The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
New business arrivals land in city
Iwas delighted to hear that the organisation responsible for improving skills in the construction industry is to move its head office to Peterborough.
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is working with Opportunity Peterborough to secure a premises in the city for its new HQ in an effort to bring colleagues and customers closer together.
The agency hopes it will be able to sign a lease later this year with the move completed by January 2020.
It was heartening to hear the CITB’s chief executive state that Peterborough was its preferred location because it is a diverse city with a strong talent pool, a generous supply of modern, sustainable office facilities, supported by excellent road and rail links.
Peterborough City Council and Opportunity Peter- borough have long worked together to market the city as being open for businesses to come to.
And we are doing a decent job on this too. Last year alone, 14 new businesses came to the city contributing to the city’s economy and helping us to sustain unemployment lev- els of 1.4 per cent, some of the lowest in the county.
On the subject of firms coming to Peterborough, we could also see a new logistics hub built in the city as part of the expansion of London Hea- throw airport.
Peterborough is one of 65 places across the country bidding for one of four hubs which are being built to help to deliver the airport’s third runway, with a decision expected next year. Our bid was made by Opportunity Peterborough last year, and on Friday I joined their representatives and the Heathrow team for a tour of the Roxhill Peterborough Gateway site which is where the proposed facility would be built.
Once finalised, the four selected locations will preassemble components of the expanded airport before transporting them in consolidated loads to Heathrow, playing a key role in supporting expansion’s efficient delivery. The Heathrow expansion is set to create up to 12,900 new jobs and deliver up to £15 billion worth of economic growth for the East of England, so achieving this bid would be key to the city’s future economic growth.
This month we have two fantastic events coming up which I’m really looking forward to. The Peterborough City Market’s first Food and Music Festival takes place on July 21. As well as the regular traders, lots of additional stalls will be joining us for the event, which will begin at about 10am.
Fantastic food will be on offer from current favourites such as Siam Thai, Naz’s Curries, Victoria’s Sponge House and City Diner. They will be joined by stalls selling Italian groceries, cheese, preserves, Belgian chocolate, farm foods, mead and much more.
Also taking place on July 21 will be a ‘Youth Jam’ in Cathedral Square where young people will have the chance to take the spotlight through live music, theatre and dance.
The Youth Jam is a Big Lottery funded event organised by YMCA Trinity Group and The Cresset as part of the Peterborough Celebrates programme. It runs from 10am until 5pm and is free to get in, so if you have a talent for performing and want to be entertained why not come along?
Dedicated fundraiser David Wait is preparing for a gruelling 10-month charity challenge which will see him participate in eight events all over the world to raise funds for Disability Peterborough. David, who is the centre manager of Serpentine Green, will be taking part in the Three Peaks Challenge, climbing mountains in Peru, running 250 kilometres in the Sahara desert and even some SAS training.
He will have his work cut out, but knowing David I’m sure he will rise to the challenge and I would urge everyone to support him. Disability Peterborough is a fantastic cause which helps provide advice for physically disabled people, their carers and families. To support David visit https://local-giving.org/fundraising/wait