Draft. Aylesbury Vale Economic Development Strategy Aylesbury Vale: A great Place to Grow

Transcription

1 Draft Aylesbury Vale Economic Development Strategy Aylesbury Vale: A great Place to Grow December 2008

2 Introduction: Grasping the Challenge This economic development strategy sets out a powerful vision for Aylesbury Vale, as a vibrant dynamic business location by Aylesbury Vale will ensure that sustainable economic development is driven alongside housing growth, to ensure that the Vale remains a great place to live and work. This will require the creation of some 21,500 new jobs by 2026 within the district, to match the expected housing growth. This economic development is critical in ensuring that out-commuting is contained and reduced. Whilst there can be pride taken in that many of the actions identified within the 2004 to 2008 Economic Development Strategy have been successfully delivered, this new Strategy recognises that the scale of the task now in hand requires a much greater focus on economic development activity. This priority has been thrown in to even sharper focus by the downturn in the world economy during 2008, which has highlighted that growth cannot be taken for granted. Whilst much of the Vale thrives, Aylesbury Town has shown sluggish growth. This plan sets out to transform Aylesbury, whilst recognising the unique character of the rest of the Vale, and the support it requires to remain competitive. The required job growth will only happen if there is a clear focus on improving the attractiveness of the area for business. Job growth in the Vale over the first decade of the 21 st century so far has been modest, and slower than many parts of the south east. This strategy therefore outlines a bold plan for accelerating business and job growth within the Vale, which builds on the current strengths of the area, and puts in place the building blocks for future success, with particular focus on inward investment, including a range of support to new investors in the area, and creating a leading edge ICT offer for the Vale. The building blocks for this strategy are identified as: - Seeking to build on the current strong entrepreneurial culture within the Vale, through initiatives such as the enterprise and innovation centre: - Creating a unique positioning for the Vale as an attractive inward investment location for new businesses within the fastest growing area within the UK; - Encouraging new investors through proactive highly focussed interventions, such as direct grant assistance, and - Ensuring that the existing and future workforce remain highly skilled This will be underpinned by ensuring provision of the right infrastructure at the right time at the right place. In particular, there will be a strong focus on ensuring the competitiveness of the whole Vale is enhanced by seeking to ensure the provision of leading edge broadband access. The residents of the Vale are well skilled and entrepreneurial. As part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub Region, the Vale sits within the largest growth area within the UK, and has within this area the highest skilled workforce, the highest levels of enterprise and one of the very best environments. These are some truly outstanding strengths on which to build, and with a strong partnership of key stakeholders, there is every confidence in our ability to create the jobs we need for the future, whilst ensuring we protect those things we cherish about the Vale.. 1

3 Contents Introduction 1 1 Vision 3-4 Painting a picture as to what the Vale will look like in Background Page 2.1 Current economic summary The Vale as part of the UK s fastest growing area Meeting the employment challenge Current SWOT analysis Building a model for Growth Supporting new enterprise and entrepreneurs Helping existing businesses grow Creating a creating a unique positioning for the Vale as an attractive inward investment location Infrastructure Development Skills for the future Summary 33 2

4 1 Vision What will success look like? VISION FOR AYLESBURY VALE IN 2026 The Vale is recognised as a place in which enterprise happens, with start up rates across the Vale on a par with US averages. The choice of Aylesbury Vale as a location for the National Enterprise Academy has supported the perception of the Vale throughout the UK and internationally as an area of entrepreneurial excellence. Whilst many of new the jobs created have been focussed on Aylesbury Town, this has not been to the exclusion of the rest of the Vale, which is recognised as having healthy thriving market towns, and a strong rural economy. Whilst Aylesbury has achieved its transformation, the market towns and smaller settlements in the Vale have continued to offer the attractions of small town life. New businesses are being set up all the time often from a home base and making use of the full range of modern communications facilities available across the Vale. One such business delivers specialist management training for new entrepreneurs and was established by a former lecturer from the University. The Vale has become recognised as an area of best practice in relation to IT infrastructure, which has supported the positioning of the Vale as a great place for business to locate and grow. Businesses rate the Vale as excellent in relation to IT connectivity. By 2026 Aylesbury Town will be recognised as a contemporary town with a vibrant retail and leisure core. It has a thriving evening economy and its outlook will have been transformed. From being a sleepy town it will become a modern and cosmopolitan 21 st Century market town. It will provide leisure facilities and attractions that are attractive to all age groups yet in a quality setting. The customers will be the existing residents along side the newcomers who have moved into Aylesbury, commuters who want good entertainment on their doorstep and the small town dwellers who can benefit from the facilities close by. The second phase of the Waterside development has been opened. The town now has X sq. m of retail floorspace and has moved up the retail hierarchy. In 2001 it was ranked 138 th in the MH UK retail index. Now it has climbed into the top 100 and is pushing for promotion to the next division. On the back of the revitalised town centre a new office core has started to emerge. The quality lifestyle, setting and workforce has proved very attractive for new knowledge industries seeking a quality environment, with ease of access to other major centres. Aylesbury Vale has positioned itself on a national and international stage as having a unique and distinct offer as part of the UKs fastest growing area. The slogans Aylesbury Vale gives you space to think and Quality Time, had certainly struck a chord with key investors. 3

5 The growth of the business sector had resulted in a corresponding growth in the business servicing industries.. Recently a major international company has established its European R&D centre on the Aston Clinton RoadKnowledge Park, having found a quality location less than an hour from Heathrow. Having drawn an initial UK search area at one hour from Heathrow they had found the Thames Valley severely congested, expensive and the competition for skilled labour too fierce. The Oxford Cambridge Arc was more promising. There is a buzz about the Vale that is recognised as a growing and self-confident area. The Aston Clinton Road Knowledge Park had an established base of companies in sectors ranging from food research, to direct learning, to the rapidly expanding emerging biometrics industry. Whilst the link with Oxford provided the Higher Education linkages to research skills and facilities, the role of the University Centre and Aylesbury College in providing relevant workforce training had proved equally crucial to the town s economic success. Following its redevelopment and the opening of its training facility, Aylesbury College had become a beacon of good practice in the FE sector. Its formula of being a part of the business community is a model that is being copied across the South East. 4

6 2 Background 2.1 Economic summary ( 2007 figures awaited from Business Link) Structurally the economy of Aylesbury Vale is fairly well-balanced. It is dependent on no single firm nor sector. However compared with the South East in general and the Thames Valley area in particular, the economy as a whole is not particularly dynamic. It has a relatively low representation in higher value components of growth sectors such as financial and business services. It is also under-represented in knowledge based industries. Aylesbury Vale has just 14% of its employment in knowledge based industries compared with 26% for the Thames Valley In 2006 there were nearly 66,000 employee jobs in Aylesbury Vale with a further 12,600 workers who were self-employed living in the district. Aylesbury Vale s economy has grown steadily during the decade with employment increasing by 11% for the period , a similar rate of growth to that of the population of the district. However, this rate of growth is less than half that experienced by the South East as a whole. And over the same period neighbouring Milton Keynes saw employment increase by 49% Further, its comparative position in such important growths sectors has been declining. Whilst the rest of the South East has seen very rapid growth in financial and business services during the 1990s, employment in Aylesbury Vale has been flat The office functions that once supported the Aylesbury economy are at a more mature stage of their life cycle. Whereas Aylesbury may once have been an attractive location for the back office financial services sector, this is no longer so strongly the case. Back office services that once thrived in the South East now locate in lower cost locations elsewhere in the UK or even overseas The employment growth sectors for Aylesbury Vale over the past decade have been the consumer services sectors such as distribution, hotels and catering and other services. This reflects local activity keeping pace with the growing population. Growth activities are scattered through the other services and miscellaneous business services types of activities, suggesting Aylesbury Vale is a good place to run a local business but has not been attractive for larger scale businesses to set up or expand Analysis of the new companies setting up on industrial estates around Aylesbury Vale suggests the area is attractive for small-medium sized manufacturing activity. Yet even here the employment statistics show that such new activity has been more than offset by losses other manufacturing establishments Aylesbury Vale has no readily identifiable sectoral clusters on which to build. The Bucks Economic Clusters Report identified five clusters for Bucks to pursue: media & creative, high-tech industries, ICT sector, furniture and pharmaceuticals/bio tech. None of these however are particularly well represented in Aylesbury Vale, neither are they sectors for which Aylesbury Vale has an obvious infrastructure on which to build. 5

7 2.1.8 Aylesbury Vale is comparatively well represented in: Some specialist manufacturing activities - namely the printing and publishing sector and electrical and electronic goods sector. Some distribution related activities Some financial & business services sectors including business and software consultancy Some public and personal services These sectors that relate primarily to Aylesbury Vale s past employment base and are of declining prominence However, the level of new business formations presents a much more dynamic picture. Aylesbury Vale has an above average rate of new firm formations and an above average stock of businesses per head of population. With a total of 7,800 businesses and a ratio of 412 businesses per 10,000 population, Aylesbury Vale is well above the South East average of 348. The above average level of VAT registrations may be an indicator of an entrepreneurial culture, which can be built upon for the growth strategy, or it may just reflect the age profile of the population. Aylesbury Vale has an above average proportion of population in the age range. Table.1: VAT Registrations, De-registrations and Stocks at Year End, 2002 (ngage to update) Registrations per 10,000 population Deregistrations per 10,000 population Stocks at End of Year per 10,000 population Aylesbury Vale Ashford Milton Keynes Northampton Oxford Reading South Bucks Thames Valley South East England Source: NOMIS, Census A major challenge for Aylesbury Vale has been identified as poor perceptions of Aylesbury Vale by inward investors, its low profile, recruitment and the stock of premises Positive aspects of the district are seen to be the good transport links, schools, the Central England location and low house prices compared to London. Improvements sought included better road communications, lower business rates and cheaper premises, affordable housing, better public transport and more flexible leases Aylesbury Vale s economy has been growing but at a relatively slow pace and the economy has been under-performing compared with its competitors in both 6

8 quantitative and qualitative terms. There is no single reason for this. It has its roots in a number of factors: An historic economic structure which has not been sufficiently responsive to (inter) national economic changes; A supply of employment space which is neither sufficiently low cost to retain back office service functions nor of a good enough quality to attract new higher value employment; An image problem Aylesbury Vale (and particularly Aylesbury Town) is not clearly identified as a place for investment and employment growth Yet Aylesbury Vale has a well qualified labour force and unemployment rates are very low. Aylesbury Vale has proved to offer better opportunities as a place to live for those more qualified than as a place for work. As a result of this mismatch between (comparatively) low value jobs and (comparatively) high value workforce, Aylesbury Vale exports 40% of its workforce Whilst it has many strong assets Aylesbury Vale has done little to capitalise on them. The perception is that Aylesbury has not actively enough promoted or encouraged economic development in the recent past The principal challenges for Aylesbury Vale are: To find an economic role for Aylesbury town To raise the value content and productivity across the board To provide higher value/higher wage jobs to meet the aspirations of its resident workforce In contrast to its below average employment growth, Aylesbury Vale experienced a fairly rapid growth in population during the last decade with population increasing from 147,000 in 1991 to 174,100 by This increase in population of 18% was above the national and regional average and made Aylesbury Vale the fourth fastest growing district in the South East. The working age population saw a similar increase growing by 13,000 to 120, Compared to England, Aylesbury Vale has a below average proportion of its population in the age cohort, perhaps reflecting the lack of higher educational opportunities, but perhaps also reflecting the lack of affordable housing. By contrast, it has an above average proportion of its population in the age cohort In general, Aylesbury Vale demonstrates a high skills profile, with the qualification levels of the working age population being higher than the average for the South East (which is in turn higher than the position for England). The achievement levels at GCSE are particularly high, and Buckinghamshire as a whole has high staying-on rates after compulsory education has ended, with 82 per cent of school leavers at age 16 continuing in full time education (latest numbers?)), compared to 63 per cent in Milton Keynes, 75 per cent in MKOB, 79 per cent in the SE region and 77 per cent in England. This indicates that there is a strong potential supply of skilled workers in the future, if this pool can be retained. 7

9 The occupational structure of Aylesbury Vale residents is similar to that for the South East as a whole. The proportion of people working as managers and senior officials is slightly higher than the average for the South East.(need to insert latest table showing breakdown when figures released in Jan 09) Unemployment in relatively low, and with tight labour market is likely to be a factor in discouraging the sort of large-scale office services functions that used to flourish in Aylesbury Over the past decade the growth in workers and growth in jobs in Aylesbury Vale have roughly kept in balance. But there has been a reduction in unemployment and an increase in net out-commuting. In ,600 Aylesbury Vale residents worked outside the district, whilst 16,400 commuted in to Aylesbury Vale from outside the district. There is therefore a net outflow of 17,200 workers, an increase of one-third on the number of net out-commuters in The impetus for commuting can be seen in the differential wage rates. The average workplace wage in Aylesbury Vale is only 90% of the average resident wage, compared with say Milton Keynes where the figure or more or less in balance. Of the comparator areas only South Bucks had a lower workplace/resident wage ratio The explanation for this is easy to see. Aylesbury Vale has a source of highly paid jobs within easy commuting distance. Average wages in Aylesbury Vale are only 74% of those in London, for example. Until Aylesbury Vale can offer a better choice and range of job opportunities then this pattern is likely to prevail. However increases in travelling costs and changes in attitude to work life balance may be of benefit to the Vale in the longer term. Aylesbury Vale is a net exporter of labour from all occupational categories, but especially amongst the higher grade workers in managerial and professional occupations About half (51%) of the total jobs in Aylesbury Vale are located in Aylesbury. 16% of jobs are located in the market towns of Buckingham, Haddenham, Wendover and Winslow. But 33% of jobs are in the non-urban areas, largely explained by employment in the rural industrial estates that are located across the district (eg. Westcott Venture Park, the Triangle Business Park, Long Crendon Industrial Estate and Pitstone). (check for latest figures release in Jan 09) 8

10 Figure1: Location of Employment Within the District, % 51% 16% Aylesbury Market Towns Non-Urban Source: ABI 2002 (update) Whilst employment has grown rapidly in the market towns and non-urban areas, employment in Aylesbury town itself has actually declined over the last decade, although this has started to increase in the last couple of years. Structural decline in previously core sectors such as printing, electrical engineering has combined with more recent losses in the insurance sector. At the same time there has been no significant new replacement activity. The reasons for this have already been touched on (e.g. lack of suitable modern space, poor image, lack of investment drive) Whilst manufacturing employment decreased across Aylesbury Vale as a whole it actually increased in the non-urban areas. This is against a strong national trend, but consistent with data showing manufacturing activity looking for new lower cost locations away from traditional manufacturing centres. 9

11 2.2 The Vale as part of the UK s fastest growing area SUMMARY The significant growth planned for the area provides an opportunity to support and strengthen a network of vibrant towns, based on a thriving, inclusive community, and an expanding and diverse local economy. There are good quality shops, facilities and services, based on an economic vision for the Vale of a mixed economy which encourages enterprise. Within the fastest growth area within the UK, the Vale has the highest rates of start ups, the highest level of skills, and the highest ratings for the natural environment. This provides an outstanding generational opportunity for the Vale to redefine itself in economic development terms Aylesbury Vale is one of the designated growth areas in the UK. The Sustainable Communities Plan launched in February 2003, sets out a long term programme of action to achieve sustainable communities in urban and rural areas of England. The Plan recognises that the economic success of London and the wider South East has led to pressures on services and housing supply, and that for the competitive position of the region to be maintained these pressures have to be eased. In this context Aylesbury Vale is part of the Milton Keynes/South Midlands Sub-region (MKSM) The current local plan identifies three Major Development Areas at Aylesbury, at Berryfields and Weedon Hill to the north of the town and at Aston Clinton, to the south. Berryfields and Weedon Hill are planned as mixed use areas, while Aston Clinton Road (26 ha) is identified as the site of a business park set within parkland. Although predominantly allocated towards housing (3,000 dwellings), amenity and community uses, Berryfields will also include some 10 hectares of employment land The Plan recognises the importance of the town centre at Aylesbury and seeks to enhance its role as both a county town and sub-regional shopping centre. Proposals for significant expansion of the retail centre contained in the Plan have already progressed, with the advancement of the Waterside development, which will also provide much needed cultural and social facilities in a high quality environment. The Plan also supports the provision of more residential uses in the towns centre, principally through redevelopment or conversion The emerging Local Development Framework, which will replace the Local Plan, has set out a spatial vision for the District which flows from the Sustainable Community Plan and the Councils Corporate Plan. It therefore sets a vision focused on the delivery of growth and maximising opportunities flowing from this growth The vision in the current version of the LDF Core Strategy for Aylesbury Vale is that we will: Deliver 21,500 new homes in the district by 2026 with place shaping paramount to creating developments unique to Aylesbury Vale. 80% of this 10

12 growth will be delivered around Aylesbury, with the rest coming forward in the main settlements of Buckingham, Winslow, Wendover and Haddenham as well as those larger villages in Aylesbury Vale. As part of these developments at least 35% will be affordable housing. Manage this growth in a way which protects the high quality landscapes and heritage, cultural and biodiversity assets and promotes a sustainable living and working countryside. To go alongside the growth in homes, achieve a similar increase in the number of jobs within the District so as to reduce out-commuting and make it a better place to both live and work. Enable this growth by giving overall priority to ensuring that infrastructure is delivered in the right place at the right time. This will support existing and new communities, and include improvements to transport, education, health, community and flood protection facilities. Enable the communities across the District to be vibrant, safe, diverse and inclusive In meeting the challenges of Growth, priorities identified in the current draft LDF are to: Provide a sustainable transport system, including improving public transport, good links to the strategic rail network, and improving road links to neighbouring areas such as Milton Keynes and High Wycombe. Achieve as close as possible relationship between the delivery of new homes and the provision of the necessary jobs, infrastructure and utilities to support the development. Promote the renaissance of the main town centres as the focus of community and cultural development. Reduce health inequalities, particularly in life expectancy and in the expected ageing population. These issues will need to be addressed in all new development of whatever type. Ensure that what is built mitigates against the impact of climate change including requiring higher standards of sustainable construction, energy efficiency and improving flood protection. Tackle the Green Infrastructure deficiency that currently exists in the north of the District and around Aylesbury. 11

13 2.3 Meeting the Employment Challenge. SUMMARY The current economic performance of Aylesbury Vale over the last decade will not be sufficient on its own to create the number of jobs required up to Some jobs will be created due to the growth in population. However, to successfully deliver the balance will require a step change in performance Aylesbury Vale faces both the challenge of delivering sustainable growth, alongside creating sufficient jobs. Equally, current forecasts show growth in service sector employment, partially offset by a loss of jobs in agriculture and manufacturing, as the table 2.0 below highlights. Figure 2.0 Aylesbury Vale Employment Forecasts by Sector Other Services Health Education & Health Public Admin. & Defence Other Financial & Business Services Business Services Banking & Insurance Communications Transport Hotels & Catering Wholesaling Retailing Construction Other Rubber & Plastics Paper, Printing & Publishing Wood & Wood Products Textiles & Clothing Food, Drink & Tobacco Transport Equipment Electrical & Optical Equipment Machinery & Equipment Metals Minerals Chemicals Fuel Refining Gas, Electricity & Water Other Mining Oil & Gas Extraction Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing ,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 Source: Experian Business Strategies Bucks Economic Prospects The South East Plan sets out a target of 21,500 jobs (a ratio of 1:1 compared to new homes). 12

14 2.3.3 Although the target for new jobs is not the same as for housing, and is defined as aspirational and not monitored in the same way by government, it is recognised by local partners as critically important in building a sustainable community This target is extremely challenging and will require significant focus on economic development activity The largest growth sector currently is business services. The other principal growth sectors are projected to be hotels and catering, health, wholesale distribution, other services and construction Net out-commuting as a proportion of the resident workforce rose from 13.8% in 1991 to 19.5% in The policy objective is that there is no increase in the net number out-commuting This level and type of job growth will not happen by simply relying on current trends. The Vale will need to seek to remedy the relatively poor representation in the key growth sectors, such as business services to achieve this position. Small scale business services companies may continue to grow in the non-urban and market town parts of the district, but Aylesbury must present a new offer if it is going to achieve its share of regional growth in the office based business services sector. If Aylesbury Vale is to achieve its potential growth it must make progress in this sector. The current town centre stock is generally out of date and unappealing to today s companies. Similarly Aylesbury as a business services location does not currently attract the high value producer services concentrated in London and secondary cities. Equally, it is too expensive to be a back office location The growth in population will in itself generate some new jobs, for instance in education and health. The employment land study shows that about half of the future job requirements will come in locations other than allocated employment sites, e.g. retail, community facilities and self employed Related to the potential for population related economic growth is that of the retail sector. Aylesbury Vale has suffered from some retail leakage and will need to do more if this trend is not to continue. Strengthening Aylesbury town centre will be critical to this process and the proposed new Waterside development is important in this context The remaining jobs would need to be generated from nationally and international traded sectors Aylesbury Vale does not have any obvious clusters nor a strong infrastructure for developing new clusters. There is some potential for the advanced automotive sector based on the new investment at Silverstone, though the growth potential for this sector at the present time is uncertain, as well as being highly competitive The possibility of a medical products cluster based around Stoke Mandeville has also been suggested previously, although this opportunity requires further exploration and exploitation. It is also fair to add that economic development history suggests that narrowly focussed sector spotting is not always a fruitful course The Oxford Cambridge Arc which seeks to promote the extraordinary and unique set of educational, research, business, commercial and governmental resources that exist 13

15 in the area around and between Oxford and Cambridge offers prospects for encouraging new knowledge based sectors, and the Vale should be able to take advantage of this Aylesbury Vale s proximity to Oxford is an obvious plus for the district s economy and the strategy and action plan explicitly seeks to develop opportunities to develop and exploit potential links Additionally, an employment land survey has highlighted that: Around 10,000 jobs can be created in sectors which get their jobs through non employment sites (e.g. retailing, hospitals, schools etc.) or from self employed (again not requiring allocated sites). Of the remaining around 11,500 jobs, these suggest some 1,800 each from industrial and warehousing, with the remainder coming through office based jobs. The LDF core strategy provides for this by allocating a minimum of some 69 hectares of new employment land to meet growth targets. Insert the table from Employment land study showing this breakdown and text from LDF core strategy when finalised 14

16 2.4 SWOT analysis SUMMARY The Vale has some significant strengths in relation to its location, the skills of its workforce, the quality of its environment, and the entrepreneurial nature of its residents on which to build. To support this, a much stronger Vale Story will be developed to convince potential investors that the Vale is open for business With regard to factors influencing future economic development, SEEDA identifies the following as being the principal Drivers of Change : Globalisation and Free Trade - The impact of increases in international trade, capital mobility and the development of new markets. Information and Communications Technology - Changes brought about through increasing uptake of the internet and other communications technologies. Emerging Technologies - Biotechnology, genetics, robotics and micro- or nanotechnology are areas where major innovations are already taking place. Demographic Change - Increases, migrations and shift in the age profile of populations will affect many aspects of life. Environmental Sustainability - Access to water, energy and other key resources will increasingly shape the way we live and do business. Skills and Employment - The average age and skills requirement of the workforce are due to change significantly. Social Cohesion and Deprivation - Income distribution, poverty, and the access of isolated communities to learning and jobs will continue to influence the supply of labour, government overheads and the quality of life for all These are in general not factors that Aylesbury Vale can directly influence, but in many cases it is possible to plan for their impact and the successful economies will be those that are best able to adapt to change. STRENGTHS Location. Aylesbury Vale has an excellent strategic location. Situated to the North West of London it is one hour by train to central London. Within a 30 minute drive-time it has a population of 460,000 and a population of 5.57 million within a one hour drivetime. The M1 to the east, M40 to the west virtually describe the boundaries of the district and the M25 lies just to the south. Aylesbury is 25 minutes from the M25 and 45 15

17 minutes from Heathrow and Milton Keynes is easily accessible. The Aston Clinton bypass has further enhanced local communications. There are also reasonable links to Birmingham and the West Midlands via the M1, M40 and rail. Oxford to the east is a town which appears to have significant complementarity to Aylesbury. The SEEDA report on Structure and Dynamics of the South East economy has noted a growth corridor that is seen as extending north west from London to Oxford. Aylesbury has an excellent location in its own right and we see it looking more the south and west than to the north. In short, we do not believe Aylesbury is or should see itself as the poor economic relation of Milton Keynes. Certainly the economic strategy should not be driven by an underlying belief that Milton Keynes is Aylesbury s main competitor nor that Aylesbury can only attract the economic crumbs off the Milton Keynes table Workforce The availability and access to a skilled workforce has become the single most important criteria for businesses and it is rising in importance. This is in part due to the tighter labour markets that exist throughout the country, but especially in the South East. Aylesbury Vale has a resident labour force that is well qualified but also diverse. There are a range of skilled workers across the whole spectrum Planned Future Growth In its own right, it is an important point that Aylesbury Vale has been explicitly identified as a growth area. Growth area status is being written in to plans and policies showing that this is a place that should be accommodating and welcoming growth. But above all it is the only growth area that falls into the successful western arc that runs from Gatwick though Heathrow to the Thames Valley. This arc, whilst highly successful, is constrained in terms of physical growth. Aylesbury Vale represents the first opportunity to expand the arc. Aylesbury Vale is also the point where the expanded western arc meets the new Oxford Cambridge Arc and can thus uniquely position itself and its growth area status Availability of land Whilst the empty office premises in the centre of Aylesbury demonstrate that poor quality office space will not be taken up, Aylesbury Vale actually has a large quantity of employment land available for new development. Land itself is not a constraint and compared with the neighbouring authorities represents a significant strength Quality of Life Aylesbury Vale offers an attractive environment with a wealth of small villages and towns and Aylesbury itself has the potential to be seen as a modern county town with an excellent range of facilities and a quality environment Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Aylesbury Vale has an above average rate of new firm formation and businesses tend to survive better in Aylesbury than in many other places. This latent strength of the economy needs to be tapped but, perhaps, with more emphasis placed on helping firms once they have set up. 16

18 WEAKNESSES Identity Aylesbury and Aylesbury Vale lack a clear economic identity. The area does not have a positive image as a business location or more worryingly, it does not have an image at all Town Centre Offices. The town centre office market is very poor. There are a number of existing vacant premises some of which are now outdated and unlikely to be of interest to today s occupiers Town Centre Fabric. It is now well accepted that Aylesbury town centre needs action to tackle its somewhat worn and outdated appearance and facilities. The renaissance of the town centre as a central plank in the economic strategy Lack of coordinated inward investment activity There is a weak image of the area for potential investors. The focus of the local delivery vehicle and the increase in attention paid by all to fostering and encouraging economic growth is aimed at turning this around Telecommunications Infrastructure A state of the art telecommunication infrastructure could be likened to the basic road and highway infrastructure built in the early years of the 20th Century. Electronic connectivity of people, enterprises and institutions would likely have the same stimulating effect on innovation and economic development, as did the basic transportation networks built nearly 100 years ago. OPPORTUNITIES The key opportunities for the Vale stem from: Population the rise in population provides economic opportunities in its own right. Experience from the new towns and other growth areas indicates that if the product is right, the Vale, and Aylesbury in particular, should be able to attract younger skilled workers, say in the 25 to 40 year age range. This profile of population will bring its own consumer demands and expectations. Location Aylesbury has a great strategic location. London, Heathrow, M25, Thames Valley and Oxford are all in easy reach. Theatre and Waterside This is a large investment in the town centre. The town centre needs it as it is under-performing. The Waterside investment is critical, but it is only the first step. It will not be enough on its own. Growth Area Aylesbury Vale must capitalise on the fact that it has been designated as a growth area. Public Investment along with being a growth area comes public investment. Aylesbury Vale has already been awarded additional funding through the Communities Plan Aylesbury has a cluster of sub-regional facilities (in public administration, health, education and retail) and a University nearby at Buckingham. 17

19 THREATS Whilst the identified weaknessess have an impact on the economic potential of Aylesbury and therefore the Vale, they are all matters which can be remedied through concerted action. But there are potential risks that can act as serious and possibility fatal constraint to realisation of the strategy. Some of these are internal and some external Internally, the principal challenges are to deliver the renaissance of the town centre, to tackle problems such as congestion, retain skilled labour and deliver a range of employment space opportunities which meet the changing needs of the market. These are difficult tasks which can go wrong, and if they are not successfully achieved could fatally damage the strategy Availability of funding (both from the private and public sectors) or rather lack of it would hamper these efforts. Ability of the public and private sectors to work together and to co-ordinate their efforts will also be critical clearly the effectiveness of the emerging delivery vehicle has a key role here External constraints will come in the shape of any continued general down-turn in the economy and the Vale s ability to cope with this. More specifically, the performance of the Thames Valley and Oxford could have a big impact. Economic progress in both these will help Aylesbury Vale since they are already heavily constrained and growth unable to be accommodated in these locations could readily spill out to the Vale. However, if the Thames Valley and Oxford stall economically, Aylesbury Vale will find it more difficult to benefit from its proximity to these areas. By the end of the strategy a measure of the success will be that the Aylesbury Vale economy is able to sustain itself in times of external downturn There is then also the possibility that other of the growth areas make better progress, offering a more powerful competition to Aylesbury Vale. 18

20 Location: Strengths To M25 to south, M1 to east and M40 to west Rail connections to London Less 1 hour from Heathrow Quality of life but perhaps no better than many other similar places in the SE? Large catchment and proximity to major economic centres including Oxford, High Wycombe, Luton and Milton Keynes Diverse economic base Skilled workforce (Sub) regional centre and associated facilities (health, local government, education) Relatively high levels of business start-ups and retention of new businesses Opportunities Positive approach to growth LDV to take forward Pushing out the open for business message Oxford to Cambridge Arc proximity to Oxford (which is heavily constrained) Higher level education and health facilities Business park environment (few competitors can offer) Encouraging the embryo enterprise culture already found in the Vale Weaknesses Location poor road and rail connections to north Lack of a defined image and recognition as a place in which to invest Limited number of major players and recent loss of some key names Aylesbury urban fabric has become tired Weakness in key financial and business services No well-defined clusters Gaps in the business infrastructure e.g. business care, marketing, enterprise support Aylesbury Town fallen behind rest of Vale in terms of employment growth Aylesbury Town has mixed property offer very little space attractive to high value investors, overhang of vacant town centre offices. Constraints Failure to establish defined role and image competitive position worsens, more losses of big names Employment growth lags behind housing completions and net out-commuting grows Down turn in economy of Thames Valley and Oxford limits growth opportunities in Aylesbury Lack of investment Lack of co-ordinated action between public and private sector players Population growth and more money in local economy = stronger market for consumer facilities (retail, leisure, cultural). Town centre development plans e.g. Waterside, provide a strong Aylesbury town centre which, in turn, becomes a positive influence on future investment decisions 19

21 3 Building a model for Growth 3.1 To grow jobs in line with housing, a step change in current performance is required. Like any business seeking to grow, the Vale needs to look after and grow its existing customer base; those businesses already here, and create an exciting offer that is attractive to potential new customers, who may be interested in the Vale as a potential business location. 3.2 The Vale is already an exciting place for many residents as a location to seek to start their own business. It also has a competitively skilled workforce. By harnessing the strengths outlined previously, given the right focus the Vale should be self confident and ambitious in its plans for achieving the economic development targets. 3.3 Quality infrastructure and ensuring the continued competitiveness of skills are viewed as underpinning enablers to accelerate growth. Ensuring the right mix of premises is offered, state of the art IT infrastructure and the appropriate availability of employment land provide an outstanding opportunity for the Vale. 3.4 The following model has been developed therefore, to highlight and capture the key actions that stakeholders will be seeking to drive forward: Infrastructure Development Incubator units Premises Employment land Flexible workspace Cluster development IT infrastructure New start ups Track rates Target clusters Business Link support Angel funding Retaining and growing existing business Track retention Target clusters Working with Business relationship officers Inward Investment Develop strategy The Vale story Aftercare Target customers Marketing Enterprise Education. NEA Workforce development Workshops Intensive assistance Train to Gain Skills Development 20

22 3.5 Aylesbury Vale is an area that is considered by many of its inhabitants as a great place to live, with the quality of the natural environment ranked as a key strength of many of its inhabitants. Its identification as an important part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands growth area however provides both significant opportunities and challenges to sustainable growth. 3.6 It is clear from recent studies that the vision is one in which Aylesbury Vale has a higher proportion of jobs in high value knowledge based activities. This will be a trend that will occur in any event as the UK economy grows. The Vale s task is to grow these jobs faster than the regional average; a challenge given Aylesbury Vale s starting point and the fact that all other districts are likely to have the same objective. 3.7 It is a clear part of this vision that a higher number of local residents should work in the district rather than commute out to London and elsewhere. In order to achieve this, a greater number and range of job opportunities, especially amongst higher skilled occupational groups, need to be available within the district. 3.8 Quality must lie at the core of Aylesbury Values: a quality location, a quality workforce, quality jobs and quality lifestyle. 3.9 Stakeholders do not favour a solution that concentrates all employment growth on Aylesbury town. Rather, both the market towns and the non-urban areas will be permitted to grow. On the other hand it is recognised that there is a need to focus investment on Aylesbury and co-locate housing and employment opportunities to reduce the need to travel. This approach is consistent with the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy and South East Plan. 21

23 4 Supporting new Enterprise and Entrepreneurs SUMMARY Aylesbury Vale will build on its current strengths to become recognised as one of the best places in the UK to start a business, a centre for enterprise. In achieving this, there will be a radical approach taken to building an environment in which entrepreneurship is encouraged and celebrated. Enterprise education, in schools, FE and HE locally will be supported, alongside the National Enterprise Academy. Potential new businesses will be supported where appropriate with access to funding and first stage premises, and provided with first class access to advice. Business networking will be supported to develop a strong sense of identity for local businesses. 4.1 Aylesbury Vale has an above average rate of new firm formation and firms tend to survive better than in many other places within the UK. This strength of the economy will be tapped in to with a range of support and focussed activity. 4.2 There is significant evidence from SEEDA and others that business start ups that seek and access support are more likely to survive, succeed and grow. Alongside this, Aylesbury Vale will support work being undertaken across the County to review the support provided to start ups, to ensure potential starts ups can access quality advice and support. The areas in which support is most commonly requested by start ups, is in finance, premises, business planning and specialist advice and support. Particular focus will be given to ensuring a robust network of support is available in these areas. 4.3 Aylesbury Vale will develop, in line with the Business Support Simplification Programme, strong links with the local provider of Business Links services, to ensure that high quality advice is available to businesses through the Business link brand locally. This brand is to be positioned as the access brand to all publically funded business support services, and alongside this, the relationship with Business Link will be further developed to ensure that the provision of support services is clearly and crisply understood by local businesses. 4.4 An innovation and growth team will be set up, with support from SEEDA, to cover the Bucks and Milton Keynes area. Within this, there will be a continued physical presence within the Vale and an enhanced range of specialist support and assistance available to new businesses who are innovative and have the capacity and desire to grow. This team also levers in significant experience and expertise from the HE sector, including The University of Buckingham, Bucks New University, and the Open University, to support businesses within the Vale. 4.5 New potential businesses can be hampered by a lack of appropriate capital, to support new ideas. The Distinct Council will support a grant scheme which will make a number 22

24 of direct grants to potential businesses where this is capable of generating real leverage. However, it is accepted that to make a significant step change, it is necessary to create a culture whereby risk and reward can be accessed by the market, to maximise the supply of risk capital available, within the dynamics of a relatively prosperous economy. In line with this, the creation of an angel s network will be supported, linking successful entrepreneurs with potential new opportunities. 4.6 The provision of suitable premises are of fundamental concern to new and potential businesses. As a place where enterprise happens, the Vale will create an enterprise and innovation centre that will provide a range of flexible easy in, easy out premises to local businesses. Alongside this, there will a drive to modernise existing employment space to sufficient variety and availability to smaller businesses. This will include increasing the supply of smaller, good quality office developments; to attract Small and Medium Enterprises (SME s) which form the backbone of the local office market. 4.7 It is accepted however that the above steps, whilst helpful, do not in themselves create a step change in positioning the Vale at the heart of enterprise within the UK. For that, an enduring culture needs to be created, of cradle to grave, or lifelong enterprise. 4.8 In line with this, stronger relationships with the County Councils Education Business Partnership will be developed to ensure that enterprise education in schools is leading edge and places enterprise education as a key strand in the local curriculum, working alongside, and with the support of local schools. 4.9 Alongside this, FE and HE will be supported in seeking to become recognised for the quality of their innovation and enterprise education, placing business engagement at the heart of their agenda The National Enterprise Academy will be supported in choosing the Vale as a national base, further building a picture of the Vale as a place that culturally has enterprise at the heart of its agenda The Vale will become an area that celebrates and recognises the role and contribution of the business sector, both civically, and through high profile recognition of successful businesses. A strong relationship with Business Representative Organisations, such as the Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Businesses and Institute of Directors will be developed and maintained In building a real sense of a business community, the strategy will encourage the business community to help itself through the work of the local business groupings. Examples of activities will include: Supporting forums that bring business interests together; Engaging business directly in visioning and planning exercises welcoming the voice of business at every stage; Arranging study tours; Supporting the creation of a long-term programme of seminars, breakfast meetings and advice sessions on topics of real business interest. 23