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Rochford District Council Economic Growth Strategy 2022-2025 (Web Version)

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Our Vision for Rochford

Our Vision for a more prosperous and diverse Rochford economy has three main ambitions:

We will…

  • Grow the economy by supporting local businesses to expand, adapt and innovate
  • Enable investment by attracting new businesses and raising our economic profile
  • Support entrepreneurship by improving skills and creating new economic opportunities for our residents

Rochford provides unique economic opportunities for the fantastic people and businesses who live and work here.

Rochford is home to a range of innovative and growing businesses, including key clusters around advanced engineering, manufacturing and aviation.

We are a pro-growth district, with a range of growth and regeneration projects driving forward new economic opportunities. Over 1 million sq. feet of new high-quality employment space is being delivered at the Airport Business Park, whilst we are planning for around 8,000 new homes over the next 20 years.

We have a strong entrepreneurial culture with one of the strongest new business survival rates in the region. Over 50% of new businesses survive and prosper past five years.

Through the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA) we are delivering a range of economic projects to make our region the place to work, live and visit. An innovative new technical university in south Essex will provide businesses with the workforce they need to help drive economic growth in the region, while the local full fibre project is delivering next-generation high speed internet connectivity across the district.

FACTS:

86,000 residents

3,700 enterprises

Connected to markets at home and abroad via London Southend Airport and 30 minute rail links to London

Delivering over 5,000 new jobs and 1 million square feet of new high quality employment space at Airport Business Park

Over 50% of new businesses survive and prosper past five years

Investing in economic infrastructure, including local full fibre project and South Essex Technical University

The Rochford District is located in Essex, in the East of England. It is within the Thames Gateway, to the east of London and to the north of Southend-on-Sea urban area.

Rochford is the green lung of South Essex, rich in both nature and heritage. We are home to over 700 hectares of open spaces, over 12,000 hectares protected for wildlife and over 100 km of coastline, nestled between our historic market towns of Rochford and Rayleigh, and our characterful villages.

We are uniquely positioned to access key markets both domestically and internationally, being located just 20 miles from London and home to London Southend Airport – consistently ranked amongst the best in the country for passenger experience and Port of Creeksea - handling over 200,000 tonnes per annum from Scandinavia and the Baltics for the timber and metal industries.

Rochford forms part of the South Essex economy, with fantastic connections to key employment markets in Basildon, Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea by both road and rail, enhanced by our membership of ASELA. Our region is also a key growth area for the Government, supported by large investment in the Thames Freeport and Lower Thames Crossing.

Grow the Economy

To grow the economy, we will support local businesses to expand, adapt and innovate.  To achieve this, we will:

Supporting Businesses to Expand

  • Deliver a series of business networking events to bring together local businesses, investors and field experts
  • Deliver a high streets conference to better understand the challenges and opportunities within our centres
  • Develop and promote Rochford Local as an online business and town centre directory
  • Maximise the supply chain opportunities for our businesses from major infrastructure projects across South Essex including Lower Thames Crossing and Thames Freeport
  • Deliver and commission a range of training opportunities for local businesses on practical and relevant business topics
  • Support local business networks to grow and broaden their offer including the 3 Chambers
  • Act as a key distributor of support and advice through our business mailing list and social media

Supporting businesses to adapt

  • Launch Rochford Environmental Business Alliance as a new business partnership to drive forward sustainable changes to the local economy
  • Promote and sponsor emerging platforms and tools that can support local businesses to improve their online presence

Supporting businesses to innovate

  • Deliver business support workshop packages including a series of carbon reduction workshops
  • Support the roll out of full fibre technology across the District through the ASELA Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) project
  • Encourage businesses to recognise and celebrate their successes by receiving awards and promoting business successes through a series of case studies

Attract Investment

To enable investment we will attract new businesses to the District and raise our economic profile. To achieve this, we will: 

Attracting New Businesses

  • Promote and support the marketing of land and building opportunities across the District, including those on Airport Business Park
  • Support the development and operations of the Launchpad flexible business facility on Airport Business Park
  • Support the delivery of new business spaces which targets known areas of unmet demand
  • Work to connect potential occupiers of vacant premises with low-interest finance through the South Essex No Use Empty Scheme
  • Support the delivery of new innovative and flexible business spaces in our centres and employment estates

Raising Our Economic Profile

  • Develop and launch a new place-based brand for the District which will be used to promote our rich economic opportunities to investors
  • Act as champions for local investment opportunities and act as an enabler for these opportunities
  • Hold and attend showcase events to raise the profile of the investment opportunities within the District
  • Support the work of the Association of South Essex Local Authorities (ASELA) and Thames Estuary Commission in raising the economic profile of our region
  • Support the delivery of green tourism initiatives including to better capture the economic potential of London Southend Airport within the local area

Support Entrepreneurship

To support entrepreneurship, we will improve skills and create new economic opportunities for our residents.  To achieve this, we will:

Improving Skills

  • Deliver a careers options employer showcase across local secondary skills
  • Support the ASELA Technical University project to deliver a new technical university within South Essex, and work to ensure local residents and businesses have access to the upskilling and reskilling opportunities this provides
  • Work with Essex County Council, local schools, colleges and other partners to deliver initiatives that enable the upskilling and reskilling of local residents
  • Identify local skills gaps and work with local businesses to fill these skills gaps over time
  • Support the South Essex Construction Training Academy to skill-up the construction professionals needed across the region
  • Promote opportunities to residents to increase their employment potential and encourage local job retention, including through the Essex Opportunities portal

Creating Economic Opportunities

  • Invest in town centres and other opportunity sites to create jobs, reduce deprivation and attract new businesses
  • Invest in Council assets including the Asset Delivery Programme and Cherry Orchard Country Park to provide new revenue sources, create jobs and provide greater opportunities for leisure and well-being
  • Work with the owners and operators of strategic employment sites to improve their attractiveness, competitiveness and accessibility to a wide range of potential users and employers
  • Secure and promote the job opportunities created by investment projects both in the District and the wider region, including those created by Airport Business Park, Thames Freeport and Lower Thames Crossing

Objectives 2022-23 Summary

To grow the economy:

  • Deliver a series of business events to bring together local businesses, investors and field experts
  • Deliver a high streets conference to better understand the challenges and opportunities within our centres
  • Launch REBA as a new business partnership to drive forward sustainable changes to the local economy
  • Launch a new place-based brand for the local economy and act as champions for local investment opportunities
  • Develop Rochford Local as an online directory and town centre guide
  • Deliver business support workshop packages including a series of carbon reduction workshops
  • Deliver the Career Options employer showcase across local secondary schools
  • Take a pro-active enabling role through planning to encourage inward investment and regeneration
  • Invest in Cherry Orchard Country Park to build the day visitor economy
  • Support local business networks to grow and broaden their offer including the 3 Chambers
  • Support the recovery and growth of London Southend Airport through promotion and participation in its partnership forums
  • Provide an accessible and responsive business support function, linking local businesses and entrepreneurs with information to grow their business
  • Deliver a new Local Plan to deliver transformational investment in local employment spaces

To attract investment:

  • Deliver a series of business events to bring together local businesses, investors and field experts
  • Deliver a high streets conference to better understand the challenges and opportunities within our centres
  • Launch REBA as a new business partnership to drive forward sustainable changes to the local economy
  • Launch a new place-based brand for the local economy and act as champions for local investment opportunities
  • Support the delivery of new flexible business spaces in town centres and employment estates
  • Work to connect potential occupiers of vacant premises with low-interest finance through the South Essex No Use Empty Scheme
  • Support the delivery of schemes under the ASELA partnership including the technical university, Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN) and SEEPark projects
  • Take a pro-active enabling role through planning to encourage inward investment and regeneration
  • Invest in Cherry Orchard Country Park to build the day visitor economy
  • Support the development and operations of the Launchpad facility on Airport Business Park
  • Support the recovery and growth of London Southend Airport through promotion and participation in its partnership forums
  • Provide an accessible and responsive business support function, linking local businesses and entrepreneurs with information to grow their business
  • Deliver a new Local Plan to deliver transformational investment in local employment spaces

To support entrepreneurship:

  • Deliver a series of business events to bring together local businesses, investors and field experts
  • Deliver a high streets conference to better understand the challenges and opportunities within our centres
  • Launch REBA as a new business partnership to drive forward sustainable changes to the local economy
  • Support the delivery of new flexible business spaces in town centres and employment estates
  • Deliver business support workshop packages including a series of carbon reduction workshops
  • Deliver the Career Options employer showcase across local secondary schools
  • Support local business networks to grow and broaden their offer including the 3 Chambers
  • Support the recovery and growth of London Southend Airport through promotion and participation in its partnership forums

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