Scarborough hailed as most enterprising place in Britain
SCARBOROUGH has been named as the most enterprising place in the UK in this year’s Enterprising Britain competition.
Enterprising Britain 2008 is a national competition that celebrates and recognises the most enterprising places in the UK.
The Scarborough Renaissance Partnership, which led the town’s attempt to win the accolade, was rewarded for its Waking Sleeping Beauty project, which aimed to spark a cultural and economic renaissance in the seaside town.
Run by the Mark Your Mark campaign on behalf of the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, it is a key part of the Government’s drive to increase British entrepreneurship and identifies areas of enterprise excellence: those places that have created jobs, forged links in communities, and improved the local climate for businesses and residents.
In 2002 unemployment in Scarborough was twice the North Yorkshire average.
More than a third of residents were living in neighbourhoods among the 20% most deprived in the country and seasonal unemployment stood at 20% in the winter months.
Achievements in the past six years have included seasonal unemployment being stamped out, new industry sectors being created and developed and an influx of more than £200m of private sector investment, bringing hundreds of new jobs.
Peter Jones, BBC TV Dragon and national Enterprising Britain judge, said: “Scarborough is a town with enterprise in its blood. The Waking Sleeping Beauty name is very apt: this is a town that has learnt to tap into its latent entrepreneurial talent and harness it with tremendous results. Scarborough’s story is really compelling and the visible impact of renaissance clear – the creation and growth of a thriving creative and digital industry where one previously did not, and could not have, existed is a huge achievement. This sector now accounts for 19% of Scarborough’s economy having taken over from tourism. Its success deserves to be celebrated.”
To showcase the town’s business accomplishments, Scarborough Business Association (SBA), an organisation that supports the interest of commerce and industry in Scarborough, together with Yorkshire Forward and Scarborough Future, will be hosting the two-day International Business Forum (IBF) – Business Evolving Through Education and Communication at The SPA Complex Scarborough, on November 5-6th.
For more information visit www.internationalbusinessforum.co.uk
