech companies to relocate to Plymouth, or even campaigns to attract tourists or new residents to provide a talent pool for employers.

Mr Cross has been in his job for just over two months.

Hailing originally from Belfast, he is married to a Plymothian and has experience of attracting investment in London.

He said Plymouth has had a "low sense of self-esteem" but stressed: "Other cities have not got anything close to the asset base of Plymouth, but are doing a better job of marketing themselves and getting investment and opportunities that Plymouth should be getting but has not.

"There is no external realisation of what Plymouth can do.

"I'm not going to say we can change everyone's attitudes, but start a process that over the course of time will do that. It's vital we do that.

"And for this to work it is vital the community is brought into this – that's where the aspiration comes from. We need to work out the best way of engaging with the community."

Comment – Page 10