Leader of new group calls for vision to aid area’s prospects
LAUNCHING the new Stroud Business Voice group, Steve Dechan, one of the founders, had a clear warning for the area.
“What is Stroud district doing?”, he asked at the Business West networking breakfast to launch the new group at the Stonehouse Court Hotel at the end of last month.
He added: “We are not together. We do not have a single voice whereas all those round about us do.
“Clearly, there is a lot of frustration from business.
“We just don’t have enough business space—there isn’t enough office or good manufacturing space.
“What are we doing for the young people who we train but then leave Gloucestershire at the rate of 400 a year?
“What we are asking business is what do you want your district to look like in the next few years and beyond?”
Steve, who runs a medical device business in Stroud is chairman and policy director of the new Stroud Business Voice.
He said: “I see ourselves as a conduit which can join up some of the dots for the local business community.
“We wish to work together with district councils, the LEP and Business West.
“We just want to be up to speed with the rest of Gloucestershire.”
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