Central Bedfordshire Council: Bespoke advice and support package for businesses

Central Bedfordshire is home to world class innovation assets such as Cranfield University and Millbrook Proving Ground and is strategically located at the heart of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc with a wealth of opportunities for the future.

Despite these opportunities, one of the biggest challenges facing the council is to ensure all residents and businesses are able to share in wider growth and prosperity. Central Bedfordshire has some of the most deprived areas in England in towns such as Houghton Regis, Dunstable and Leighton Linslade. At the same time, the area has a considerable skills gap, with 34 per cent of employers reporting that young people are ‘poorly’ prepared for work which has brought into focus the need to create local jobs, generate inward investment and improve the resilience of businesses to allow them to prosper and grow in the future.

There is strong potential for growth and scale-up in the business base, with 91 per cent of all enterprises in Central Bedfordshire employing fewer than ten people. Central Bedfordshire’s high rate of churn in business formation demonstrates a strong entrepreneurial culture, and yet at present, 40 per cent of working residents work outside of the area. In addition, surveys and consultations have shown that while local businesses appreciate the outward looking nature of council officers and members, they want a stronger relationship with the council to help support business growth.

In response to these challenges, Central Bedfordshire Council has a dedicated team to support businesses with their needs and to help them relocate and grow. As well as this, the council facilitates Be Central Bedfordshire (BCB), an innovative public-private partnership which promotes inward investment and economic growth in the area by providing an extensive package of support to new and existing businesses including help with relocation, bespoke advice, funding support and more.

The council helps businesses as an enabler and facilitator to convene discussions and bring key stakeholders together. This includes working closely with the council’s other business, planning and property management teams. By fostering these connections, they have developed a strong place-based approach to attract businesses to the area, build relationships with them and help them expand and grow in the region whilst providing a one-stop shop of support for the businesses and to advise on their needs.

Through this dedicated support, the council has helped a number of businesses to relocate, expand and grow which has boosted the visitor economy, brought high performance technology sectors to the area and provided jobs in the region.

Examples of businesses supported:

TeamSport

In 2018, TeamSport, an indoor go karting business, expanded and opened a new location in Dunstable. After being contacted by TeamSport regarding the unit they now occupy, the Inward Investment team facilitated discussions between TeamSport, and the council’s planning and building control team which accelerated the planning application process. The location identified is ideally located with access to the 11A junction on the M1 and the A5-M1 link road which also puts Leighton Buzzard and Aylesbury within easy reach. There are also 2.2 million people living within a 45-minute drive.

In addition to the commercial property requirements, they also needed access to a flexible and enthusiastic workforce. The company was introduced to the council’s Employment and Skills service who helped TeamSport identify potential Bedfordshire job candidates for their 18-strong team of part-time workers. The council and the company worked together on six assessment sessions, to identify the employees. TeamSport quickly achieved a full complement for its team, with some 95 per cent of the workforce living locally.

Brinkley Propeller

Brinkley Propeller is one of Europe’s leading propeller repair and overhaul facilities. When the business expanded and needed to relocate, the council worked closely with the company to identify a new suitable premise. Stratton Business Park, a commercial and industrial property space in Central Bedfordshire, was identified and is ideally located, sitting on the A1M just one hour from Central London and Heathrow Airport.

Not only did the account manager provide advice on available properties but also helped the company make successful applications for grant funding on two big projects. With the help of Central Bedfordshire Council, the company has won two grants which support companies to innovate and grow. The first was £5,000 from the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership Velocity scheme, as a contribution toward the £15,000 cost of a new forklift truck. The second grant was £15,000 from Innovation Bridge (an economic development project to support businesses) toward the 88,000 Euros cost of a specialist piece of propeller testing equipment. It also gave them access to academic researchers at the University of Bedfordshire, who helped them to build a business case.

In addition to supporting the business with funding and relocation support, the council also put them in touch with Central Bedfordshire College. This was with a view to developing closer links to understand the skills the company are looking for when taking on new employees. Brinkley Propeller has grown at a phenomenal rate. In 2011-12 the company’s turnover was £1,013,000, but by 2016-17 that had more than doubled to £2,150,000.

Ace Bar Events

Ace Bar Events Ltd is a company, which organises private and corporate occasions for individuals based in Dunstable in Central Bedfordshire. The business expanded in 2013 and began to import and sell products from Italian fruit puree and syrups producer ODK and needing more space, contacted the council.

Ace Bar Events’ requirements were for a warehouse where they could store equipment used by Ace Bar Events and for products from ODK and needed a mezzanine floor. Central Bedfordshire Council was able to advise on building regulations and local planning requirements to make sure that a mezzanine floor could be installed. Work was also carried out by the council on the heating and electrics before the company moved into the unit in the Townsend Industrial Estate during the first month of 2016.

Ace Bar Events has continued to see phenomenal growth since moving into Townsend Industrial Estate and have fostered excellent working relationships with other businesses on the estate. They also have plans for working with the council in the future. Their business plan includes engaging an apprentice to run the businesses’ social media and utilising the council’s networks will be key to this. In the long term, they intend to create more jobs in Bedfordshire including for warehouse workers and for events staff as they expand.

A key learning has been the importance of nurturing and maintaining relationships with businesses in the region. An account manager from the council acts as the single point of contact for key businesses in the area, to help maintain the relationship, to better understand the company’s future plans, to help facilitate business growth and job opportunities, gain intelligence and to identify issues and opportunities to enable the council to respond accordingly. By doing so, it will encourage the business to stay in the region and also proactively support them with their plans to expand and provide more jobs to the region over the long term.

Even now the council continues to take the same approach and is always looking for ways to improve the business offer.

www.becentralbedfordshire.co.uk

Email: [email protected]

Phone number: 0300 300 8272