Essex Archives - Invest Colchester

Business Board manifesto for Greater Essex makes business the driver of growth

Posted on February 5, 2026 | by Editor | Leave a Comment

Business leaders from across Essex came together on 3 February to set out a confident, business-led vision for the future of Greater Essex, launching a new manifesto focused on accelerating growth, attracting investment and unlocking opportunity across the region.

With a £55 billion economy, 94,000 businesses and 878,000 jobs, Greater Essex is already one of the UK’s largest and fastest-growing regional economies. GEBB highlighted that if the region performed in line with the wider South East, it could generate up to £8 billion more in economic output each year – underlining the scale of the opportunity for businesses operating in the area.

Read the GEBB Manifesto https://tinyurl.com/4tt44scy

Four Colchester Winners in Essex NOVO Awards

Posted on November 18, 2021 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

2021 saw the BEST Growth Hub launched the inaugural NOVO Awards. Focussed on recognising and rewarding innovation as well as the ability to pivot and adapt, the NOVO Awards saw entries from 100+ Essex-based businesses. Six entry streams were categorised as Economy, Creative, Society, Environment, Use of Business Support and Digitech.

An expert judging panel awarded marks, with 32 entries reaching the benchmark to win NOVO Awards. 26 of the 32 companies won classic NOVOs and six won gold NOVO Awards. Bespoke artisan-made trophies and certificates were presented at the gala presentation and dinner at Braxted Park on 21 October.

Four Colchester companies won awards. Many congratulations to:

CLIP empowers young people to take creative risks and make exciting new music with playful education services and
innovative range of music technology products. CLIP provides music workshops supporting young people to explore new technologies and get curious with sound in supportive and encouraging environments, ensuring self-perceived ability is never a barrier to entry.
Arma Karma is an Insurtech that provides flexible insurance for students and renters. Its subscription based service allows people to cover up to five valuable items at home, while they’re outside the home and abroad as standard. In doing so, they can support a good cause, with 25% of commission revenue going to a charity of their choice from our selected panel of four. Arma Karma aims to raise £1million collectively for these organisations over the next three years.
Business Time in Essex is the only B2B magazine serving Essex. Launched in 2016 it is now the largest regional B2B magazine in the UK. Distributed free to 8,000 businesses across Essex BTIE is also available free online as a flipbook magazine. It offers a wealth of news, views and information on the Essex business scene as well as marketing opportunities for businesses of all types and sizes.
Bare Native is an organic cosmetics company from Mersea Island. It saw the problem of tonnes of oyster shells being thrown into landfill each year by local restaurants as it’s against the law for shells to be thrown back into the water because of the bacteria that then kills growing oysters around the estuary. Bare Native explored the benefits of oyster shell powder and transcended it into the formulation of specialised skin care, upcycling oyster shells in the process without the use of toxic chemicals. It’s skin care line works with the world-famous, Colchester Native Oyster and has proven that the rare composition of the oyster shell is an incredible exfoliant and healing aid to the skin’s epidermal layer.

Image credit: BEST Growth Hub

Essex Among Best Universities for Local Growth and Community Engagement

Posted on April 6, 2021 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

The University of Essex is one of the best universities for engaging with the community and helping generate local growth and regeneration, according to a new Government report.

The first Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), published today by Research England, shows the rich contributions English higher education providers make, both economically and socially, on both local and national levels.

The findings show Essex is performing above average in several key areas. It is in the top 10% for its work with the public and third sector and in the top 20% for its public and community engagement and work on local growth and regeneration. The University also performed well for commercialisation and research partnerships.

Image credit: University of Essex

Ingleton Wood awarded £20m funding for school improvement projects

Posted on July 15, 2020 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

Ingleton Wood, which has an office in Colchester, won over £20 million in funding for vital school projects from the Government’s Condition Improvement Fund for 2020/21.

Ingleton Wood has secured almost 5% of the £434 million funding from the Department for Education – thought to be one of the largest amounts won by a single company nationally.

The investment for our education clients range from small repair projects such as fire door and boiler renewals to multimillion-pound school block replacements.

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The First of Greater Anglia’s New Trains Arrives in Essex for Testing

Posted on February 11, 2020 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

The first of Greater Anglia’s new Bombardier electric trains has now arrived in the region, ready to start a series of safety and performance tests in Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Suffolk. Bombardier has now built around a third of the carriages which will make up 111 new electric trains due to run on commuter lines to Liverpool Street from Essex, Ipswich, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.

Image credit: Greater Anglia

£100K Cricket Funding for Council’s Sports Park at Colchester’s Northern Gateway

Posted on October 16, 2019 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

The Colchester Northern Gateway Sports Park has been awarded £100,000 by the England and Wales Cricket Board, creating a strong partnership with Essex County Cricket Club and Colchester Borough Council.

The £100,000 will contribute towards a new indoor cricket facility in the north of Colchester, which will form part of the sports facilities that will be managed by Leisure World for Colchester Borough Council.

Image: Pixabay

Colchester-based Ultimotive wins Small Business of the Year Award in the Eastern Region

Posted on October 11, 2019 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

Brand licensing company Ultimotive continues their winning year with another award for 2019. Recognising and rewarding excellence in British business, the Chamber Business Awards is one of the UK’s most contested and prestigious business award programmes. Each year, from Aberdeen to Cornwall, organisations of all sizes and sectors compete for the coveted titles and the national recognition they bring.

The Small Business of the Year category is sponsored by Facebook. The ability to highlight strong financial performance as well as consistent growth secured Ultimotive, the only Essex-based company listed, with this prestigious award.

Image credit: Chamber Business Awards

New £12m Innovation Centre Opened by Chancellor John Bercow at University of Essex

Posted on July 15, 2019 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

A new home for early stage and start-up technology companies and student entrepreneurs has been officially opened by The Rt Hon John Bercow MP at the University of Essex’s Knowledge Gateway research and technology park. The Innovation Centre is being operated by the UK’s leading innovation centre operator, Oxford Innovation, and will eventually host more than 50 businesses. It is also the base for Studio X, the university’s digital creative collaborative studio and student start-up programme.

Image credit: University of Essex, David Higgleton

Cloudfm Wins Queen’s Award for Innovation

Posted on May 15, 2019 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

Colchester based Cloudfm is delighted to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of innovation. This highly sought-after award recognises Cloudfm’s outstanding contribution to the facilities management industry and is the first time a maintenance company has been honoured for innovation in 10 years.

University of Essex Announces Largest Expansion of Staff in its History

Posted on April 30, 2019 | by web@colchester.gov.uk

Image Credit: University of Essex: The University of Essex has set out an ambitious plan for the future, creating 100 new academic and 50 new professional posts, the largest expansion of staff in its history. The University’s new Strategic Plan sets out its ambition to grow the University to 20,000 students and 1,000 researchers by 2025.