Hunt For The South East's Most Enterprising Place Begins
24 March 2010The search for the South East’s most enterprising place is underway following the launch of the Enterprising Britain 2010 competition. The national competition, which celebrates local success when regional winners are selected in June, is encouraging everyone throughout the South East to nominate now.
Led by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), the competition rewards cities, villages, towns and neighbourhoods in the South East that have tackled the economic downturn and are successfully creating jobs, boosting local business and nurturing entrepreneurial talent.
Enterprising Britain 2010 is a key part of the Government’s drive to create the right conditions for enterprise across the UK and seeks out areas that have a strong culture of encouraging entrepreneurs and businesses.
Susan Priest, Executive Director Business Development at SEEDA, comments: “The Enterprising Britain competition provides the South East with a chance to shout about what the region has achieved and help other organisations and communities to learn from our successes. I would urge everyone working on innovative projects in the South East that have used entrepreneurial spirit to transform the area, to enter the competition.”
For the first time since its inception in 2005, the Enterprising Britain competition has expanded to include five categories which are Enterprise Culture, Driving Entrepreneurial Skills, Business Support and Start-up, Global Entrepreneurship, and Social Cohesion. Organisations can enter any or all of the categories and regional winners will attend the national finals later in the year.
Last year, Chatham Historic Dockyard was named the South East’s most enterprising place in the initial stage of the competition. Since the Dockyard closed in 1984, its owner, the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, has created 112 new homes, 120 business units and attracted 150,000 visitors a year to its museums, ships and attractions. Over 130 new businesses are based in the Dockyard with a further 35 planned. SEEDA, which owns the adjacent Chatham Maritime, provided £4.3m of funding to assist the Dockyard’s revitalization. The funding refurbished The Joiners’ Shop, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, into a business centre for creative industries. It is now home to over 30 businesses and provides 80 jobs. Chatham National Museums, which showcases world-class collections of national, regional and local significance, was also refurbished with SEEDA funding.
Bill Ferris, Chief Executive of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust: "Winning the title of the South East's most enterprising place in 2009 really raised the profile of The Historic Dockyard Chatham in its 25th Anniversary year, together with all the organisations working hard to regenerate this area.”
Enterprising Britain is free to enter and is open to all organisations that are working in partnership to create an enterprising place. The place can be a town, a city, a parish, school, college or a neighbourhood. Organisations must demonstrate that enterprise is central to the economic and/or social transformation of the place.
To register interest email your contact details to enterprisingbritain@enterpriseuk.org. Entries must be submitted by 31 May 2010 and the winner will be announced in October 2010.
Application forms can be downloaded from www.enterpriseuk.org/enterprisingbritain
For media enquiries please contact: Stuart Pearson, PR & media manager on 01483 501362 or stuartpearson@seeda.co.uk.
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