HELEN WHITE

LAST month Marketing Stockport celebrated its fourth birthday and, as we look back to 2012, it is very clear that Stockport and its business community is in a very different place now.

Stockport has always been a good place to live, work, do business and visit. We have been proud to put the spotlight on Stockport. But last week I read a none-too complimentary article in the Financial Times – obviously written by someone who is not in touch with the town’s ambitions but rather a journalist intent on misinterpreting all the great works underway in Stockport – both from a business and a community perspective. We would be happy to challenge those misconceptions!

In fact, Stockport has never been in a better position to go from good to great; £2 billion is being invested in projects within the immediate vicinity, £1bn is to transform Manchester Airport, the UK’s third-largest airport just minutes away, and Stockport Council’s £1bn regeneration of the town centre is well underway, contributing to a new-look Stockport and a developing nighttime economy.

As has been widely read, but not by the FT it seems, businesses within the heart of the town centre voted in favour of Stockport’s BID – creating a Business Improvement District – generating an additional £2.5m of funds over the next five years. Funds that will be used to re-ignite the town, to improve the customer experience, to put on more events and improve the marketing of the town.

Stockport - like many towns - has had to reinvent itself in the light of competition from out-of-town retail areas, online shopping and being close to a thriving city.

The support the business community have received from Stockport Council’s CEO Eamonn Boylan and the proactive approach the council takes to developing and securing the future success of the borough is also a great example of how the private sector and the public sector are working together to improve the whole offering for everyone.