2005 winners
The 2005 winner of Enterprising Britain was Sherwood Energy Village, where determination, tenacity and drive has turned the site of a former colliery into one of Britain’s leading sustainable communities.
National runner-up: Shrewsbury, 'The People's Bid' in the West Midlands
National runner-up: Newport in Wales
Sherwood Energy Village
When the mining town of Ollerton in Nottinghamshire learned that the pit was going to close in 1994, many felt that it could be the beginning of the end, bringing large-scale redundancy and little prospect for future growth in an isolated area that relied on coal for its prosperity and community.
Instead, the community joined together with the intention of rebuilding and diversifying the economic base of the town so that it would never again be subject to widespread job losses.
The vision was to create a mixed-use development on the 91-acre former colliery that would complement and enhance the existing town, a core principle being that of economic and environmental sustainability.
A not-for-profit social enterprise was formed before purchasing the colliery site from British Coal and setting about transforming the pit into a sustainable development comprising of industrial, commercial, residential and leisure facilities.
The SEV organisation developed the concept of holistic sustainable development for the site, ensuring that buildings are designed and constructed to high levels of energy efficiency.
Now home to the headquarters of Center Parcs, who relocated to Sherwood Energy Village based on SEV's environmental stance, the village also boasts the UK’s largest application of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems in the UK. A 186 house residential zone is to be built from November 2005 and the village is on course to create 1,500 jobs as soon as 2008, compared to 1,000 jobs in the mining industry’s heyday.
The dedicated community of Ollerton behind the success of Sherwood Energy Village has not only changed the physical landscape for the better, but also created jobs for local people and diversified the economic base of the town so that it will never face the crisis of 1994 again.
Stan Crawford, managing director at Sherwood Energy Village sums it up best: "Regeneration is about playing the long game. The enterprise, although starting as an immediate response to pit closure, has transformed a former colliery into one of the most enterprising places in the UK. The Enterprising Britain award has recognised the dedication of everyone who has been involved in Sherwood Energy Village and showed that sustainable development can be achieved through determination, imagination and tenacity."
Shrewsbury – Runner Up
Shrewsbury was awarded runner-up status in the national finals of The Enterprising Britain 2005 competition. Shrewsbury’s bid for the title of ‘Enterprise Capital’ of the UK was entitled ‘The People’s Bid’ due to the high levels of growth recorded in entrepreneurial activity driven by small to medium sized enterprises. Of particular significance were the massive numbers of ‘home-based’ enterprises contributing to the surge in economic growth in this county town.
The town’s success in creating an enterprise culture that improved social and environmental conditions as well as making a big difference to the local economy has been recognised and rewarded through the Enterprising Britain competition.
A town with a population of only 96,000, Shrewsbury illustrated the enterprise spirit it needed when dealing with declining agricultural and manufacturing industries, outward migration of young people and negative perceptions of the town as a centre for business.
Shrewsbury’s “Enterprise Formula” guided the town in its promotion of enterprise, and schemes to encourage all forms of enterprise were used to encourage people to start a business, and to help existing businesses improve their competitiveness.
Initiatives were mostly supported by collaborations between the public, private, voluntary and community sectors, and programmes developed in Shropshire included the multi-million pound Enterprise Experience, a three-year programme providing training and support to start-up businesses, and Going for Growth, a programme of support for product development, market entry and skills training aimed at rural businesses. Further to this, Women in Rural Enterprise (WiRE) was a great boon to Shrewsbury’s enterprise development and helped women start and maintain rural enterprises.
To improve the skills of the workforce, training schemes and projects were established. By the end of 2004, almost 700 businesses had taken advantage of Skills4Growth, one of only 12 pilot Employer Training schemes in the country, offering training courses for employees and wage compensation for employers. In addition, many local schools and colleges worked closely with businesses to offer education to the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Space for enterprise to grow continues to be developed and sites including Shrewsbury Business Park and Battlefield Food and Enterprise Park are attracting much entrepreneurial activity to Shrewsbury.
Fay Easton, Director with Shrewsbury Enterprise, said of the town’s success: “Shrewsbury is a great place to live and do business – entrepreneurs are attracted to this town by its quality of life and education. We have one of the highest rates for self-employed operators in the country and our home-based business ownership is registered as the top town in the Royal Mail Business Barometer. The numbers of people turning their business ideas into a reality has doubled over three years, and businesses based at home continue to be one of our highest rankings. Our ‘People’s Bid’ in the Enterprising Britain competition was compiled by local business leaders and a dedicated team of entrepreneurs who have shown the nation that Shrewsbury is a great place for business – a real HOME to Enterprising Britons.”
Newport
Enterprising Britain 2005 runner-up, Newport, was recognised for its success in creating an all-inclusive strategy for enterprise, which has successfully encouraged people to consider self-employment and helped to create an entrepreneurial culture in South-East Wales.
Traditionally, Newport’s economy was been reliant on heavy industry – steel making, coal and shipping. However, as these industries declined Newport’s economy, and the jobs of local people, came under threat, and the policymakers worked hard to find alternative sources of income for the area.
The year 2000 proved to be a watershed. One of the area’s main employers, the Llanwern steelworks, downsized with a significant reduction in the number of local jobs. At around the same time, a massive inward investment scheme involving the South Korean electronics company LG was hit by the downturn in the Asian economies. Key decision makers realised that a new approach was needed to provide stability in the area – one which would put indigenous companies the heart of the local economy.
The team behind Newport’s bid, Newport and Gwent Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, The University of Wales, Newport and Newport City Council - all supported by the Welsh Assembly Government - worked together to create an enterprise strategy that would target existing businesses and potential entrepreneurs across the community. The aim was to encourage local people in the Newport area to think in an entrepreneurial way - and then to support them in turning their business ideas into reality.Initiatives set up in Newport as part of the strategy included the regeneration of the town’s indoor market to create a Covent Garden-style enterprise ‘hub’ for the city’s budding creative industries. Here, pre-start business ‘incubation units’ allowed artists and craftspeople to test-run their businesses with much less exposure to risk. In addition, a centre for social enterprise was created within a renovated mansion, Beechwood House, providing entrepreneurial guidance.
Another key priority was to inform local people about the opportunities for enterprise, and highlight the support available in the area. Challenging negative attitudes towards self-employment, Newport established an annual Festival of Enterprise, to take successful exemplars out onto the streets.
In addition, ‘spinout’ programmes were devised to educate both students and business people about the benefits of collaboration: the aim being to ensure that job opportunities existed to retain skilled graduates in Wales. Another initiative, the Knowledge Exploitation Fund, was set up to assist the transfer of technology from university research departments into industry and support a programme to promote a culture of entrepreneurship throughout universities and colleges.As a result of their innovative approach, Newport has seen a growth of 20-25% in self-employment in the past four years.
David Russ, of Newport and Gwent Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, sums it up best: “Our success in the Enterprising Britain 2005 award reflects our achievements encouraging enterprise over the past few years. The increase in entrepreneurial activity is living proof of the quality and drive of the partnership behind the bid - and of the new, enterprising spirit of the people of Newport.”