£1 billion development will generate £300 million in business rates
As a £95 million agreement was revealed to help pave the way for one of the biggest developments in our lifetimes in Gloucestershire more details have emerged of the long-term benefits to the county.
Good morning everyone,
Welcome to Thursday’s Raikes Journal, an email newsletter for the county’s business community, its charities and volunteering services and education and training sectors. You are reading an edition only paid-for members will be able to read in full.
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Before we get to our featured story - please find your end-of-week news briefing, some of the most interesting posts we’ve spotted this week.
* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (who we will be revealing over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable!
A little context on the main story…
As anyone will know who has even vaguely followed business news in Gloucestershire that cyber is considered not just one of the most exciting and fastest-growing sectors in the county, but a bedrock of its economic future. With GCHQ the catalyst, firms have already been gathering in the county.
The other key draw being the much-trumpeted £1 billion Golden Valley Development. It is a scheme expected to become home to Cyber Central, the UK's capital for digital-related businesses. In today’s top story (see below) we take a look at that in more detail. If you want to read the whole article, you will have to subscribe - but there should still be enough text here for everyone to make it clear how exciting this is for the county.
First, some of the key spots we’ve made this week and our regular introduction to the businesses that make up one of our favourite communities - members of Made in Gloucestershire.
Your Raikes briefing notes
👩🏽🌾 Places are up for grabs to help 20 businesses in agricultural sector to develop and grow in Gloucestershire thanks to a new partnership between Hartpury University's Tech Box Park, Barclays Eagle Labs. The collaboration, funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, will give the lucky businesses free access to Tech Box memberships (valued at £2,500). The six-month programme of support will aim to boost ‘high-potential businesses’ across the region and develop Hartpury’s thriving agri-tech community. Regular events are organised by the Tech Box Park alongside the adjacent Agri-Tech Centre to help members connect and share ideas. The first event of 2024 is scheduled for 31 January, 8.30am - 10.30am.
🚗 You can’t miss its gleaming glass headquarters as you arrive in Cheltenham along the Golden Valley bypass, but you may have missed its uplifting results. We took a look at The Cotswold Motor Group as part of our focus on Gloucestershire’s Top 100 firms by turnover and thought the figures were well worth shouting about. Who wouldn’t be pleased with adding £30 million-plus to their turnover in a tough market?
💪🏽 Two Gloucestershire charities close to the hearts of young people and families and individuals with complex needs have come together to forge a new alliance. The incredible Young Gloucestershire, which helps support young people to achieve their goals, and Infobuzz, which offers offers therapeutic and practical support for families and young people with complex needs in a crisis, have joined forced. One message stood out for us: “We know the need still outweighs the resource we have available”.
🎓 Twenty years-plus has passed since Holly Gazzard was murdered by her jealous boyfriend in Gloucester and the story still resonates like it was yesterday. Until we change so many things the fear is it will keep repeating - for other women especially. Somehow her father, Nick Gazzard, and his family found strength to forge the Holly Gazzard Trust to help make that change. Its efforts continue and his effort was honoured by the University of Gloucestershire in a special ceremony at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Made in Gloucestershire: Introducing Wholly Gelato
Today we set forth on our quest to introduce you to the growing army of food and drink producers collecting under the Made in Gloucestershire banner, started by those clever people at GFirst LEP to promote the county's very best from the sector. If you think the county is rich with such producers then you are right. Today it is the turn of Wholly Gelato, a family-run food business rooted in the county. Its gelato operation began in 2018 and today is award-winning and produces more than 200 flavours/variations of our artisan, Italian-style gelato. You can find them at the shop on thier Elmore farm or Gloucester Food Dock.
Things to do
👩💼👩🏿💼👩🏼💼👩🏾💼 This will be the first Women in Business lunch of 2024 and is due to be staged at the Manor by the Lake, Cheltenham, on Thursday 25 January starting with teas and coffees at 11.45am. As usual, there will be an opportunity for networking, a talk from an inspirational businesswoman and a two-course lunch. New faces are always very welcome. The event’s ‘inspirational speaker’ will be Julie Kent MBE, who will be talking about ‘finding a positive from an enormous negative’. Due to take place from 11.45 to 2pm.
🏆🎉 Cirencester Chamber of Trade is due to launch its 2024 business awards on Thursday 25 January from 6pm to 8pm at the Royal Agricultural University. The chamber will be joined by some of its event’s sponsors as well as previous winners. If you want to get to know who’s who in the Cotswolds and make connections, this is as good a place as any. Categories, deadlines and details about the awards presentation evening itself will all be revealed.
🚜 We mentioned Hartputy University and Hartpury College's Tech Box Park business accelerator community above. This is your chance to take a closer look with a relaxed morning's networking with innovative SME's. If you’re an agri-tech business or looking to the land-based sector as a new market, then this event is for you. You’ll meet Hartpury's Digital Innovation Farm team to better understand how you can be supported with your product development and validation, testing and trialling, find out more about our membership and sponsorship packages and tour the Digital Innovation Farm. Due to take place on Wednesday 31 January 2024 from 8.30am to 10.30am.
* Everything you read on Raikes is made possible by the generous support of our partners (who we will be revealing over the coming weeks) our founding members and our paid-up subscribers. A massive ‘thank you’ to all our other subscribers too. The support of all of you is invaluable!
£1 billion development will generate £300 million in business rates
By Andrew Merrell
When they voted in favour of a £95 million 'development funding envelope' to underpin a commitment to a 'once in a lifetime development' in the county, Gloucestershire councillors revealed a little more of the revenue it would generate for the county.
Cheltenham Borough Council's full cabinet approved the funding on Thursday 28 September 2023 for the Golden Valley Development, a scheme to bring 3,700 new homes and two million square feet of cyber-focused business park to the west of the town.
It is a project predicted to create 12,000 new jobs.
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