Enterprise & Business
Encouraging sustainable business growth
Sustainable business growth covers a wide range of issues. It is not sufficient to just encourage businesses to be set up, they need to be supported to grow and remain in the region to have a positive economic impact. By employing local people, buying from local companies and having a neutral affect on the environment, they provide real sustainable benefit. As well as business sustainability, this goal also includes broader economic sustainability issues including market town viability, rural vitality and sustainable tourism.
The GCP's role in identifying and prioritising economic development activities for the sub-region are set out in the About Us and the Strategy & Investment Plan sections. In the last few years the GCP has commissioned a number of pieces of research and overseen projects to address specific concerns or issues such as:
- The vitality of rural areas, where the majority of the sub-region's population live
- Promotion of the sub-region to both businesses and leisure visitors, and capitalising on the forthcoming London 2012 Olympic Games
Market town enhancement
Small towns such as Soham and Huntingdon have come under increased competition from retail multiplexes and out-of-town retail developments,
causing local trade to decline.
With the help of the GCP, significant environmental improvements were undertaken to the townscape, access and retail training, with particular emphasis on shop front facades, car parking and customer training for small independent retailers.
As a result of these activities the declining town centres have been helped to revive and now have a more distinctive offer for local people.
Poppies shop in Soham, before and after
Developing a broad tourism offer
The Greater Cambridge area is a top attraction for visitors but is increasingly being used as a short-stay destination. To promote longer stays,
more needs to be done by targeting certain markets and improving the quality of the ‘product’. This will increase the value derived locally from tourism.
A tourism strategy has been developed to improve local coordination of services, help promote the area as a whole and focus on value not volume.
A tourism steering group has been convened to help develop and implement the tourism strategy. Duxford has recently received £1m of EEDA funding to develop its AirSpace project which should help add to the nearly half a million visitors it received in 2005.
Duxford, an opportunity to package city and surroundings to encourage longer term stays.
