Cabinet Call: A Busy Year Ahead for Growth and Commercialisation

Posted on 18 January 2019

Written by Cllr Nick Worth, South Holland District Council Deputy Leader and portfolio holder for Growth and Commercialisation.

A belated Happy New Year! When it comes to South Holland's growth and commercialisation there is little time to stop and look back at the achievements and progress of 2018, and there were a few to say the least. As we move into the new year there are exciting new opportunities, developments and milestones ahead.

The year has already got off to a great start for South Holland's investment and growth, with the announcement of a £50,000 government investment to help enable manufacturing growth at Holbeach Food Enterprise Zone.

The FEZ will be one of the most exciting developments the district, and possibly all of Lincolnshire, has seen in many years, and will cement South Holland's place at the centre of the food production sector on an international scale. It promises to offer high-quality business accommodation, business support, technology, education and training facilities and this kind of national support just further supports the attractive prospect it will present for an array of food and related businesses to come to the district.

As well as the FEZ, we should continue to move forward this year on our work on the Spalding Western Relief Road, which would provide a new route around the west side of the town, linking Spalding Common in the south to Spalding Road and Pinchbeck Road in the north.

This new road promises to be excellent news for the people of South Holland, meaning we can deliver significant and lasting housing and commercial growth for the district, whilst also reducing congestion, delays and journey time through Spalding town centre.

Another area high on our agenda in 2019 are our town centres in South Holland, where we know the retail sector faces increasing pressures from online sales, so we want to see more of a focus on increased investment on strategic buildings, improved access, cleanliness and improvements to the public realm to attract greater footfalls and to ensure they become the heart of the local community. We are committed to doing all we can to make South Holland a great place to live, work and visit and  are currently beginning to develop some exciting plans to achieve that aim - watch this space!

One 2019 opportunity that businesses shouldn't wait to get involved with is our Grants4Growth programme. The project encourages and empowers small and medium businesses to invest in their future, providing grant funding to buy the equipment and machinery they need to expand or diversify.

We have now distributed over £1million through over 150 grants through the programme, and have just £150k left of the initial funding pot. We have put in a bid to secure more funding, which would allow us to run Grants4Growth for a further three years, but would still encourage anyone ready to invest in new kit to get in touch with us today at grants4growth@sholland.gov.uk or by visiting grants4growth.sholland.gov.uk.