August 2017 - Invest Colchester

Garden Communities: An Exciting Opportunity

Posted on August 18, 2017 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

You may have read about proposals to create three new ‘Garden Communities’ across North Essex over the next 30+ years.

A joint project between Braintree and Tendring District, Colchester Borough and Essex County Councils, they have stemmed from the need for a new way to deliver long-term housing provision, moving away from traditional private sector led developments.

Proposing a unique and visionary approach to housing and associated infrastructure delivery, the development of the new communities will be led by the Councils themselves, meaning the ability to control the design, the types of housing, the speed of build and importantly ensure the necessary infrastructure is delivered ahead of or alongside the homes.

There are many advantages to this approach, and while these developments are an answer to the housing-need conundrum, they also offer an exciting opportunity for the business community across North Essex.

One of the key principles of Garden Communities is that they should be self-sustainable, self-contained developments. This means ensuring citizens are able to live and work in close proximity – and the vision of the Councils is to create one job per household within a sustainable commuting distance of the three communities, meaning up to 45,000 new jobs across the three areas.

Creating the conditions, space, and infrastructure to aid business is therefore fundamental (and possible through the critical mass created by large scale development) and work has begun on creating an economic vision and strategy, looking at both the opportunities and challenges as well as how the three communities could fit within the wider North Essex context.

Business will have the chance to be part of this discussion as we have some fundamental questions to ask about what the future looks like. For example, do we want traditional jobs like those in retail or services, or will we be creating opportunities in industries like the digital and creative sectors? Will we look to attract big business looking to move out of London, or do we want to encourage start-ups or existing businesses to expand? And in terms of infrastructure how can we bring in the latest technological advances to aid businesses of the future.

More information on the programme is at www.ne-gc.co.uk, and if you have comments or ideas we would welcome feedback from you via negc@colchester.goc.uk.

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Next generation insight into the work of the Council’s Economic Growth Team

Posted on August 16, 2017 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

What were your aims/aspirations from this internship?

I am currently studying Business & Marketing at the Colchester Institute and I hope to base my career around this area. I wanted to get a general view of working in an office environment, in particular, the areas of management and how each individual is treated within an organisation. My aspiration is to run my own business, however I am uncertain about the right area but I am interested in property development. It has been a great learning opportunity. I was given an invaluable insight into how property is developed and how it is viewed and dealt with by the public sector.

What did you do?

My month at the Council has consisted of numerous researching tasks, and various visits that have benefited the Council for future projects. Being a part of the Economic Development team has helped me greatly as I have been able to learn about the development of a range of places like, museums and business centres. I attended different meetings that took place between the Council and potential buyers of Council property as well as learning how the Council currently manages their properties. It was very interesting and certainly an experience I will take with me and make use of in my career.

What did you particularly like?

I have enjoyed participating in meetings and visits with the estate team to Council properties that are planned to be developed as well as meetings with potential buyers. In general, I have learnt a lot of valuable information that has given me a great insight into the public sector and how a Council is run. I was very shocked to see the number of different tasks and time required to go into projects which the public are unaware of. I have also learned about the wide range of properties and land owned by the Council and the specific strategies for each location.

Has anything changed after your internship experience?

My impressions before my internship was that I was going to be given one task to work on throughout my time. However, after working here, I was delighted to experience a wide range of tasks which I have carried out independently. In addition, I have learned so much with the many different meetings I was fortunate to attend. I now have a much better understanding of our Council’s role and the importance of the work performed by every member of staff. After working within this sector, it is has changed my thought process about starting a business at an early age. I feel it might be more beneficial for me to work in a similar environment like the Council so I can grow my experience and understanding of the areas of business I really want to focus on.

What happens next?

I plan to finish my second year of college and work part time alongside my studies.

The Council’s Economic Growth team have been delighted to work with Josh over the past month and we would like to thank him for his work and wish him every success for the future. The internship was part of the Career Ready programme, which is a UK wide charity linking employers with schools and colleges to open up the world of work to young people. Click here to find out more.

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A Snapshot of Foreign Direct Investment in Colchester Reveals an Interesting Picture

Posted on August 10, 2017 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

Colchester has a thriving and diverse economy but it is important to understand its various characteristics in these changing times. Colchester Borough Council recently worked in partnership with University of Essex Intern, Ken Lee, to produce a baseline position of FDI in Colchester so that comparisons can be made in future as the implications of Brexit unfold.

This research tells us that:

At least 50 business units were foreign owned in Colchester at the end of 2016( 7% of all business units in the Borough)
Though small in number these businesses make a significant contribution to the Borough’s turnover – 38%, and they employ almost 10,000 people (11.2% of total employment)
The majority are long established businesses
At 60% the European Economic Area is the region with the largest number of foreign ownerships however:
- the EU proportion of FDI owned companies represents 2% of employment – 1794 jobs and £463.6m of the Borough’s turnover (5.2%).
- The non-EU proportion of FDI owned enterprises represents 9.2% of employment – 8128 jobs and £2946m of the Borough’s turnover (32.9%)

The top three countries owning Colchester companies were: Germany (40%), Ireland (19%) and Spain/Luxembourg (= 6%)
Middle sized companies rather than large or micro businesses are most common at 56% and these typically employ between 10-149 people
- The sectors most represented by FDI are communications, arts and recreation closely followed by manufacturing. Communications, arts and manufacturing were identified as key sectors for future growth in Colchester’s Economic Growth Strategy 2015-21

Commenting on the report, Councillor Tim Young, Portfolio Holder for Business and Culture, said: “The report has been really useful in highlighting how important FDI is to Colchester’s economy in terms of jobs and turnover. It was particularly interesting to see how Non-EU is more significant in terms of jobs and turnover than the EU. However, we absolutely appreciate how EU related products and services in Colchester businesses may well contribute to important supply chains elsewhere in the UK.

It is important to separate FDI from exporting which are not covered by this report. Many British owned companies located in Colchester export successfully around the globe and employ many local people. However, they are separate to foreign owned enterprises where company decisions are made overseas.

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE FULL REPORT

Contact: Jim.leask@colchester.gov.uk and follow us on Twitter: @ColchBusiness

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Economic Impact of the University of Essex rises by 11% to over £500m

Posted on August 8, 2017 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

The University of Essex contributes more than £500m to the UK economy, a rise of 11% compared to the previous year, according to its latest Economic Impact Report. The report shows the University has broken through the half a billion pound mark for economic impact for the first time as it attracted record numbers of students and turnover reached well over £200m.