Local authority trumpets highest employment rate
BUSINESS-friendly local authority Chorley is trumpeting figures that show it has the highest employment rate in the region.
Chorley Council says it is looking to put more investment into wooing new businesses to the borough, bringing further high quality jobs for residents.
The figures for the year up to September 2015 show an employment rate of 84.2%, up from 79.5% in 2014 – the best in the entire region.
Cllr Alistair Bradley, leader of Chorley Council, said: “One of our main aims is to get people into work because we believe residents in employment lead more fulfilling lives and play a more active part in their community.
“We have focussed our efforts on bringing new employers into town as well as encouraging those that are already here to expand and take on more staff.
“We’ve been able to do this by providing advice and support, a range of different grants and we work with employers to make sure as many of the jobs as possible in Chorley got to residents of the borough.”
The latest statistics put Chorley at the top of the pile ahead of the North West average of 70.6% and the national average of 73.4%.
The wide ranging business support, as part of the Choose Chorley for Business campaign, has directly led to the creation of almost 300 jobs in the last year and unlocked more than £1.25m private investment.
The new jobs are being created across the sector from new start-ups right through to multi-national companies.
“The figures show that what we are doing as a council, in partnership with other organisations such as Job Centre Plus is having an impact,” Cllr Bradley added.
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