STAFFORDSHIRE has topped a national league table which measures the number of jobs being created.
New projects announced during the last three months will create 1,873 jobs across the county when they reach fruition, according to leading place marketing firm Breeze Strategy. That makes Staffordshire the best performing region in the UK during the last quarter in the firm’s Inward Investment Quarterly report.
Among the announcements which have cemented the county’s place at the top include Amazon’s Rugeley warehouse, which created 900 jobs and Jaguar Land Rover’s investment in the i54 site – which will create around 750 positions.
The report states that “Staffordshire, thanks to Amazon and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), are the clear winners if you’re measuring jobs.” Both projects are in the top five “biggest announcements” nationally. Ben Adams, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for economic growth and enterprise, said: “This is fantastic news for everyone in Staffordshire and shows what effort has been made by colleagues within the Local Enterprise Partnership and our inward investment teams.
“We have for some time been receiving national and international recognition as a top location to do business. Attracting major investors through a proactive approach has achieved notable success.
“Despite national economic forecasts, this report shows Staffordshire has and continues to make great progress - confirming its position as a prime place to do business globally.” Councillor Adams said more successes and additional jobs would follow with companies in JLR’s supply chain locating in Staffordshire and business projects boosted by Regional Growth Fund investment still to take place.
Stafford engineering company, Alstom, was awarded £4m by the fund for its research facilities in Stafford in April.
The money will be spent on laboratories, testing facilities and some new offices to house the engineers who are developing new products at Alstom’s Power base at St Leonard's Avenue.
LEP chairman Maitland Hyslop said: “We have had major successes in terms of our Regional Growth Fund bids in rounds one and two and the allocation of the Growing Places Fund.” He added: “We are extremely proud to be the leading area in terms of job creation. This shows how far we have come in a relatively short space of time and we are confident we are going to continue to build on this success in the future.”
