"Five thousand new jobs set to be created in Nuneaton and Bedworth"

[dutchman]

More than 5,000 new jobs could be created in Nuneaton and Bedworth if new land for employment is created.

At the latest committee meeting of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s north Warwickshire branch - held at the offices of accountancy company SFB - Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council representatives were invited to attend.

During the meeting the chamber and representatives outlined their desire for the economy across the area to grow and the council presented an outline of its borough plan and economic development strategy.

Ian Powell, director of regeneration and public protection at NBBC, and Chris Lawes, economic development officer at NBBC, spoke to the committee and said the plan was to create 5,400 new jobs on 52 hectares of new employment land.

They also highlighted the plans for Nuneaton and Bedworth town centres, including potential development sites in Nuneaton and a move towards an improved café and leisure offering.

The meeting came on the back of the launch of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s Go For Growth campaign, which is aiming to highlight business success stories across the region but also to help remove some of the obstacles from economic growth.

Paul Carvell, the branch chair and the president of the Chamber, said: “We’ve kicked off the year with a real momentum and purpose to help keep our economy growing through Go For Growth.

“I believe this area has a great deal going for it and when you look at some of the names we have in the region – Holland & Barrett, Triton Showers and HORIBA MIRA, to name but a few – it shows that we have a very strong offer for a range of businesses.

“We have to build on that and look at ways to help our economy grow in the short, medium and the long term.

“We were extremely grateful for the update from Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and we were very pleased to see the ambitions for growth that the borough has.

“Of course, there are lots of different opinions on how to get fresh businesses into our town centres and we welcome the fact that there are plans to address that.”

Ian Powell added: “Engagement with our business community is vital and we want its input on how we move the borough forward.

“The chamber is a very important business voice and it was great to be able to hear the views and thoughts of the committee.”

[rebbonk]

I'll believe 5000 jobs when I see them. But let's not forget that many of these 'new' jobs will simply be jobs relocated from other areas.