Forget Heathrow, this scheme could supercharge Gloucestershire's economy
Jobs and investment in Gloucestershire on an unprecedented scale could be about to be revealed, with the Government talking up the county as key to some significant future economic plans.
Dear reader,
This week the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves revealed the results of her rummage for a major infrastructure project that would send an almighty signal to the country how serious the Government is about investing and regeneration. That result was the mothballed plans to develop a third runway at Heathrow Airport.
If she had been looking for a similar rabbit to pull out of the hat for Gloucestershire and the South West she wouldn’t have had to put in half as much effort.
It appears increasingly likely that the county will have a major part to play in the next generation of nuclear power plants.
While the third runway over near London may or may not happen, the nuclear step forward seems a nailed-on certainty and the odds that our county will be part of the plans look good.
If Oldbury, in South Gloucestershire, and Berkeley, in Gloucestershire, become the chosen sights for investment then it will create thousands of jobs. Further eduction colleges here will need to go into overdrive.
According to the interview we run below as our main article on this members’ edition it will be “imperative to quadruple the number of PhDs and double the number of graduates and double the number of apprentices”.
Thousands of jobs should follow too.
Regular readers will know that on Thursday and Friday we very often paywall our editions to help pay for what we do - that’s real journalism about Gloucestershire, pop-up free, well research articles where we actually speak to business people, not cut and pasted press releases.
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Have a great weekend.
Andrew Merrell (editor).
If you have a story, an issue, a news item, a charity or an interview you want us to write about or investigate, challenge the powers that be on, then please email me: andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.
Grassroots girls’ rugby will be a winner
In a sponsorship deal that looks set to benefit some of the very youngest sporting talent in Gloucestershire, Prima Dental Group has teamed up with Gloucester Hartpury Rugby. The Gloucester-headquartered manufacturing business is the latest firm to pledge its support of the all-conquering leading women’s team whose home is Hartpury College and Hartpury University and Kingsholm Rugby Stadium. The new partnership sees a focus on supporting local community initiatives, including Gloucester Hartpury rugby camps for girls of all abilities aged seven to 16 in Gloucestershire. Dan Hodgson, who became Prima’s new CEO this year, said he was “delighted” to be able to create more opportunity for young girls in the sport, with Gloucester Hartpury CEO, James Forrester, describing Prima Dental, which manufacturers dental burs and exports them globally, as “a fantastic business”.
* The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
If you subscribe and invite friends to The Raike Journal you will earn rewards towards complimentary membership (three referrals will get you one month, 10 will get you three months and 25 will win you six months).
If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We are dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire, to championing the county, in particular its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to helping create an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you will be able to see past the paywalls often put on our second and third email editions of the week, that lock all our archive after two weeks and lock our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You will be able to comment on our stories too. You’ll be helping make this CIC sustainable to deliver more original articles on our county.
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Your briefing notes
👎🏻 Mark Stewart, the founder and chief executive of Stewart Golf, was amused to find himself the lead story in The Times this week after revealing he had resigned as one of the UK’s export champions in protest over the Government’s policies. Stewart, whose firm manufactures electric golf trolleys and sells a considerable number of them in the USA, had just returned from a trip to the States when he made his decision. “I can’t be part of this. It is every single turn there seems to be something that makes life more difficult for people trying to run small businesses like me. I don’t feel like we are being supported or encouraged even to try and be better,” he told The Times. Too much negative talk from Reeves and her boss, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer, were cited as the key reason, as was a focus on prioritising taxation and additional employment rights. You can read the full article here.
👨🍳 Edward Surman, commercial director and owner of Cheltenham’s most elevated resturant, The Nook On Five, has revealed a Michelin star-winning chef on its books. Surman’s restaurant, on the fifth floor of the town centre’s The Quadrangle in Imperial Square, can now boast John Burton-Race as its head chef. Burton-Race has worked in some of the UK’s top restaurants and hotels including Hotel Meurice London, La Sorbonne, and Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons - where he worked under renowned chef, Raymond Blanc, who appointed him head chef of Le Petit Blanc in Oxford, where Burton-Race won his first Michelin-Star. He became a household name through his Channel 4 series ‘French Leave’ and ‘Return of the Chef’, as well as ITV’s ‘I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!’. He is 67.
⚖️ There were a couple of new expert legal pieces aimed at the business community released this week from one of our treasured Founding Partners, Willans LLP. Matthew Clayton, a partner at the firm and an expert in all things employment law, took a look at General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Why? It’s seven years since GDPR came into force, but well worth ensuring your business remains compliant. Clayton runs you clearly through the top line in his article How do companies become GDPR compliant?. And then Willans' family lawyer Joeli Boxall looks at why it is important to consider what happens to your business if you have to go through a divorce. Boxall shares her guidance for business owners in her article The treatment of a business on divorce.
🥳 A new chief executive officer has been named for The Nelson Trust. Christina Line, current the charity’s chief operating officer, will be taking up the position from July. It is the next step on a journey with the organisation that started 10 years ago when she joined as a rural outreach keyworker. The Nelson Trust is dedicated to bringing belief, hope and long-term recovery to lives affected by substance use and multiple disadvantages.
🍻 Who doesn't love a positive pub story? Stroud Times’ article about the historic Old Neighbourhood pub in Chalford Hill is certainly one of those. Wes Birch, of Birch Catering, already runs the Ship Inn at Brimscombe and has now taken over the Old Neighbourhood, which closed two years ago. A considerable community campaign has been underway to bring the pub back to life, and Birch plans to do the honours - providing a 55-cover venue as well as a welcoming place to drop in for a drink. You can read the full story here.
Meet the team raising millions to redevelop Cheltenham
A bid to forge a team of businesses and investors to “ensure Cheltenham is developed exclusively by local talent, ensuring every penny invested stays within Cheltenham” is well underway.
Max Wright, a director of Impulse Capital - a commercial finance broker - is the founder and director of what he’s calling Team Cheltenham Properties.
The group’s aim is to deliver stability and opportunities to hundreds of local independent tradespeople while also generating over 100 new jobs.
Team Cheltenham already includes “local property developers, architects, planning specialists, surveyors, solicitors, accountants, estate agents and investors" with a focus on building luxurious homes to attract wealth into the area”.
According to Wright the partnership has already raised millions towards its multi-million-pound target and aims to use the cash “to develop properties that blend retail spaces with community-focused open areas”.
The business, said Wright, was “committed to keeping contracts local to Cheltenham to support the growth of the economy” and to using “specialist skills of professionals and tradespeople based in the region”.
A percentage of the profits raised from Team Cheltenham projects will be given to local charities including children’s cancer charity, Emily’s Gift, the Public Hearts Cheltenham defibrillator campaign, and National Star, which supports people with physical disabilities and brain injuries.
Forget Heathrow - this project could supercharge Gloucestershire's economy
Jobs and investment in Gloucestershire on an unprecedented scale could be about to be revealed, with the Government talking up the county as key to some significant future economic plans.
Gloucestershire is on the brink of a giant step forward that could see it play a major part in developing new nuclear energy with the potential of thousands of skilled jobs and millions of pounds flowing into the regional economy.
Land next to the two decommissioned former nuclear sites at Oldbury and Berkeley Green, Gloucestershire, will now be the sites for nuclear development making it a major part of the South West Regional nuclear hub.
In August last year developer Chiltern Vital Berkeley Ltd (CVB) announced it had bought the 40-acre former SGS College site at Berkeley Green with a view to developing the UK’s first low-carbon “super cluster” for nuclear research, education and AI.
It was news quickly followed by sustainable energy solutions company, Vital Energi, revealing it has made a strategic investment in CVG’s plans to transform the one-time nuclear power plant site into a hub for research, education, and innovation in sustainable energy technologies, with a focus on large-scale energy networks.
All that is needed now is for the Government to choose the site as a focus for its SMR technology and the celebrations can really begin.
It is predicted the move would create not just major investment but also jobs - the big question for Gloucestershire is how to reap as much of those benefits as it possibly can.
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