Putting Shropshire on the map: Sir John Peace visits the county

Sir John Peace, Chair of the Midlands Engine and Maria Machancoses, Director, Midlands Connect, visited the county last week (Monday 26 March 2018) to discuss the economic growth potential of Shropshire, its wider sector offer and infrastructure requirements.

The meeting, which was hosted by Nic Laurens, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for economic growth, was held at the Marches Centre of Manufacturing and Technology (MCMT) – Grainger and Worrall’s new state-of-the-art machining facility, Classic Motor Cars showroom and workshop site in Bridgnorth.

Sir John Peace (right) talks to Peter Nutting, Shropshire Council’s Leader.

Nic Laurens said:

“We were extremely pleased to welcome Sir John and Maria to Shropshire and tell them all about our ambitious plans for growth. And, I’m delighted to say that they were very well received.

“We’ve said it before, but Shropshire is a vital part of the Midlands Engine and what it is trying to achieve. We have lots of exciting development sites such as Shrewsbury Flaxmill, Ironbridge Power Station and Clive Barracks which will all feed into the Midlands industrial strategy. Following on from MIPIM, we also wanted to use this opportunity to put our county on the map and make sure it’s not overlooked when it comes to investment in the future.

“This is just the start of the journey and we’ve invited Sir John and Maria to return to Shropshire later in the year to explore our county further.”

One of the identified areas for growth is advanced manufacturing, which made the MCMT the perfect backdrop for the meeting.

Nic added:

“I’d like to thank MCMT for hosting us at what is a truly inspirational site, and Classic Motor Cars and Grainger and Worrall for the tour of their facilities afterwards. It perfectly showcases the quality and future that Shropshire has to offer investors.”

Watch our video

The council has launched a great new film (on www.investinshropshire.co.uk homepage) featuring companies going about their innovative, interesting business in the amazing backdrop that is Shropshire.