BUSINESS is booming in Richmondshire, according to new figures
released by the local authority.
The latest key performance measures put unemployment in the
district at just one per cent, while 92 per cent of council-owned
industrial units are occupied.
Those figures come in the wake of a raft of innovative measures
from Richmondshire District Council, all designed to make the
district a more prosperous place.
Nicola Hood, the council's Head of Economic Development and
Tourism, said: "As of September 2007, unemployment in Richmondshire
was just one per cent – which is one of the lowest rates in the
country and represents almost 'full employment'. Although some of
that is likely to be due to seasonal employment in the spring and
summer, we are confident that we have the right measures in place
to create new job opportunities and attract
investment to our district.
"We have been delivering a number of initiatives in parallel,
and that has seen business confidence soar.
"Of particular note is our £2.6 million Rural Programme for
Richmond and Catterick Garrison that will improve the opportunities
for economic growth. One of the projects within this programme is
the award-winning Heritage Partnership Scheme, which is renovating
redundant upper floors, and improving shop fronts in Richmond
market place.
"Work is also ongoing to create a 'masterplan' for the
Gallowfields Trading Estate and deliver a range of grants across
Richmond and Catterick Garrison.
"In addition, a new Business Breakfast event was held at
!innovate! < in October. Thirty-five businesses attended, and
the scheme will be rolled out to Leyburn in January 2008, and Hawes
and Reeth by the end of March.
"We have also revamped our website to advertise
available premises and communicate our services to
businesses. This is proving popular and is a useful tool
in our ongoing marketing campaign to lease all our
commercial property. However, we recognise there is even more we
can do, and one of our top priorities is to attract more businesses
to our unique innovate! business centre at Colburn."
Councillor Jimmy Wilson-Petch, the council's Member Champion for
Business, Economic and Rural Affairs, said: "We have got some very
exciting things in the pipeline, and we should see some very
interesting developments in 2008.
"We are thinking outside the box to bring a range of businesses
into Richmondshire that will really set us apart from other
areas."
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