WITH its diverse range of independent shops, thriving businesses and strong enterprise culture, the Harborough district has been described as the ‘understated jewel’ of the East Midlands.
In recent years, the district has done much to buck the national economic downturn, evident by its frequently bustling high streets, busy shops and popular traditional markets.
It also boasts the largest dedicated warehousing and distribution centre in Europe – namely Magna Park near Lutterworth – which currently employs approximately 9,500 people.
That said, its local authority, Harbor
WITH its diverse range of independent shops, thriving businesses and strong enterprise culture, the Harborough district has been described as the ‘understated jewel’ of the East Midlands.
In recent years, the district has done much to buck the national economic downturn, evident by its frequently bustling high streets, busy shops and popular traditional markets.
It also boasts the largest dedicated warehousing and distribution centre in Europe – namely Magna Park near Lutterworth – which currently employs approximately 9,500 people.
That said, its local authority, Harborough District Council, continues to put business and economic growth at the forefront of all it does and has declared the district well and truly ‘open for business’.
This is a focus on business growth and strengthening Harborough district as a business location – as well as providing residents with a breadth of employment alternatives to out-commuting and attracting inward investment.
One of the district’s key strengths is the Harborough Innovation Centre, based just north of Market Harborough. As well as creating jobs and attracting businesses to the area, the facility – owned by the district council and managed by Oxford Innovation – provides conference facilities, virtual offices, on-site refreshments, shared offices, meeting rooms and entrepreneurial opportunities.
It holds regular, free networking events – the next being a breakfast event taking place on Friday 11 July 2014 – which promote current business opportunities.
Interestingly, the Harborough district has the second highest number of home-based businesses outside of London. This is the main driver behind a recent campaign to increase the coverage of superfast broadband in the area. Working alongside Leicestershire County Council and others, the district council has invested £530,000 in improving broadband speeds across the district, bringing obvious benefits to home-based businesses, particularly those in rural areas.
Councillor Blake Pain, Leader of Harborough District Council, said: “Public authorities alone are unable to deliver growth. Entrepreneurs and businesses are best placed to do this. As a local authority, our focus is on creating a healthy environment upon which entrepreneurs and businesses are able to thrive, create employment opportunities and increase prosperity across the whole district. Our ‘open for business’ strategy is about establishing this environment; a function that local authorities have seldom focused on historically. We work closely with wider economic partnerships, including businesses themselves, to achieve our ambitions and establish a strong identity, which captures the area’s strengths and builds on them through a coordinated action plan. The Harborough district is already an understated jewel and our aim is that this jewel will become even brighter.”
For further information, visit the website www.harborough.gov.uk/business