Worcestershire is a County making visible progress and last week I was pleased to meet with Harriett Baldwin MP who gave her backing for the plans outlined in our Growth Deal 3 bid to further develop Worcestershire, into a connected, creative and dynamic economy. Our latest bid includes proposed developments to the Southern Link Road expansion, extension of Malvern Hills Science Park to include a new National Smart Sensors Catapult and an International Centre for Inclusive Sport, Physical Activity and Health at the University of Worcester as well as support for infrastructure schemes such as A38 Corridor improvements and Pershore Northern Link Road developments. We are also bidding to extend the Worcestershire Growth Fund which has successfully enabled a number of businesses to expand, including Wickens.
Worcestershire really is a fantastic location for Cyber Security companies and I will be taking this message to Baltimore in Maryland, USA, as part of the Midlands Engine delegation next month. I am pleased to see a strong Worcestershire presence as part of the mission and I look forward to helping these businesses to establish lasting and productive relationships with businesses in Maryland. My congratulations go to Malvern-based Deep Secure, who have recently been recognised in the prestigious Cyber Security 500 listing within the top 300 cyber companies in the world and it is great news that D-RisQ and Oracle Environmental Experts Ltd have recently expanded and relocated onto the Malvern Hills Science Park.
I’m looking forward to the Festival of Business, which is being organised by Worcestershire LEP’s business board member, Stuart Allen, and I would urge you to register your space at the event if you haven’t already. Finally, I would also urge businesses to take the opportunity to voice their opinion and shape their business environment, by completing the Q3 Quarterly Economic Survey before the Monday 12 September 2016 deadline. The survey enables the WLEP and key influencers to better understand the current business climate and challenges that companies are facing.
You can find out more information about how the local business environment is developing at our Worcestershire LEP Annual Conference on 4 November which will focus on the County’s future economy. Please make sure you register and I look forward to meeting with you there.
