Worcestershire firms tell Government to support cyber security development
TECHNOLOGY firms in Worcestershire have expressed the importance of developing the cyber security sector to the Government Minister responsible for small business.
Representatives from firms operating within the county’s cyber security cluster told Margot James that the Government’s impending industrial strategy had to include provision for encouraging cyber security firms and that plans for a Smart Sensors Catapult in Worcestershire would be a step in the right direction.
Ms James, who is also MP for Stourbridge, visited Worcestershire at the invitation of the county’s Local Enterprise Partnership.
Part of the visit took her to the Malvern Hills Science Park, home of the national cyber security centre.
In addition to LEP delegates and members of the cyber community, she also spoke with representatives from the Federation of Small Businesses and the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce.
After meeting with businesses, the Minister also visited Malvern-based Optimec, a world-leader in the provision of inspection and measurement instruments for the contact lens industry. She was told how investment from the LEP had enabled the business to purchase new machinery, which had in turn created new jobs and strengthened the firm’s competitive advantage in the international market.
Mark Stansfeld, chair of Worcestershire LEP, said: “It was great to be able to show Margot James the fantastic progress that we are making in the county (with) the success of our local SMEs and the investments that we are making to create jobs for our highly-skilled workforce.
“In recent years, Worcestershire has achieved the strongest growth in higher level workforce skills, the second highest growth in productivity and the third highest growth in prosperity of all LEP areas and we are working to continue this success.
“Worcestershire’s SMEs play a hugely important role in driving the County’s development towards being a connected, creative and dynamic economy and I am pleased that we were able to highlight the strength of our cyber sector in particular.”
Ms James said: “It was great to see how Worcestershire’s high quality business environment has enabled local companies to invest and create new skilled jobs. I was very impressed with both the facilities at Malvern Hills Science Park and the ambition of the LEP, particularly in the field of Smart Sensors and cyber security.”
