A message from our President

Two of the principal talking points over the past few months have been the announced delay to HS2 and the decision to locate the Great British Railways Headquarters at Derby, both of which are not what we wanted to hear.

However, whilst this is disappointing news, we must not despair as Crewe will always have a huge part to play in the national Rail Network System and the railways will always remain central to the future economic prosperity of this area.

Crewe’s geographic location as a major railway junction has always been a factor in attracting industry and commerce to the area, and the engineering skills and expertise within the workforce will always be in demand.

There will obviously be wider benefits to this area from HS2, which we are already beginning to see. However it is the provision of rail services on the existing network where Crewe’s immediate strengths and opportunities exist and it is important that priority should now be given to ensuring that the necessary investment in improvements and maintenance of services takes place.

Indeed, one of the main objectives of HS2 is to create more capacity on the conventional rail network but this is nearly always overlooked with more attention being given to speed and reduced journey times.

With regard to the GBR Headquarters, there are also several other towns and cities who lost out and are no doubt equally disappointed and although it would have been a prestigious thing to have, the scale of the operation has not yet been quantified and it is not going to be hugely detrimental to Crewe’s future in the long term.

On a brighter note, it is good to see that the Town Board has had further success in advancing another couple of projects as part of its overall programme for Crewe which will bring more investment and facilities into the Town.

We are of course entering the busy season for major events and there is a lot of planning and arranging going on in the background by the various organisations for what promises to be yet another successful season of activity.

I would encourage all of our members and indeed all business in our area to get involved in these events whether it be the Nantwich Show, the Food festival or the many community events and functions that take place and to take advantage of the great sponsorship and promotional opportunities that are available.

John Dunning President