Has the sale of Gloucestershire Airport hit political turbulence?
We began this story as an update on the airport sale to talk about it as an asset and about the challenges it’s facing - then we were unable to confirm the sale from one of the current owners.
Dear reader,
Straight to today’s main story.
Some of you with long memories will remember the days when Gloucestershire Airport was involved in a perpetual tug of war between its two owners - Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council.
Should it be kept as an airport? Did the county need an airport? Should it not be sold to build houses on? A decade ago it was estimated 3,500 would fit on the site.
The decision to create an arms length company, Gloucestershire Airport Ltd, was an attempt to move out of the mire and see if it could be developed as a business, with the councils overseeing and taking their cut of the income for the public purse.
When we started this story we thought all that was settled because the next big step was to handle the sale of the airport, announced jointly by both local authorities last year. It was to be a story with a happy ending afterall. Two local authorities united.
Or at least we thought they were united!!!!
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Your briefing notes
🏭 Four hundred and fifty jobs have been lost after a Gloucestershire-headquartered engineering firm serving the oil and gas industry world-wide went into administration. Alderley PLC, based in Wickwar near Wotton-under-Edge, has confirmed administrators from Grant Thornton are now overseeing the “affairs, business and property of Alderley Plc (APLC), Alderley Systems Ltd (ASL) and Specialised Management Services Limited (SMS)”. Founded by Bristol businessman Tony Shepherd in 1989, Alderley operated primarily in the oil and gas markets, designing, manufacturing, and servicing control systems and had offices in India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
📈 Safran, which has a landmark building at Staverton manufacturing and servicing landing gear for many of the world’s biggest plane makers, has reported soaring sales in the first half of its financial year. The French-owned operation, which also jointly owns jet engine maker CFM International with GE Aerospace, has reported a 41 per cent rise in turnover to 1.97 billion euros and an increase in sales of 19 per cent to 13.05 billion euros. Olivier Andriès, Safran’s chief executive officer, said the firm had made a ‘strong start to the year... primarily to the growth of aftermarket activity for engines and aircraft equipment’.
City centre team’s partnership with charity blossoms
What started as an act of generosity – simply agreeing to let the Alzheimer’s Society charity and the NHS Managing Memory Together Team distribute information in its city centre retail spaces – had an unexpected payback for its staff.
Colliers, which manages Eastgate Shopping Centre, King’s Walk, Kings Square and St Oswalds, let volunteers from both organisations into its city centre spaces during Dementia Awareness Week to promote awareness about the condition and the support available.
That quickly led to its employees from across the four sites being invited to three dementia awareness training sessions to help them learn how to champion inclusivity and support individuals experiencing an ongoing decline of brain function, with everyone being awarded a Certificate in Community Dementia Awareness by One Gloucestershire.
Jason Robinson, senior destination manager for Colliers in Gloucester, said: “The team were eager to get involved and it was fantastic that the training was supported by Gloucestershire Constabulary, Kier Construction and Gloucester City Safe – all of whom have a presence in the city centre and can be on hand to assist should the need arise.”
Steve Lindsay, Gloucester City Safe manager, said: “The CPOs do at times come into contact with people who have dementia, therefore this training will help them understand better how to deal with incidents as and where they occur in the city centre,” he said.
Has the sale of Gloucestershire Airport hit political turbulence?
We began this story as an update on the airport sale to talk about how it is an asset for Gloucestershire and about the challenges it’s facing - and then we were unable to confirm that sale from one of the local authorities.
It has been, at regular intervals over many years, a political hot potato – but it seemed as if the county has begun to realise the value of the ever-developing asset that is Gloucestershire Airport.
Even when it was put into the hands of arms-length company Gloucestershire Airport Ltd in 1993 the ‘will they/won’t they sell the 300-acre site for housing?’ question was asked frequently of its owners, Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council.
And then came last year’s ‘shock’ announcement.
Taking everyone by surprise, apparently also those running the business itself, both local authorities announced they had agreed to sell their 50 per cent stakes.
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