SHEFFIELD CITY REGION
INVESTING IN SOUTH YORKSHIRE’S
RECOVERY AND RENEWAL James Muir, Chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership Board, reflects on the Government’s Spring Budget and looks ahead to South Yorkshire’s future This year has been difficult for businesses in South Yorkshire, but predictions for economic recovery, extended support from the Government and news about the new South Yorkshire Renewal Fund give us reasons to be positive about the future. Although I welcomed the Chancellor’s extension of its short-term measures to support businesses, I was disappointed the budget offered nothing by way of shifting power and resources to level up our economy and support our long-term growth with a jobs-led recovery. I had hoped to see longer-term investment in our jobs, skills and infrastructure to drive economic renewal. We will continue pushing for support for projects that will attract investment to our region. In South Yorkshire, we’re taking action to help our people and businesses recover. We’ve achieved so much already. Working in partnership with local authorities we’ve created jobs, trained workers and revitalised our high streets. We’ve cemented our reputation as the heartland of British industry and innovation and made our places even better
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2022, including infrastructure and transport and funding for jobs and skills. We’re investing in the things that matter to you, with ambitions to transform South Yorkshire by backing our people, businesses and places with support to help them thrive. JAMES MUIR
places to live, work and invest. We’ve started to transform South Yorkshire. We’re using our powers and resources to create a new Renewal Fund so we can attract businesses and grow our economy, with a pipeline of up to 50 priority projects already identified for development. These have the potential to create more than 8,400 jobs across industries including digital, energy, advanced manufacturing, scientific research, retail and logistics. We are investing up to £860m in total to support our region’s recovery and renewal, starting with an injection of £339m this year. We’re laying the foundations of future prosperity by investing up to £500m in our places from
We will: • Create jobs and apprenticeships, and help people find them • Back our businesses to survive and thrive • Put spades in the ground to reimagine our high streets and build homes • Get people moving with better transport, by foot, bike, bus, tram and train • Protect our planet – retrofitting homes and improving flood defences We know that confidence in the vaccination programme coupled with a more positive outlook has boosted consumer confidence, which is now at its highest level in over a year. There are expectations of pent-up demand which should lead to a spending spree once the economy opens up in a sustainable way. There is a direct correlation
between footfall recovery and urban centre size, which means that smaller towns will recover faster than larger cities. A challenge for urban policy makers is to create jobs that put money into people’s pockets, and for high streets to adapt to offer something different to online to capture this potential spend. These are some of the things we’re aiming for as we work together to transform South Yorkshire. Your business can be part of South Yorkshire’s prosperous future. Support is available to guide you along your own path to business recovery. If you need support to develop and grow your business, get in touch with the Growth Hub team. We can help to guide you through. Contact our team on 03330 00 00 39 or Email: growthhub@ sheffieldcityregion.org.uk.
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