News
Derby joins with East Midlands colleagues to increase investment
16/08/2004
Derby City Council has joined forces with Nottingham City Council and
Leicester Shire Promotions on a project to bring greater investment to the
East Midlands.
The 3 Cities Town Net Project aims to present the three cities as a single
destination to investors and businesses. It is part of a European Union programme
to build on existing relationships between towns and cities, and to help
the development of new ones with North Sea Region partners.
The Town Net project will help to join up the three cities’ approach
to trade development and inward investment. It will also address the region’s,
as yet unfulfilled, potential to become the area of choice for domestic and
overseas investment, building on Derby, Nottingham and Leicester’s
links to regional, national and international markets. This consolidated
approach will enable them become competitive where it would be likely one
of the cities on its own would fail.
The most recent stage of the project was the beginning of a research programme
that will show how the cities are performing separately and how they can
best work together. Derby City Council, Nottingham City Council, Leicester
Shire Promotions, the European Commission, the Office of the Deputy Prime
Minister, the East Midlands Development Agency and Nottingham East Midlands
Airport are jointly funding the research.
Council Leader Maurice Burgess said: “The 3 Cities Town Net Project
gives Derby a great opportunity to contribute to improving the current poor
performance of the region compared to the rest of the UK, in terms of attracting
investors. The research will help the East Midlands Development Agency in
its aim for the region to become one of Europe’s top 20 performers
by 2010.”
The research will investigate what the three cities are currently doing
to encourage investment and how effective it is. Emerging business sectors
will also be covered to see if there are any markets they could target. The
research findings will lead to the development of a joint strategy to promote
investment from companies already in the area and those looking to relocate.
The Council’s City Development and Tourism Unit already works with
Derby City Partnership and Derby and Derbyshire Economic Partnership, to
promote Derby to visitors and investors. The work of the Unit, both in tourism
and inward investment, means the people of Derby will not only benefit from
higher quality, more accessible attractions and leisure facilities, but also
from the extra jobs and services associated with increased investment in
the area.
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