Suffolk ACRE

The Heritage Coast Market Towns Initiative (HCMTI)

Overview

This initiative has developed through discussions between Suffolk ACRE, Suffolk Coastal District Council, Suffolk Coastal Local Strategic Partnership, Suffolk Coastal Business Forum and the three Business Associations in Leiston, Saxmundham and Aldeburgh.

The project is essentially one of economic development, and will aim to mitigate against the economic impacts of the planned closure of Sizewell ‘A’, concentrating on the three Market Towns of Leiston, Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, and their immediate surrounding areas. The Heritage Coast Market Towns Initiative will support and develop local businesses and Business Associations, Market Town Partnerships and communities.

A Project Coordinator will work alongside local businesses in key sectors such as agriculture and food production, retail, culture, hospitality and leisure, and knowledge transfer, amongst others, to deliver three main elements:

1. Connecting Business; to develop connections, share knowledge, identify skills gaps and diversification opportunities through a programme of tailored business support, action learning and networking events to enhance the character and distinctiveness of local products and services. This will foster opportunities for joint working and securing of larger contracts through co-operation.
2. Lobbying and Influencing; to influence mainstream programmes of support and training to respond to workforce development needs of local employers, increasing accessibility and relevance so that SME’s, social enterprises and local people can benefit from the right skills to support a thriving, fully inclusive and continuously developing economy.
3. Developing and Marketing Local Products; to create a sense of pride in local products and services through a two way campaign of civic involvement, marketing and communication, thus connecting businesses and the wider community in a shared sense of responsibility for the socio-economic wellbeing of the area. This will drive take up of local products and services to improve the prosperity of local businesses and service providers. Additional benefits will include reduced carbon emissions and a ‘greener’ approach to product and service provision.

 

Working in partnership with Suffolk Coastal District Council, Suffolk Coastal Business Forum, Business Link East, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, local Community Partnerships and Business Associations, and other Agencies, the project will be aiming to deliver:

1. stronger Business Associations through better connectivity, inter-company trading, securing contracts, supply chains and marketing
2. greater focus on business opportunities, diversification, and inward investment
3. improved access to business support services and training opportunities
4. maximum economic benefits from tourism and short stay markets
5. strengthened local food supply chains and reduced food miles, contributing to Greenest County objectives
6. synchronicity with the national Business Support Simplification Programme

 

Training & Skills

The project will address employability issues by enhancing the supply of skills in order to meet the identified needs of local businesses. The Suffolk Coastal Business Needs Study (2007) observed that ‘there is a mismatch between skills and available workforce and the actual needs of businesses’ and the Suffolk Coastal Employment Study (2006) concluded that there should be three areas of focus in the District:

1. sector skills gaps in the key sectors for the area
2. a shift to higher skilled occupations
3. a wider range of local learning opportunities, with links to colleges and universities

 

More up to date, localised data will be collected, to identify the skills shortages in the local workforce and the hard to fill vacancies of local employers, as well as profiling benefit claimants and economic inactivity within each Market Town and surrounding area, including minority groups where applicable. This will then be cross-referenced to forecasted growth within key industry sectors, and used to effectively broker training and support to target particular needs of local employers, employees, minority groups and economically inactive residents.  

Business Development

Diversification will be encouraged through the development of connections between local businesses, helping to build local supply chains and transfer of knowledge between companies to improve efficiency and effectiveness. This will build a stronger and more diverse local economy through the creation of supply chain opportunities and opportunities for new business creation. Existing Business Associations will be supported and strengthened, more inter-company trading encouraged, and marketing improved through media such as websites. 

A closer relationship will be facilitated between the businesses within each of the key sectors locally, their local markets, and the customer base within the communities in which they trade. This will lead to a better understanding of opportunities for new products and services, with a locally distinctive flavour designed to meet and address local demand.

Working in partnership with Business Link East, local Enterprise Agencies and, in the social enterprise sector, the Local Infrastructure Partnership will link business support for start ups and early stage growth businesses, including sole traders, to assist access to sources of market research and analysis helping to stimulate further diversification within the local economy.

Using the services of Choose Suffolk will enable a particular focus on inward investment to the area, again linked to key sectors such as creative industries and tourism, and to expected high employment growth sectors including transport and communications.

Environment

Suffolk Coastal already enjoys a very high satisfaction level amongst its population as a place to live and work. The target area is close to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and to the Heritage Coastline.

The project will look to build on this, focusing on three Market Towns and surrounding areas close to Sizewell. These towns are likely to be affected by any changes at Sizewell and this project will seek to mitigate any negative impacts that may result. It will do so by boosting the local economy through enhancing the distinctiveness and variety of local products and services, ensuring that the right skills have been developed within the labour market to support further growth and diversification within the local economy, in turn attracting new people and businesses to live, work and invest locally.

Summary

The Heritage Coast Market Towns Initiative will address business development, employment and skills issues in the target area, through:

1. development of the three existing Business Associations with improved membership, benefits, inter-company trading, and marketing
2. business to business networking events in each of the three Market Towns
3. one to one business support sessions, in conjunction with Business Link East and other Agencies
4. inward investment Marketing Plans leading to reduction in vacant retail and industrial units
5. up to date skills shortages and hard to fill vacancies mapping exercise with businesses in the target area
6. employment and skills training sessions and workshops specific to local development needs in each of the three Market Towns

Chris Betson
Chair HCMTI

Contacts

Chris Betson – HCMTI Project Director, cbetson@waitrose.com

Halina Politowicz – HCMTI Co-ordinator, halina.politowicz@suffolkacre.org.uk

Bob Foyers, Businesses of Saxmundham, bob@thedeli.biz

James Stacey, Aldeburgh Business Association, james@ocbutcher.co.uk

Jonathan Newton, Leiston Business Association, jnewton@newtoncomm.co.uk