Is Wakefield Best Small City For Business?
15th September 2007
Wakefield was named Britain’s best small city for business in 2006 according to OMIS research.
Britain’s Best Cities is a biennial survey of CEOs and senior executives located in the 28 biggest cities across the country. In 2006 more than 5,000 business leaders placed Wakefield at the forefront of Britain’s ‘second – tier’ (i.e. smaller) cities by virtue of its strong workforce and business environment. While in Wakefield 66 per cent of local respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with their existing business locations, higher than local neighbours Leeds and Bradford.
While we agree we are strong in these areas, there is much more to be done to make the Wakefield district a truly excellent location for business. A good place to start would be to take pride in what we already have here in Wakefield, and the inaugural Wakefield District Business Awards 2006 demonstrated the sheer depth and strength of the local business community.
Take the overall Business of the Year winners, Xscape in Castleford. Who would have suggested 10 years ago that we would have one of the most popular tourist attractions in the UK right here in our District? We have now – Xscape attracted more than three million visits in 2006.
The winners of the Innovation in Business Award, Planet Platforms, went on to secure a contract to maintain the world famous Orient Express. The International Business Award winners, Pell Frischmann Consultants, have developed World Bank projects in India and designed the first motorway highway scheme in Jamaica; they received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2006.
The Wakefield District is home to Europe’s largest bakery (Warburtons), one of its largest bottling plants (Coca Cola), IT superpower Fujitsu, hi – tech electronics manufacturer Pioneer, the HQ of retail giants Netto, and many more. Every one of our 7,000 businesses is a potential ambassador, promoting Wakefield every day in their interactions with customers and suppliers regionally, nationally and internationally. Like any good brand, let’s make sure we’re all getting the right message across.
Clearly there’s a lot to shout about but there are problems to address too. We still have pockets of deprivation on a par with almost anything in the UK, and the need to improve the skills of our workforce has never been more urgent. The Wakefield District has a strong voice in the highest echelons of government today, so let’s tell them what we think.
The property market in Wakefield remains strong and offers value for money compared with many other parts of West Yorkshire. The fact that most of the new residential property to be built in West Yorkshire is to be located within the Wakefield Metropolitan area gives an indication as to the future prosperity of the Wakefield area and property for sale therein.
