While the A1 - aka the ‘Great North Road’ – is almost as iconic as the M1 in terms of Britain’s transport infrastructure, it has some distinct disadvantages when it comes to keeping traffic moving. While motorways on a good day offer an uninterrupted driving experience, the A1, with its roundabouts and junctions, is prone to hold ups, as cars and lorries judder to a halt at give way signs.
That is beginning to change. “They’re taking out the roundabouts and replacing them with slip roads,” says Nick Vass, principal officer for economic development at South Kesteven District Council “It’s going to be a much faster road.”
South Kesteven’s administrative area encompasses four of Lincolnshire’s market towns - Grantham, Stamford, Bourne and Market Deeping - and as Vass explains, the improvements to the A1 will enhance the appeal of a district that is already well served by transport links. “We have good connections,” he says. “In addition to the A1 running north to south, we have good east-west connectivity.”
With its central location, the South Kesteven district has proved attractive to logistics companies. That’s true of many areas in lying to the North East of London, but as Vass points out, South Kesteven also has a competitive advantage when it comes to cost. “We represent a very affordable location when compared to, say, Nottingham or Peterborough,” he says.
Cost is not the only factor that draws businesses to the area. Standards of education are high, providing businesses with a pool of well qualified labour. However, Vass acknowledges that many of those who are born, raised and educated in the area look elsewhere when the time comes to join the labour market. “One of our priorities is to keep jobs in the area,” he says.
To that end, the council is engaged in a number of regeneration projects, creating new retail and commercial space around the main market towns while also providing active support for businesses considering locating in the district. “We provide support through the local Business Links. We offer advice on grant funding. And we will help companies find the right premises.” Equally, the council is pro-active in attracting commercial property developers to the area by making land available.
As Vass stresses, the availability of suitable premises can be a make or break factor when companies decide on a location. For instance, when locally-based waste management company Environcom’s business was interrupted by a fire, the decision to re-establish operations in the area was by no means a given. “We had been planning to expand to other parts of the country anyway and after the interruption, we considered relocating to London,” says Environcom technical executive Jeff Weeks.
There was at least one very strong reason to stay in the area in the form of a major contract to service Dixons, which had a distribution centre based in nearby Newark.
However, the company faced a challenge of finding a suitable site that also had a waste management licence. With the help of South Kesteven council it identified and moved into vacant property that had once been a Corus steelworks.
As Weeks explains, the location ticked all the boxes. “It was close to the A1, we were able to negotiate a reasonable rate and it had a waste management licence.” And while close to the Dixons contract, it was also well-placed to serve other distribution centres in Eastern England.