“Thank you for inviting me to speak at today’s Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership AGM here at Uttoxeter Racecourse.
I’ve been asked to speak about ‘Growing the Economy of the Future’ and what that means to Stoke-on-Trent, and I always think that it’s helpful in that context to look to the recent past. And in this case, back to 2015, where a number of key events occurred;
There was a defining general election, which set us on the path to a referendum - and local elections too.
Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning U.K. monarch in history, and we celebrated the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, which established the principle that everyone is subject to the law, including the monarchy. It also guarantees the rights of individuals to justice and a fair trial.
There was the awful accident on the Smiler ride at Alton Towers, where 4 people were seriously hurt. And finally the weather took a turn for the worse, with Storm Abigail hitting the U.K., bringing with it 90mph winds, torrential downpours and huge waves. It was the first storm to be named officially by the Met Office.
However, a bit closer to home, Stoke-on-Trent was experiencing a different storm with the same name...
The 2014 Strategy Economic Plan (SEP) of the LEP talked about its ambition for “rapid growth in Stoke-on-Trent and its contribution to the County and national economy’ and the ‘need to maximise the opportunities presented by strategic infrastructure investments’.
A change in the City Council’s administration in 2015 presented the opportunity for new ideas and a vision that is now becoming a reality; the SEP received a refresh in 2017 and now talked about how ‘Stoke-on-Trent will rapidly grow into a Core city, harnessing its city Centre Economy, a spirit of Enterprise and innovation, unique indigenous energy and cultural offer to become a net contributor to U.K. plc. It will form the centrepiece of a powerful U.K. growth corridor along the M6 and strategic rail routes linking Birmingham and Manchester. We will bring forward a sustainable package of employment, housing and educational sites along a city centre spine which will enhance the scale and quality of our competitive offer to businesses, entrepreneurs, learners and residents.’
So how are delivering that offer? We have a vibrant city centre including the Smithfield development, where Smithfield 1 Is a public sector hub, bringing together front facing council services, health partners and the police, whilst Smithfield 2 is home to Waterplus and the Davies Group respectively, bringing between them 800 private sector jobs. Currently under construction is the 140 bed 4* Hilton Garden Inn hotel, and alongside it the first of two blocks of private apartments, consisting of 151 1 and 2 bed flats. Both are due to open later this year.
We have invested in the public realm around the city centre, the City Central library, and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, where a £6m extension for the city’s Spitfire is due to start construction shortly. Last week saw the announcement of the city’s successful bid for £200,000 from the Wolfson Foundation to support the interpretation of the new gallery, supplemented with money raised by the museum’s Friends Group.
The city council have also recently purchased the East/West Precinct, which many will remember as the old bus station site in Hanley, and demolition of this landmark site is currently underway, to make space for an exciting future development.
This growing city centre offer is supported by a developing towns offer - from Stoke with the Spode site and Staffordshire University, to Tunstall and Longton with their historic town halls and markets, and Fenton and Burslem with their heritage and creative strengths.
Enterprise and innovation continues to grow - a resurgent ceramics industry has grown into Advanced Materials, and the city continues to be the national centre of the industry, with over 350 ceramic businesses located here, 32% of the national total and worth £650milliom to the economy. We also remain strong in the manufacturing and engineering sectors.
Alongside this, we are seeing an upsurge in the government’s key sector of AI, where local company Bet365 are a market leader. Other local businesses in this field include the Davies Group, Autonet, Wade, Navman Wireless, Mice and Dice, Waterplus and Vodafone. A growing 3.4% of the local workforce is employed in this sector, compared to 2.7% in the West Midlands, and it is strongly supported by Staffordshire University. One of the first institutions to offer a Computer Science degree,in 2016/17 they enrolled 2,300 students onto the course, a number only bettered by the Open University. This is complimented by courses in AI and Robotics.
The city’s District Heat Network continues to roll out at pace, following its 2017 start, and is due for completion in 2021. Stoke-on-Trent City Council secured £20m to deliver this groundbreaking project and the first kilometres will be shortly complete, with the first businesses joining soon.
Our cultural offer continues to grow also. We may not have won U.K. City of Culture 2021 but we are still delivering because culture matters, and I encourage you to join me in Burslem for Light Night Stoke-on-Trent between the 31st January and 2nd February to see the city lit up like never before.
Tourist visitor numbers broke the 5m mark last year, and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery saw a 25% increase in its footfall, making it one of the top 10 most popular free attractions in the region. And who could forget the Poppies at Middleport last summer, seen by over 120,000 visitors, and winner of the Enjoy Staffordshire ‘Best Tourism Experience 2018’ award.
Our strategy is working! The city has experienced a big drop in unemployment, and has the 10th fastest growing economy outside London and the South East. Business is literally booming, as our flexible workforce with affordable costs makes us increasingly attractive as a great place to live, work and do business.
In terms of connectivity, we are already exceptionally well located, but we are ambitious to improve that. As one of just twelve cities shortlisted to receive a share of the government’s £1.7bn Transforming Cities Fund, we have submitted our Tranche 1 bid, which includes all modes of transport to support mass movement of people to key sites in the city.
Our 15 miles of canal network grows in importance, with the Legible Stoke project rolled out alongside a £1.5m investment with the Canal and River Trust to develop the canal usability.
Stoke train station was used by over 3.1m people last year - twelve times the population of the city - and is on a trajectory to grow to 5m in the coming years. We are now confirmed as HS2 connected and have a persuasive argument to improve the city’s east/west rail connectivity.
Our road network is vital to businesses, and last year we invested £10m into road repairs, £2.9m in road safety and £5.6m in asset upgrades such as street lighting. We also have ambitious plans to improve the existing network, including £18m for the Hanley East Link Road, and £40m for the Etruria Valley Link Road.
This road is vital to opening up the city’s number 1 employment site at Etruria Valley, which is part of the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone. Granted in 2015, ‘activated’ in 2016, as Chair of the Enterprise Zone Board I am exceptionally proud that last year we marked completion of the Tunstall Arrow phase 1 and celebrated that over the last nearly 3 years, we have delivered nearly 2,000 jobs, secured or in the pipeline, developed over 500,000sq ft of commercial space, seen the first speculative development in the city for many years, and brought back into use brownfield sites that have stood derelict for generations. As the Chair of the Enterprise Zone Board, I am proud to say it is one of the most successful EZs in the country.
We are also changing perceptions, as one of the fastest growing housing markets in the U.K. We were the recipient of £10m if Housing Infrastructure Funds for 9 marginal housing sites in Burslem. on Monday you may have seen the announcement that the former Royal Doulton Site in Nile Street is being brought forward by St Modwen’s with a consultation over the development of 200 homes due to be held shortly. This is alongside the 2018 development of the old Victoria Ground in Stoke, and land at Trentham Lakes, demonstrating a buoyant housing market.
We received Opportunity Area status from th government in 2017, and continue to see educational improvement across the city. Over 80% of schools are rated as good or better, meaning over 30,000 children are attending schools with this rating. We consistently perform better than the English average for the number of young people not in education, employment or training, and our universities continue to work closely with us to improve perceptions and opportunities.
The future looks bright for Stoke-on-Trent because we are the city that makes art from dirt, and each success contributes to the continued resurgence of the World Capital of Ceramics.
A post-industrial north Midlands city, finding its feet again, recognising it’s strengths and using them to create its future.
We are a city with creativity in its DNA, we beat the odds to be shortlisted for U.K. City of Culture 2021 - we were pipped at the post, but are building on the national and international recognition we achieved through the competition.
We are no longer a hidden city - we’re sure footed and confident in who we are, playing with bigger cities now to secure national investment, and we are regarded as the one to watch.
A city that’s making heritage cool, and creativity sexy, putting edu-clay-tion back on the agenda and making the most of its Grade A strategic location.
We are a changing city, determined to change the UK’s perception of us.
Our most famous son, Josiah Wedgwood talked about beautiful things not happening by chance or without effort - it takes the combined effort of residents, businesses, communities, to restore restore confidence and pride; our economy is growing, our businesses are at the forefront of the 4th Industrial Revolution, and the future is bright for our residents and young people. It’s taken time and effort, but then, all the very best things do.
The future’s bright, the future’s Stoke-on-Trent.”
