Latest Business News Jigsaw joining the best and coming to MK with a new flagship store Good news on unemployment falling year on year

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1 Economic Development Newsletter October/November 2014 Introduction Welcome to the October/November edition of the newsletter. In this edition, we take a look at a round-up of the latest news from the Milton Keynes Council Economic Development Team (ED). Location, Location, Location seems to be one of the themes for this edition! This has been a very high priority for the last couple of months for the ED team. What with showcasing Milton Keynes (MK) to the world at the first property trade show of its type in the UK and running a MK marketing campaign on the London Underground, we have ensured MK maintains its successful reputation and is still on track. This locomotive shows no signs of stopping Inward Investment full steam ahead! World Cyclo-Cross World Cup - Saturday 29th Nov Sunday 30th Nov 2014 From trains to bikes! MK has been in the spotlight internationally once again. This time, it s the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup! I was proud to be Project Director for this event and had great support from partners and colleagues. This event was the first to happen outside of mainland Europe and further reinforced our reputation of being an International Sporting City, it was a real accomplishment for MK and celebrations were had all round! The day brought the city alive as people from far and near ascended on Campbell Park to see the sights of world class cycling at its best. MK joined together to welcome the best riders from around the world including Sanne Cant and Kevin Pauwels who won their respective races. The day after, the British National Series was held at the same venue giving an opportunity for British riders of all ages and abilities to ride in the wheel tracks of the cycling stars making it more of a family event. Thousands of spectators turned up to watch the fantastical event, and high praise has been given to MK by both riders and spectators alike. The likelihood of the event s return to Britain is very strong which is encouraging news and shows the positive impression MK has made. We worked with Partners and with cross-departmental teams to deliver a world class event. Well done MK once again for proving to be a city that can do! We have started warming up for world class sports, MK is no stranger to putting on world class events and the World Cup Rugby 2015 is coming up! There is no stopping MK, we are making sporting history! For more information please click the following link:

2 Tech Mahindra supports innovative Milton Keynes and the Smart City Project Milton Keynes Council and the Open University have enlisted the help of Indian services giant, Tech Mahindra, who are one of the largest foreign owned companies in MK, to assist in the research and development of smart city technology. MK is making every effort to be a leader of innovation with the smart city developments and is already working alongside the Future Cities and Connected Digital Economy catapults. Earlier this year, Cambridge-based sensor supplier Neul signed a contract to supply an open-access internet-of-things (IoT) network for MK, which aimed to help the council deploy services such as waste management and disposal more intelligently. Tech Mahindra has a long history in MK having had a local office since 2000, it now employs over 350 people in the area. Please click the following link for more information: Milton Keynes ranks highly once again! Milton Keynes has jumped from 9 th to 7 th in the UK Vitality Index The UK Vitality Index is a health check on every large town and city outside London. It identifies those towns and cities that have healthy and robust local economies; are best placed to support growth; and will provide opportunities for businesses to expand. A wide variety of data has been used to produce the most rounded view possible. The UK Vitality Index scores each location against 20 datasets relating to demographics, educational attainment, business activity levels, economic output, general affluence and sustainability. MKDP have a new website! Milton Keynes Development Partnership, the organisation responsible for promoting the development of land assets in the borough, has launched a brand new shiny website! The new site is part of a strategy to support the development of its land assets in line with the Milton Keynes Council s Corporate Plan and Economic Development Strategy. In 2012, central government agreed the transfer of land, assets and responsibilities from the Homes & Communities Agency to Milton Keynes Council in a ground-breaking deal worth 32 million. The move has put MK in control of its own growth agenda, and put sole planning powers in the hands of locally-elected representatives for the first time. Milton Keynes Development Partnership s development land bank comprises more than 120 hectares (300 acres) suited to employment, residential and commercial leisure uses. Representatives of MKDP were also out in force at the MIPIM property trade show alongside the ED team to promote the land bank available to inward investors. Please click the following link: 2

3 News from SEMLEP Coming Soon - European Structural Investment Funding for Milton Keynes The South East Midlands, which includes MK, has been given an allocation of European Structural Investment Funding of approximately 79 million for delivery over a 6 year period, starting from Having a presence on the SEM ESIF (South East Midlands European Structural Investment Funding) Committee board has been great and there are six priorities which are being driven forward. In the South East Midlands, ESIF comprises of 3 funds the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). These funds aim to increase social and economic prosperity and to reduce disparity, creating a more competitive, prosperous and inclusive economy. Organisations will be able to bid into these funds through a Government call for projects, with the first bidding round expected to be in early Projects will require match funding of 50% from the organisation s own funds. There will also be some 100% funded tendering opportunities offered. Please click the following link for more information: or contact the SEMLEP team on To discuss project ideas please contact Lindsay Mitton on lindsay.mitton@semlep.com SEMLEP Business Funding 2014 SEMLEP have just undertaken a Business Survey 2014 which is now published and the results have been very interesting. The survey highlights that lower business rates, better transport infrastructure and more business support as being top of the wish list for local businesses. Over 1,500 companies were asked detailed questions about business performance, growth, challenges and projections to enable SEMLEP to prioritise its activities, and track change and progress since its first survey 12 months ago. Please click the following link for more information: / MK had a small sample of 100 businesses due to the SEMLEP business survey covering the whole of the South East Midlands area. Milton Keynes Council are now conducting a business survey for MK which will have a greater focus on MK businesses and will have a larger representative sample size. Our very own MK Business Survey results will be collated in the New Year and we will share results with you in the coming year. We are looking forward to hearing from our local businesses and finding out what they think. Please click the following link for more information: 3

4 Latest Business News Jigsaw joining the best and coming to MK with a new flagship store Great news as the clothing and accessories brand Jigsaw, is to open a 2,656 square foot store at Centre:mk in MK. The new store will have two floors. This will include ranges for all the family. The store is set to open ready for Christmas and will also house a café within the store. Please click the following link for more information: Good news on unemployment falling year on year Great news for the local economy as unemployment continues to fall in MK. The unemployment (claimant count) in Milton Keynes fell to 3,092 (1.9% of the working age population) in October 2014 from 3,291 (2%) in September 2014, a decrease of 199 claimants. The October 2014 rate of 1.9% compares to the rate of 2.6% in October, 2013, a 0.7% decrease in the unemployment rate in a year. Team Latest News MK is the talk of London at MIPIM UK At the UK s first property trade show of its kind; MK showcased itself to a global audience highlighting MK as one of the leading places to invest in the UK. Investors, developers, local authorities, occupiers, hotel groups, agents and business service providers attended the three-day event, hosted by the internationally renowned property specialists MIPIM UK, at London Olympia. The team spent hours in talks with investors, providing information about the city s business infrastructure and highlighting the cultural and social events that make MK a great place to live. The team was inundated with requests for more information at the event about the opportunities in MK. Many leads were generated, which the team are confident will lead to more investment and jobs for our borough as well as continued high exposure for us at national and international level. We have a real story to sell in MK and what better venue to sell it than the MIPIM UK conference. Running alongside the MIPIM conference, the team has also been advertising MK on the London Underground, promoting the best of MK to prospective investors. The ads were placed strategically at various key stations across the Underground to attract the attention of decision makers and stakeholders. All in all, the ED team has done a great job of marketing and promoting MK once again to ensure every opportunity was taken to maximize success and exposure. 4

5 What s coming up Its back! Small Business Fortnight It was even bigger and better than last year! We love to celebrate our businesses in MK and a high level campaign to support and promote small businesses and independent retailers across MK has just finished. The successful Small Business Fortnight, which ran from November 24 th until December 5 th, was led and funded by Milton Keynes Council s ED team. The event featured a series of free workshops aimed to help small businesses to succeed. Workshops were delivered by selected delivery partner Milton Keynes College and topics ranged from financial advice and branding to the legalities of running a growing business, and the role of social media in helping businesses to grow. However, we didn t just celebrate it for one day! We do things different in MK and celebrated with a Small Business Fortnight. The Fortnight finished on the day before the Small Business Saturday on December 6 th, which is a national government initiative to support, inspire and promote small businesses. Small Business Saturday is all about highlighting small business success and encourages consumers to shop local and support small businesses in their communities. In MK, Small Business Fortnight also featured a Shop Locally radio campaign and other media promotions to encourage residents to shop at independent retailers across the borough. The event proved to be a great success once again and businesses from the city connected and networked together. It proved to be once again an event worth doing! More results from this event will follow in the next newsletter. Please click the following link for more information: RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Event I had the privilege of being a panelist at the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) South East Infrastructure and economies question time which was held at the Stadium in MK. There were key themes that the questions were based upon and these included; Land use, local plan and urban development, MK as an attractive place for new Local Employers and Technology as an enabler of local growth. Please click the following link for more information: Social Media Growth Our social media presence goes from strength to strength, our twitter followers at the end of November stood at 2565 (2% improvement on October 2014) and our Linkedin connections at 1652 (6% improvement on October 2014). The ED team continues to promote through social medial channels to ensure that MK possesses the advantage with national and international business stakeholders. 5

6 Enquiries The overall MK enquiry figures show 253 year to date and the investment successes stand at 93 year to date. Throughout October and November, we had 27 investment successes consisting of 14 micro, 10 small, 2 medium and 1 large sized businesses, some of which came from our key sectors including Technology and Financial/Business Services. The team continues to promote MK through multiple channels and partners. Help Spread the Word Follow us twitter feed at and by joining our LinkedIn group at I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year for We are looking forward to a New Year full of new investment opportunities! Pam Gosal Head of Corporate Economic Development & Inward Investment Economic Development: Invest MK contact: enquiries@investmiltonkeynes.com 6

7 Investment Success Update Oct 2014 Year to Date Nov 2014 Year to Date Companies arriving in or relocating within MK From Target Group* Total Jobs Created Total Jobs Retained High growth, high value, knowledge-based businesses 7

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9 Enquiry Activity Update The chart below shows the trends for commercial land and premises enquiries from Enquiries We received 59 enquiries this October and November compared to 59 last year and therefore the cumulative total for the year to date is 263 against 226 in Our current caseload is 29 category A and 76 category B enquiries. (Category A covers Enquiries from UKTI and foreign owned businesses; land enquiries; industrial premises over 50k sq. ft.; office premises over 10k sq. ft. and key business sectors. Category B Enquiries cover all other requests for support.) The figures in tables above, on companies arriving in or relocating within MK, jobs created, jobs retained and on land and premises enquiries help to show that MK is open for business and also that there is a very positive outlook on the economy in MK. 9

10 Oct Oct Nov Nov Enquiries by Sector Office Industrial Retail Land Information and Support Total for Year so far

11 The Labour Market in Milton Keynes, November 2014 Unemployment (claimant count) in Milton Keynes fell to 2,723 (1.6% of the working age population) in November 2014 from 3,092 (1.9%) in October 2014, a decrease of 369 claimants. The November 2014 rate of 1.6% compares to the rate of 2.3% in November, 2013, a 0.7% decrease in the unemployment rate in a year. The MK unemployment rate of 1.6% was higher than the 1.5% rate for the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) area and compared to rates of 1.2% in the South East England region and 2.1% in the UK as shown in Figure1. Figure 1: Unemployment Rates in MK, South East and UK, November 2014 Source: NOMIS Youth unemployment in Milton Keynes is relatively low. Young people, aged up to 24 years made up under one-quarter (16.2%) of all claimant count unemployment in November 2014 (a decrease of 2.7% on the October 2014 proportion) compared to (22.4%) in the South East and 23.2% in the UK. The unemployment rate in Milton Keynes is low and the economic outlook is improving. 11

12 Getting our residents back into work The councils Neighbourhood Employment Programme (NEP) continues to grow, having achieved greater employment outcomes for clients at this time of year since its inception. The current success is partially attributed to increased employer engagement including Smyths Toys, Doubletree Hilton and Morrison s. The strong working relationship with Job Centre Plus and the Work Programme providers has also resulted in sharing live job vacancies and links to employer led and MK College delivery of Sector Based Work Academies leading to specific work related training and guaranteed interviews on completion. The Equality Works service with its focus on unemployed people with special support needs has also been working closely with some of MK major employers such as Santander and Serco providing work experience with a view to employing candidates, these are proving to be very productive partnerships. Milton Keynes College has also been very active in delivering education, training and employment outcomes as part of the Youth Contract and ESF funded initiatives targeting a wide range of young people whilst delivering a similar service in partnership with Thames Valley Probation service to 5 prisons within the region. Connexions/Prospects continues to successfully target NEET young people with their new outreach service following vacation of their original base at The Point and is proving to be equally productive, evidenced by increased attendance and interventions. Overall, Milton Keynes Council, with its multi-agency cohesive approach to supporting people onto an educational pathway and business recruitment support with strong links between the NEP and the ED team, has continued to contribute to the ongoing reduction in local unemployment levels. 12