Dragons' Den's Peter Jones Presents Falkirk with Enterprising Britain Award for Scotland
'Dragon's Den' Star Presents Falkirk With Top Enterprise Award
Falkirk got a resounding 'I'm in' from Dragons' Den's Peter Jones this week as the area picked up the award for the most enterprising place in Scotland at the annual Enterprising Britain Awards ceremony, held at the House of Lords.
Falkirk also made it through to the final six of the UK-wide competition, narrowly missing out on the top honour.
The award was presented to Councillor Adrian Mahoney, the Convener of Economic Strategy and Development at Falkirk Council and Peter Reid, Strategic Projects Manager at Falkirk Council, by Dragons Den's Peter Jones. Monday's event was also attended by Mark Prisk MP, the UK Minister of State for Business and Enterprise.
The Enterprising Britain Awards, run by Enterprise UK with Scottish Enterprise in Scotland, rewards cities, villages, towns and neighbourhoods that have tackled the economic downturn head on and are successfully creating jobs, boosting local business and nurturing entrepreneurial talent as the UK emerges from recession.
Falkirk Council was recognised for its success with My Future's in Falkirk, a 10-year initiative originally created to tackle job losses in the petrochemical industry.
It initiated a series of projects impacting on the area's economy and promoting Falkirk to the wider business community. New developments have been created including the regeneration local town centres with the creation of the Falkirk BID and £20 million of regeneration funds, a 30 acre business park on land reclaimed from the petrochemical industry and a new 33 acre business park on the former Alcan site. Innovative partnerships have also been formed between businesses and support agencies to develop a skilled workforce and create employment.
Councillor Adrian Mahoney, Falkirk Council's Convener of Economic Strategy and Development, said: 'It was great to attend this week's reception, meet Peter Jones and some of the other winners from around the country, who I'm sure we can learn from.
'There were some great ideas being discussed, which have transformed areas of Britain into more innovative and dynamic places to live.'
He added: 'We were delighted to have Falkirk district named as the most enterprising area of Scotland and to receive our award in Parliament.
'Unfortunately, we missed on the top UK award - but to reach the final six in the competition was a terrific achievement and a real endorsement of the hard work by our officers and the people and businesses they work with in the local community.
'This partnership approach - embodied through the My Future's in Falkirk initiative - is delivering real results and making our area a better place to live, work and do business.'
He concluded: 'Of course, we shouldn't rest on our laurels and we'll be continuing our efforts to support local businesses during these tough times. There's still lots to do.'
16 November 2010