Buckinghamshire Enterprise Zone appoints new head
Buckinghamshire Enterprise Zone (Bucks EZ) has named Matt Peachey as its new head of development.
Matt, formerly of Oxford City Council, has a wealth of experience in economic development management and has worked with numerous partners in attracting investment for various local areas across the country.
Matt’s role as head of development at Bucks EZ will be primarily based in accelerating the growth and innovation of the enterprise zones at: Silverstone Park, Westcott Venture Park, and Arla Woodlands.
Chief Executive of the Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership (Bucks LEP) Richard Harrington said: “Matt brings a wealth of experience which will enable us to drive development in key growth sectors and lead on innovation strategy initiatives for the area. This comes at a significant time for the Bucks EZ sites, which have delivered 55% of all new commercial and industrial employment space in Buckinghamshire since their inception.
“There is significant potential to further strengthen and enhance growth initiatives across Silverstone, Westcott and Arla Woodlands.”
Matt’s plans for growth will see further development of the space propulsion, engineering, technology, motorsport, and agri-food and human health sectors, supporting local wealth creation and productivity in the county.
He said: “My role is to have the right conversations with landowners and businesses. I will also have conversations with our wider partners in academia and government to help drive forward our Enterprise Zone in ways which benefit our nationally significant clusters and wider economy. There is still a need for us to co-invest with our partners, to ensure that each Enterprise Zone realises its full potential.
“I am excited about developing further collaboration and support across the Bucks EZ sites and the specialist business clusters within, including the Westcott Space Cluster and the Silverstone Technology Cluster.”
In the past 12 months a number of projects have come to fruition in Buckinghamshire. Investments from Local Growth Fund and Getting Building Fund have helped with the development of businesses in the Buckinghamshire Enterprise Zone including: the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub, the Satellite Applications Catapult’s In-Orbit Services and Manufacturing facility, and the new Drone Test and Development Centre – both of which are at the Westcott Enterprise Zone.
Bucks EZ works with landowners, business, sector bodies and government to drive growth and enterprise in Buckinghamshire. It secures public and private investment to deliver a range of programmes and initiatives with partners to help businesses grow.
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