I HAVE lived and worked in the city for most of my life and as a businessman I know that Nottingham is sadly more likely to feature on Crimewatch than Dragons' Den.

More people are aware of our gun crime statistics or, indeed, our lottery winners, than our growing and educated student population and the great opportunities on offer. Our challenge is changing perception rather than the reality.

The city has a lot to shout about and we do our best to highlight the advantages of the region in our roles as ambassadors for the city.

Look at the infrastructure spending on the widening of the A453 and the green light for phase two of the tram. Quietly we intone that where Edinburgh has failed to deliver a tram system, Nottingham has succeeded.

A new £70m hub at the railway station also shows we are plugged into road and rail and air links are strengthened year on year.

Gleeds is one of a number of international organisations that while thinking local are acting global. We are joined by businesses like Experian, Boots, and Benoys.

Two world-class Universities are feeding our organisations with talented and motivated professionals who were educated in Nottingham.

We are a developing a BioCity and the Antenna media centre.

The truth is that we have a great deal on offer in our great city, a diverse growing community, a ready supply of good labour, investment in infrastructure and steady cohesive political leadership.

What we lack is strong and effective marketing of the East Midlands region. Other cities have faced similar image issues. Glasgow had its "Glasgow Smiles Better" campaign in the 1980s and the perception of the city was transformed from a hellhole to European Capital of Culture.

It took political will and investment but the rewards were amazing. We can do the same.

The Invest in Nottingham Club regularly brings together those with a desire to see Nottingham in the headlines for all the right reasons.

It is agreed that we should not be arguing about the number of vacant shops in the city, this is not what I want investors to be talking about at the end of the month at MIPIM, the international property forum supported by our company and many others.

I want businesses to be attracted to the East Midlands as a result of investment in some effective and well-planned international marketing activity to address the image of the region.

The time for talking is over; when I look at the headlines I want to see more than young couples holding oversized lottery cheques.

Stuart Senior is managing partner property consultants Gleeds.