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 "With the launch of the Barnsley Development Agency (BDA) partnership in 1998, economic development and regeneration activity in Barnsley took a giant leap forward. The partners are Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, the Voluntary Sector Forum, the Barnsley Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Link South Yorkshire and Barnsley College. The partnership recognises the fact that for many years individuals and organisations across the UK involved in economic development have agreed that to achieve a really coherent partnership-based strategy, a higher level of integration is required.BDA represents the fulfillment of this widely recognised objective, with all the keyplayers in economic development / regeneration in Barnsley signed up to a shared strategy across a wide range of interconnected projects and initiatives. The core practitioners in the implementation of economic development, Business Link South Yorkshire, The Council's Inward Investment and Development Team and the Community Economic Regeneration team (CERT) are co-located at the Beevor Court premises. Over the first three years of operational activity the BDA partnership has created an integrated powerhouse for driving forward the economic and physical regeneration of the Barnsley economy, infrastructure and environment, and the securing of rewarding jobs and opportunities for the maximum possible number of our citizens. During the last three years not only has the BDA broadened the scope and quality of its regeneration work in Barnsley, and in working with our sub regional partners and Yorkshire Forward, but this website has been built into one of the most comprehensive guides to local sites, premises and business support assistance of any area in the UK. I hope you find it helpful, and that through this website we can assist you to locate to, or expand your business in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. This is an exciting time to be involved in economic development and regeneration in Barnsley. It is certainly an exciting challenge to be the Chief Executive of the BDA. I and my staff and colleagues look forward to continued close and fruitful work to achieve our joint aims with all our local and regional partners in the months and years ahead.” John Penney |
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9th October 2001
BARNSLEY COMMUNITY BUILD CEMENTS ITS FUTURE
The national skills gap in the construction industry is being filled at a local level in Barnsley, by Barnsley Community Build (BCB), which is well on the way to being a sustainable enterprise offering high quality commercial construction services. A launch exhibition and event to celebrate BCB’s successful formation and to further encourage its development will be held at Priory Campus, Lundwood, Barnsley, on 19 October.
The formation of BCB is part of Barnsley Development Agency's (BDA) Community Economic Regeneration Team (CERT) strategy to develop sustainable community enterprise in growth sectors - and as a response to the mismatch between a shortage of skilled construction workers and high unemployment in the Barnsley area, the Yorkshire region, and the country as a whole. Total employment in the UK construction industry is projected to grow by around from around 1.38 million to nearer 1.48 million by 2003, requiring 70,000 new recruits each year for the foreseeable future. It has been forecast that the five occupations with the biggest annual recruitment requirements in the Yorkshire and Humber region are carpenters and joiners; electricians; site managers; bricklayers; and plumbers*.
In the East of England region (including Yorkshire), construction output is set to rise by 2.9% per year until at least 2004, compared with 2.5% for Great Britain as a whole. Employers report difficulty in recruiting skilled personnel, and the trades worst affected are carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, ground workers/general operatives, and site managers/supervisors**. BCB addresses national and local government employment and training policy, and already has the support of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, who have put BCB on its approved contractor list.
One of BCB’s early successes has been to win a competitive tender for a contract from Environmental Health, to complete community ‘facelift’ works as part of a private sector renewal grant programme. The anticipated 10-year programme includes the renovation and improvement of boundary walls, using local labour and resources, thus complementing BDA’s overall community economic regeneration strategy.
Mark Hanks, project manager for BCB, said: “BCB has been operating for several months now as a pilot initiative and is well on the way to developing into a self sustaining community business, able to compete and stand on its own two feet in the construction industry. I’m delighted to say that after only a few short months, BCB has built up massive confidence in its own abilities, and I’m sure we can compete with the private sector – not only on price and service, but also on quality.”
BCB is no ordinary community enterprise. It is built on a commercial model that has proved to be extremely successful in other areas of the country, and there is every expectation that Barnsley’s newest construction company will create over 100 jobs over the next few years. To date, BCB has created jobs for two bricklayers and a labourer, two bricklayer trainees, one joinery trainee, and three energy efficiency trainees.
There are three elements to the range of services being developed by BCB, namely construction and refurbishment; energy efficiency; and small maintenance and property repair. Companies and residents alike can be confident that any works carried out by BCB will be to industry standards, and competitively priced. The company is funded by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT); European Social Fund (ESF); the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB); and supported by BDA’s Community Economic Regeneration Team (CERT). CERT's task is to help Barnsley's communities develop projects that provide new job opportunities.
By empowering locally based groups CERT aims to build people's confidence and knowledge and assist them to acquire skills and experience, allowing them to actively participate in the social and economic growth within the Barnsley area.
Mark Hanks continues: “Barnsley Community Build aims to complement regeneration initiatives by ensuring local people benefit from the employment created by investment into such projects. If any community groups or organisations in the Barnsley area are looking at construction or renovation projects as part of a regeneration strategy or initiative, we’d be very interested in talking to them and submitting a tender for the work.”
Anyone interested in obtaining a quote for any construction project from Barnsley Community Build -no matter how big or small - should contact Mark Hanks at BCB on (01226) 784444.”
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Barnsley Development Agency
Beevor Court, Pontefract Road, Barnsley S71 1HG
Telephone: +44 (0)1226 784444
© 2001