BRACKMILLS Industrial Estate has pledged its support for the Armed Forces – with businesses gathering on the estate to witness the signing of the Armed Forces Covenant.
Sara Homer, Executive Chair of the Brackmills Business Improvement District (BID), was greeted by Colonel John Wilson, the Ministry of Defence’s Regional Employer Engagement Director.
Sara signed the Covenant on behalf of the estate, a pledge of commitment and support from Brackmills to the armed forces community.
Sara explained: “Signing the Covenant has enabled us to confirm publicly that we recognise the value and contribution that serving personnel, regular and reservists, veterans and military families make to the country.
“The Covenant encourages businesses to develop relationships with the armed forces community so we wanted to lead by example and would urge other businesses to do the same.”
To date, over 1,600 businesses in the UK have signed the covenant, including Brackmills companies Travis Perkins Plc, Asda Stores Ltd, DHL, Doosan Industrial Vehicle Hire and Maritime Transport
Following the Covenant signing Col Wilson, said: “It’s fantastic Brackmills BID has taken such a positive approach to supporting the Armed Forces Community and it was an honour to be asked to speak at their AGM.
“Thanks to Brackmills we were able to speak a number of employers on the estate and explain that employing a reservist can be beneficial to them by guaranteeing them an employee whose skillset has been enhanced by the world renowned military training.
“Hopefully other businesses will follow the BID’s lead and embrace their support.”
Making its mark across the region
The executive chair of Brackmills, Sara Homer, has been unveiled as Chair of the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) Envoy scheme.
She will now lead and shape the future of SEMLEP’s Envoy programme – a select cohort of influential business leaders from a variety of industry sectors across the South East Midlands.
Transformation
Brackmills Industrial Estate became one of the UK’s first industrial estate Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in 2009, when businesses voted to pool funding and use it to tackle issues including crime.
The year before, in 2008, Brackmills was a decaying industrial estate, one of the top UK targets for criminal gangs for theft of and from lorries, an area littered with cars, muddy verges and road hazards resulting in fatalities.
Fast forward seven years and in 2015 crime was down by 60 per cent compared to 2008, with 55 crimes reported in the 12-month period. The transformation continued in 20016 when there was a further 23 per cent drop in crime, with just 42 crimes reported last year.
In 2014 businesses voted to renew the estate’s successful status as a Business Improvement District, again voting to prioritise safety and security and pledging ‘to work closely with the police to maintain a safe and secure working environment for business to operate and people and services to access and move around, safely and effectively’.
On your bus
The estate’s newly renewed and extended bus service was made possible in 2017. This was thanks to the pro-active efforts of Stagecoach Midlands working in partnership with Northamptonshire County Council and Brackmills Industrial Estate BID to put Section 106 monies to effective use and to continue regular bus services to and from Brackmills until at least summer 2020.
Happy birthday
Directors from the Brackmills BID board wish the Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce a Happy 100th birthday.
Coming soon
A new-look website is now in design, due to be launched in the New Year. Features will include a jobs and training portal and an easy to navigate business listing section.