WYG is keynote speaker at Westminster Social Policy Forum
PRESS RELEASE
6 February 2013
WYG is keynote speaker at Westminster Social Policy Forum
WYG Regional Director for Planning, Paul Grover, will be the keynote speaker at the forthcoming Westminster Social Policy Forum in London on 12 February. The Forum is a body comprising local authorities and communities, industry representatives, interest groups and academics which provides input into government public social policy.
Paul will be speaking about infrastructure, Enterprise Zones and high street renewal in the context of the challenges being faced in rebalancing the UK’s local economy, at the invitation of Philip Cox, Director of Local Economies, Regeneration & European Programmes in the Department for Communities & Local Government.
Paul will focus on the measures Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) can take to encourage new business and the expansion of existing enterprise without the displacement synonymous with the Enterprise Zones of the 1980s and 1990s which were criticised in part for taking jobs from elsewhere in the UK.
As an advocate of the Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone, one of the first four flagship Enterprise Zones of the coalition Government, Paul is well placed to speak on the subject.
The Mersey Waters Enterprise Zone has already secured significant direct foreign investment from China through the Peel Holdings International Trade Centre, and is likely to shortly secure further direct investment from India, South Korea and Brazil. It is expected to deliver in excess of 3,000 new jobs in the region, with several thousand more created in the regional supply chain. Over the last four years WYG has been heavily involved, providing consultancy and securing outline planning consent, for the Liverpool Waters development which will inject a further £5.5 billion of direct investment into the Zone.
As a UKTI Export Champion for the North West, Paul will also be providing advice to local councils on how they can encourage UK business to export. With the City of Liverpool hosting the UK International Festival for Business in 2014, the Merseyside city region is well placed to support businesses looking to expand overseas as well as providing a focus for direct foreign investment.
Paul said: “With the Government challenge to double exports to £1 trillion and encourage 100,000 more companies to export by 2020, there has never been a greater need to support local businesses in expanding their operations overseas. With a challenging domestic and shrinking European markets for goods and services, businesses must start looking beyond the UK and Europe to the emerging markets in the same way that WYG has done in recent years.”
ENDS
Louise Gardner, PR and Communications Executive
WYG GROUP LTD
Arndale Court, Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS6 2UJ
Tel: : +44 (0)113 278 7111
Email: groupcommuncations@wyg.com
Twitter: @wyggroup
Notes to Editors
One of the top-ranking global consultancies employing around 1,300 people, WYG is behind some of the world’s most challenging projects. Our specialists provide expert advice and project management support that is helping shape landscapes, infrastructure, society and culture in the developed and developing world.
We advise on planning and transport, provide engineering and environmental services, consult on waste and resource management, and deliver support to enable economic and social reform.
By engaging with clients at an early stage we ensure that decisions are made which will maximise a project’s potential and deliver our client’s strategic objectives. In turn, this builds strong and lasting relationships with clients in each of our seven core sectors:
• Defence & Justice
• Energy & Waste
• Environment (including Waste & Waste Water)
• Transport
• Commercial Development & Urban Regeneration
• Mining & Metals
• Social Development & Infrastructure
WYG has an international presence with offices throughout the UK, and in Eastern Europe, the Middle East & North Africa, and South Africa.
