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Performance Report 2004-2005 Jobs, Business and the Economy

Jobs, Business and the Economy

Our priorities over the four years of the Plan are to:

  • Increase the number of sustainable quality jobs in the local economy
  • Develop a skilled competitive workforce capable of securing these jobs, and
  • Improve the infrastructure, physical environment and image of North Lanarkshire

To reflect these our actions in Year 2004/ 2005 have included:

  • Helping to create 466 new businesses, 129 of which were started by women

    Case Study:

    A new garden maintenance firm has been set up out of the ashes of the closure of the Boots factory in Airdrie. Eric Paterson had been a gardener with Boots for 13 years, helping to maintain a high standard of ground maintenance. Following the closure of the plant, Eric launched Nature Force Landscapes in May 2004, with the support of Business Gateway Lanarkshire.

  • Supporting 10 social economy organisations, securing development funding aimed at helping them grow and strengthen
  • Through a pilot in Cumbernauld, helping companies to achieve business growth through use of the internet
  • Developing growing sectors of the economy in areas such as Renewable Energy and Medical Devices, and helping companies seize opportunities for development.

Case Study:

Commercial production has started at a North Lanarkshire-based bio-fuel company which turns used cooking oil and tallow into environmentally friendly fuel. Argent Energy recently commissioned its £15 million plant at Newarthill, near Motherwell, which is the UK's first large scale biodiesel plant. The first tanker-load of the clean, green road fuel was picked up from the plant in April and a regular supply is now on stream to forecourts.
  • Supporting almost 100 companies across Lanarkshire to gain access to new markets by participating in international events
  • Further developing the significant urban regeneration project at Ravenscraig that will provide a 460 hectare site for extensive mixed use development ultimately expected to result in over 4000 new jobs
  • Completing infrastructure and earthworks and access through a new train station at the strategic Brownfield site at Gartcosh to accommodate global facilities in key industry sectors

Case Study:

Gartcosh Business Interchange - In March 2005, HRH Princess Anne officially opened Gartcosh railway station, making the site one of the best connected in west central Scotland. The multi-million pound business location will create 17,000 square metres of new business space and up to 3,000 new jobs.
  • Further developing community and employer intermediary organisations to help both long-term unemployed people gain and keep jobs and local companies in growing sectors to recruit appropriately trained staff for their workforce

Case Study:

Julie Tait who lives in Motherwell won the 'Get Ready For Work' Achiever of the Year 2005 award from the national training organisation Rathbone. This was celebrated at a reception in June in the House of Commons. Rathbone operate one of the programmes aimed at providing the right chances at the right time in the right way to meet the very particular learning and social support needs of young people who have fallen short of reaching their potential.

Julie joined the 'Get Ready for Work' programme doing Life Skills initially attending part time as she developed her self-confidence. The company she is now placed in speaks highly of Julie and hopes to offer her a full-time vacancy in the near future. Even though she has turned her own life around and faces a bright future, she still volunteers to support other young people facing difficult times. 'Get Ready for Work' is part of the range of programmes co-ordinated by the Routes to Inclusion Partnership which has responsibility for helping people of all ages who want to get into work.

  • Producing a new action plan aimed at increasing tourism in Lanarkshire

Case Study:

The redevelopment of the Auchinstarry Basin, a former derelict basin on the Forth and Clyde Canal, will play a major part in positioning North Lanarkshire as a key destination for day visitors and is a central element of the Kelvin Valley Action Plan. Developed in partnership with British Waterways, the next phase will help to further enhance the development of the canal and provide an exciting addition to North Lanarkshire's tourism sector.
  • Successfully undertaking decontamination work and starting construction on a new Business Centre in Airdrie

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