Insider debate comes to Northampton
Insider’s latest regional debate rolls into Northampton on Thursday 16 December 2010, where we’ll be discussing the way forward for the Northamptonshire post-Emda. And here’s your chance to book your free place at this ever-popular event.
Our panel will include Andy Gilbert, managing director of Node4 which has just opened a new data centre in Northampton; Andrew Tubbs, head of the local office of law firm Shoosmiths; John Corrigan, chairman of the Brackmills BID and Peter Mawson, chief executive of West Northamptonshire Development Corporation.
Northamptonshire᾿s central location places it within a two hour drive of 75 per cent of the UK᾿s population. Getting to London is fast and convenient and takes less than 50 minutes by train.
And North Northamptonshire is the biggest single growth area outside London. Set to grow to a planned population of more than 370,000 people by 2021, the area covered by the districts of Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering and Wellingborough will be a green and networked community equivalent in population to the size of Bristol today. And the region forms one-third of the much-vaunted Golden Triangle distribution, warehousing and logistics network. Why, then, should Northamptonshire have anything to worry about?
The fact is that the area might just be a victim of its own success. Large distribution ‘sheds’ and out of town call centres and offices mean that investment in the town centres has been lacking over recent years, with developers wary of taking on old stock, never mind building speculatively. And yet Northamptonshire is home to nationally and internationally known companies, across a diverse range of vital sectors. Barclaycard, Nationwide, Corus, Wincanton, Avon, Carlsberg, Granovita, Alpro, Weetabix, Snap on Tools and Travis Perkins are just a few of the household names who have made their home in Northamptonshire.
The county is also a world-leading location for research and manufacturing in high performance engineering, with a particular expertise in motorsport. Silverstone and its renowned centre of excellence is there and Mugen, Mercedes Benz and Cosworth are just three of the prominent names in the county.
Our panel will look at the future challenges facing Northamptonshire, and discuss just why the county’s recent LEP bid was turned down by the government. We’ll ask what this means for future economic development in the county, and post-Emda, whether it even sees itself as part of the East Midlands any more.
Insider’s forum is intended to be an opportunity for the business community in the area to listen to and question those behind the big issues which will affect the county’s economic future.
To book your place at the event, which will take place at the Royal Mail offices on Swan Valley from 7.30am until 9am, please email Richard Carey.
