Once-in-a-lifetime chance for change
Dec 8 2006 By Dave Black, The Journal
Job prospects and business prosperity in a former Northumberland mining stronghold have been given an £11.8m boost.
The regeneration treasure chest handed to Wansbeck is the biggest single injection of enterprise funding ever given to the unemployment-hit district.
The Government investment has been secured in recognition of Wansbeck's dismal record as the second worst area in the country for new business start-ups.
It was one of only 70 local authorities from the most deprived communities in the country invited by the Government to bid for the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) cash - with only a handful being awarded funding.
Wansbeck's bid was drawn up by the district council and public and private sector partners, including local businesses, schools and community groups.
The £11.8m will be invested over the next three years to encourage and promote new business enterprise and an entrepreneurial spirit aimed at overcoming some of the legacies of the district's industrial past.
Targets over the next decade include increasing self-employment rates by 25%, boosting the number of local businesses, reducing the numbers claiming benefits and helping to create more private sector jobs.
Partners say raising aspirations, promoting enterprise in schools, business mentoring, skills training, a better range of premises and financial support for new and existing firms will all be part of the mix.
Specifically, the Wansbeck LEGI team want more people to set up their own businesses and will be establishing an Enterprise Education Network to encourage more students to consider self-employment.
Wansbeck Council chief executive Bob Stephenson said yesterday the LEGI funding was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change forever the enterprise culture of the district.
Wyn Jones, managing director of Alcan Smelting and Power - the biggest business in the district - said: "Our success in securing LEGI funding will help Wansbeck transform itself into a prosperous and inclusive community, where enterprise and entrepreneurship can flourish."
Nick Bowen, headteacher at Bedlington's St Benet Biscop Catholic High School, said the funding would help schools such as his to create the capacity for students to work in more enterprising ways with real businesses and entrepreneurs.
