The SCR Chambers: East Midlands
East Midlands Chamber (Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire)
T: 0333 320 0333 E:
info@emc-dnl.co.uk W:
www.emc-dnl.co.uk Twitter: @EMChamberNews
The Chamber is the largest business representation organisation in the East Midlands. With a growing membership of more than 4,300 businesses, it represents the interests of businesses across Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.
Deliver HS2 in full
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has published its Rail Needs Assessment Plan, in which it outlined recommendations to Government for the future of HS2 – including a suggestion for the high-speed rail line from Birmingham to terminate at East Midlands Parkway, rather than continue to Leeds via a planned new Toton hub station and Sheffield. East Midlands Chamber Chief Executive Scott Knowles (pictured), who has joined other leaders along the HS2 Eastern Leg in rejecting scaled-back proposals, explains why it must be built in full.
businesses, with the potential to unlock economic benefits of more than £4bn for the East Midlands and part of Yorkshire. By connecting the region with a first-class UK
H
and Europe-wide rail network, it will bring enormous opportunities to local firms and make the East Midlands a much more attractive location for inward investment. However, these benefits for both the region
and country will only be realised once it is delivered in full. That means the Eastern Leg being built exactly as the Government has promised all along, rather than a diluted version of this, and at pace. We will have major capacity issues on the
Midland Main Line within the next two decades unless something is done to upgrade the rail network, so this needs to be addressed urgently. HS2 would achieve this, while also offering much-needed improvements in connectivity between the region’s towns and cities. However, this is so much more than just a
railway line. It’s been great to see many parts of the East Midlands come together to commit to a blueprint for the future of the region that will bring economic growth and jobs. We have been very clear on our vision, which is built on the idea that the Toton hub station becomes a destination in its own right – a magnet for inward investment and an industrial hub that unlocks further development opportunities. The NIC’s report is therefore very concerning
as it doesn’t take any of the regional growth plans into account and we absolutely do not accept its findings. Any suggestion that involves stopping HS2 at
East Midlands Parkway would not work for the region, and has already been considered and dismissed from a feasibility perspective years ago. When the Government makes its decision about which option to include in its Integrated
S2 is the single-biggest transport infrastructure project in a generation and represents a huge opportunity for
D2 Business Starter Programme set to continue into 2021
A pioneering project aimed at helping people across Derbyshire to start their own business will continue throughout 2021 to support workers affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The D2 Business Starter Programme was launched in January 2017 to help people move into self-employment and develop their ideas into commercially viable businesses. Through a series of themed workshops
and one-to-one support from expert advisers, the East Midlands Chamber-run programme – funded by Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council – aims to equip participants with the practical knowledge and skills they need to get up and running. So far, it has supported more than 1,000
people and helped to create more than 190 new businesses and 220 new jobs. More than 10,000 hours of free support has been provided to those taking part. Paul Stuart, the Chamber’s Head of
Rail Plan, it will have a clear choice between an exciting vision created by a region that’s focused on long-term growth and prosperity – one that will shape how we want our country to look as we leave the UK-EU transition period – and another that applies rough methodology, offers short-term logic and ultimately doesn’t deliver the same benefits. We have a plan that’s ready to go and it’s time
the Government delivered on promises it has made so many times over the past 12 months since it firmly committed to the scheme – and in the years that preceded it. The East Midlands currently has the lowest
transport spend per capita – £245 per head – of any region in the UK, receiving just 51% of the £483 UK average. The region is in desperate need of investment and finally putting any questions to bed on the HS2 Eastern Leg would go some way to proving the Government is serious about delivering on the ‘levelling-up’ agenda – a point on which it has repeatedly banged the drum without any serious proof of what this actually means. To do anything else would be a huge mistake, critically undermining the entire project and blowing a huge hole in Government rhetoric.
Enterprise, said: “The D2 Business Starter Programme has been a huge success since launching in 2017 and has helped many people across Derby and Derbyshire to take the leap into self-employment and start their own businesses. “We’re delighted to be able to continue
to offer this free support throughout 2021, to help even more people follow their dreams and make their business ideas a reality.” An individual, tailored package of
support is offered to each person taking part in the programme. It includes one-to- one mentor support and a series of workshops, led by experienced professionals and designed to complement the mentoring sessions. Workshops include subjects such as an
introduction to self-employment, marketing, business planning, book-keeping and social media. The workshop programme kicked off on
3 February but remains open to participants with a Derbyshire postcode who have the desire to start a business.
For more information, visit
www.pushthebuttontoday.com
Winter 2021 CHAMBERconnect 41
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