In recognition of the area being a hot spot for the knowledge, creative, and digital sectors, the Council will be sponsoring the Innovative Start-Up Business of the Year as part of the Bath Business Awards 2012.
Ambitious plans are in place to increase the number of jobs available for local people in the private sector to help drive-up wages and promote greater prosperity.
A big part of achieving these plans is supporting new, innovative companies –like those who will be nominated for the award – to thrive and grow. And those businesses who may one day become part of the Bath ‘City of Ideas’ Enterprise Area which is developing on the River Avon that will provide much needed accommodation for the area’s flourishing high-value business sectors.
Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib-Dem, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said, “Innovative, new companies are increasingly becoming part of the lifeblood of our area and Bath & North East Somerset Council is playing a strong role in supporting them to develop. As well as our ambitious plans for economic regeneration, we also fund practical support with Business West for free business advice clinics, are providing a location for the Digital Co-Working Hub, and work extremely closely with the private sector to put on ground breaking events, such as the recent X Media Lab Conference in Bath.
“The sponsorship of this award is one more way in which the Council is supporting the business sector. We are recognising the success of those people who are taking us forward and invigorating the local economy.”
The area is one most creative places in the South West, with over 1000 creative companies, and a higher proportion of digital companies than Bristol and the South West. Bath’s world class universities, existing major international digital companies and the highest proportion of professional business services as a percentage of all our businesses among the 15 principle authority areas in the South West has led Nesta – the independent charity dedicated to bringing great ideas to life – to cite Bath as one the UK’s 10 hotspots to invest in innovation.
