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August 2001
BARNSLEY VALUES BUSINESS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES
Barnsley Development Agency (BDA) officially launched its new marketing strategy this morning, Tuesday 14 August, at its Beevor Court Headquarters in the town. John Penney, Chief Executive of BDA, unveiled one of Barnsley’s high profile new ‘money tree’ ad posters, with the bold message: If you value business growth, you can count on our support.
The campaign, which has been given the overall theme of Barnsley Values Business is designed to promote Barnsley’s newly found European Objective One Status, along with the many other benefits associated with businesses relocating to the Barnsley Metropolitan Borough. The poster and press advertising campaign will run until early next year and will encourage further enquiries from companies looking to relocate to a more attractive location in terms of geography and financial assistance.
John Penney said: “The Barnsley economy today is rapidly expanding as more national and international companies choose to relocate to the Borough. We can offer a superb location and a support package that we genuinely believe is second to none, and we would be happy to show any potential investors around the Borough to illustrate the tangible business success stories on the ground in and around the town.”
One company that successfully relocated to Barnsley is Galpharm International. Galpharm’s Managing Director, Graham Leslie, said:
“The financial incentive Barnsley has to offer was second to none. Barnsley Development Agency’s Investment & Development Team ensured red tape was dealt with swiftly, enabling us to get down to the business of moving, and Barnsley Met Training helped us with the recruitment of the right staff.”
Location is one of Barnsley’s strongest assets, as John Penney explains:
“Barnsley is quite literally at the centre of the UK's motorway network - flanked by the MI, the M62 and the M18 – and the Borough lies within 50 miles of the major manufacturing centres of Yorkshire, Manchester, and the Midlands. We can also offer easy access to some five international airports with London just two hours away by rail, and we’re on the doorstep of two main international ports offering still further major gateway opportunities to international markets.”
South Yorkshire's European Objective One funding is designed to create new jobs, start new businesses, boost the area’s economy, train young people in the skills needed by new industries, and develop and renew deprived communities. The region will have access to nearly £1 billion to facilitate economic development, social regeneration, business support, labour training and recruitment, sustainable development and above all, enhancing the image of the sub-region, including Barnsley. Objective One money is starting to flow in a number of areas of the Objective One Programme, with the Invest For Growth, grant scheme operated by Business Link South Yorkshire already on target to provide over £1m of support to assist South Yorkshire businesses with growth related projects. Six Barnsley companies have so far been offered funding, with grants of around £50K each, and a larger number still in the pipeline.
In the coming months the Objective One spend will pick up pace, and the BDA partners are working hard to access funding for regeneration activities as diverse as major site development and digital technology initiative in the urban centre - to support for Inward Investment Marketing. BDA’s Community Economic Regeneration Team recently secured, within a South Yorkshire consortium, a share of £7m from Objective One to further develop Intermediate Labour Market projects re-connecting long term unemployed to the world of work. A massive programme of enhanced training/skilling support across the sub-region to be funded by Objective One will also ensure that the ambitious targets for business growth and diversification into high tech sectors are matched by a workforce equipped for the task.
John Penney concludes: “The future is bright for Barnsley as a location for business relocation and growth. We have to make sure that the wider business community understands just how much we have to offer”. For further information, contact Barnsley Development Agency on (01226) 784444.
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Barnsley Development Agency
Beevor Court, Pontefract Road, Barnsley S71 1HG
Telephone: +44 (0)1226 784444
© 2001