Doing business in North Herts

If you are interested in a business location offering high quality of life and a superb environment and infrastructure then North Herts could well be the ideal place for your business and your employees.

Knowledge - Based Economy

North Herts is a part of the Government's administrative region called the East of England. The focus of employment strategy in the district is very much aligned to the Òknowledge based economy.' The underlying objective is not to increase the overall level of employment (unemployment in NH is less than 1.5%) but rather to improve the quality of jobs by encouraging the development of high growth, high added value knowledge based businesses. These are defined by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) as:

Finance • insurance • real estate and business services • education • health and social work • other community and personal services • post and telecommunications • high and medium high-tech industries • chemicals • machinery and equipment • transport excluding building ships and boats.

For regional comparisons the EU defines a narrower group consisting of : medium and high-tech manufacturing and high- tech services.

The figures for Hertfordshire in 2001 were 28,213 employees for medium and high-tech manufacturing and 43,818 for high-tech services. The EU innovation scoreboard for 2002 shows that Hertfordshire has more businesses in this group (8.72%) than any other area of the UK except for the West Midlands. Cambridge which is only 10 miles north of Royston, is also the centre of a knowledge based community (8.04%) offering considerable possibilities for businesses in North Herts. As a point of reference, the East of England overall has a figure of 5.34%. The district's workforce is highly educated. A survey in 2000 revealed that 71% of residents had participated in job related training or learning in the previous three years. Average attainment of children in local schools is above the national average. Further education is provided at North Herts College in Hitchin and Stevenage with an excellent business training facility in Letchworth Garden City. The University of Hertfordshire and The University of Luton are located just outside the districts boundaries.

Employment in the district has fallen gradually in recent years and stood at 1.4% in January 2005 compared to 2.4% in whole of Great Britain.

Much of our economy in NH is based on small and medium sized businesses and NH has 14% of the total VAT registered businesses in the county. In 2002 there were a total of 6,089 business units within North Herts, most of these (96%) are occupied by businesses employing 50 people or less.

In terms of community safety NH is one of the safest areas in which to live. From the 2004 crime audit it has been shown to be the second safest district in the county.

Business Properties

The major industrial properties in North Herts are located on the outskirts of the four towns of Hitchin, Letchworth Garden City, Royston and Baldock mostly on defined industrial estates with a variety of unit sizes.

A profile of vacant properties in North Herts is available from Herts Futures (Exemplas) 01727 813695 www.hertsfuture.com

The workforce in North Herts

In 2002 there were 49,800 employees in employment in North Herts. This was an increase of 7.3% since 1999.

24,100 employees are female representing 48% of the workforce. 25,700 are males (52%), and 90% of females work within the service sector compared to 69% of males`.

86% of male employees work full time (14% part time) compared with 46% of female employees working full time (54% part time).

The Rural Economy

Within Hertfordshire, the districts of north and east Hertfordshire both have substantial rural communities. More accurately within North Herts many of these communities can be defined as 'peri-urban' meaning that they are accessible areas located on the periphery of urban centres rather than more remote areas away from any conurbation. Peri-urban areas face different problems related to their proximity to urban centres such as environmental issues and pressure for land use. Although largely rural there is only a very small workforce of agricultural workers.

AGRE (Action for Growth in the Rural Economy) is a body set up to support rural businesses helping them adapt to the changes. AGRE can help your business in many ways with targeted training which will:

Improve business skills, improve IT and computer skills and improve competitiveness.

AGRE services are available if: You are over 18 and under 64, you own or manage a rural business, you employ fewer than 50 people or you are an employee of a business in one of the categories above.For further information phone 01279 655261

Business Start Up and Support

Business advice, guidance and support is available from several sources and much of it is provided free or at a nominal charge. Some of these services are listed below.

SBI - The Enterprise Agency for northern Hertfordshire.

The agency is an independently supported, non-profit making organisation which is supported by NHDC and provides confidential advice to the local business community.

Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry can also help to develope your business providing a range of services, advice and networking opportunities. Tel: 01438 3100 017 www.hertschamber.com

A wide range of business advice is also available from Business Link Hertfordshire delivered by Exemplas. The service is committed to small and medium sized business performance and profitability improvement. A range of free and low cost advice is provided in conjunction with other partner organisations on areas such as skills training, funding, business intelligence etc.

Incredit Ltd can offer business support and guidance to new starters from groups who face the biggest barriers to success in enterprise including women, young people (16-30), people from black and ethnic minority groups, people with disabilities, offenders and ex-offenders. Tel: 01438 794 438 www.incredit.org.uk

The Council has a defined procurement strategy which sets a clear framework for procurement decisions throughout the authority. The full strategy is available on our website www.north-herts.gov.uk and search for procurement.

The EU and Central Government have recognised significant pressure on the economy in these areas brought about by
•	reform of the common agricultural policy moving away from crop subsidy
•	Grants availability for diversification, substantial reduction in farm incomes and threat to village shops and services
•	Impact of foot and mouth disease and need for diversification


The free service includes
•	Practical advice and guidance to those individuals planning to set up a business
•	Follow up after care service individually tailored to suit the needs of new business
•	Consultation with financial, marketing and other business advisors to assist in the business improvement and growth of established companies
•	Mentoring service for people seeking a change in direction