Stoke Staffs LEP
PROMOTING STOKE & STAFFORDSHIRE JOBS AND GROWTH AT MIPIM UK

PROMOTING STOKE & STAFFORDSHIRE JOBS AND GROWTH AT MIPIM UK

Opportunities to bring jobs and growth to Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire are being promoted to business investors and developers at a major international event in London next week.
The Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership will be flying the flag for the region at the second annual MIPIM UK conference and exhibition at Olympia from October 21 to 23.
MIPIM UK is the country’s largest exhibition and conference for property professionals and provides a marketplace for UK and international investors to meet, discuss projects and opportunities and do business. The MIPIM event attracts property investors from around the world and is attended by councils, inward investment bodies and LEPs in order to attract funding and investment.
The LEP team aims to raise Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire’s profile and promote the area’s off-the-peg industrial and commercial sites and development opportunities, and the skilled workforce available.
LEP chairman David Frost said the event was a key showcase for the region.
“It is very important that we keep a continuing flow of new investment into Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire by promoting growth opportunities to a national and international audience,” Mr Frost said.
“We face a great deal of competition for investment from other localities across the country, and internationally as well, so I do believe very strongly that it is vital to attend events like this.
“We have got to keep banging the drum for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire as a great area to invest and do business, so that we can create more and better jobs for local people.”
The LEP will be exhibiting at MIPIM UK under the Make It Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire banner, the inward investment partnership funded by Staffordshire County Council and Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Local business leaders will also be attending to share their experience of thriving and prospering in the area and promoting its attractions to potential investors.
Among them will be representatives from PENDA Property Partnership, the strategic property partnership recently formed by Staffordshire County Council together with the Police and Crime Commissioner with Kier Group. John Fozzard, strategic development director from Kier, said: “While the partnership was only launched earlier this year we are already working on a wide range of opportunities across the county. This unique and innovative approach to managing its property assets sets Staffordshire apart from its peers and ensures that it accelerates the delivery of supporting growth, as well as creating new jobs and safer, happier communities. MIPIM UK gives PENDA a great platform to share this insight and promote the area as a place that wants to do business with the aim of further accelerating growth and prosperity in the region.”
The LEP’s aims include building on the region’s established place at the heart of growth in the energy generation and advanced manufacturing sectors, attracting investors to support the continued growth of these industries.
Key development sites are also available for development for the hotel and leisure industry, and attracting hotel developers is another area of focus.
And, as an aspiring Core City, Stoke-on-Trent will be aiming to secure interest for:
• Smithfield, the new Grade A office Central Business District, helping create a city centre for the 21st century.
• Etruria Valley – the key employment site at the heart of the regeneration plans for this northern gateway to the city
• The Bridgewater residential site, as part of the city living plans at the heart of Stoke’s government-backed Housing Zone initiative
• Ceramic Valley – the proposed Enterprise Zone focused on accelerating investment in seven sites in the strategic A500 corridor.

Make It Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire is hosting three special events on the MIPIM stand to promote the area, with leading speakers from the private and public sectors.
The topics are: The Big Three – Stoke-on-Trent’s development revolution; Developing Staffordshire – a review of opportunities across the county; and using public/private joint ventures to stimulate commercial development. Further details are available on the Make It website: http://www.makeitstokestaffs.co.uk/join-us-at-mipim-uk-on-stand-f14-e15/

 

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