9 June 2010
Harlow Renaissance and Harlow Council have launched a new campaign to promote the town as a location for business. Seeking to capitalise on Harlow’s excellent geographic location and the town’s growth plans, the campaign will seek to attract growing businesses through the core message of “An exceptional location at remarkable value for money.”
The campaign launch in April 2010 saw a new website created to promote the town (http://www.harlowbusiness.co.uk/) and a dedicated response handling service established managed by Invest Essex, the Essex County Council inward investment agency.
The potential that Harlow represents has been recognised by central government which has identified the town as a key part of the London-Stansted-Cambridge growth corridor. Speak at the launch of the Harlow Enterprise Hub in December 2008, Lord Peter Mandelson confirmed this when he stated:
“Harlow is a stronger place that has a good reputation for research and it is a town looking towards the future. It is modern and changing.”
The campaign will now extend into targeted marketing in North London and the East of England, testimonials from existing companies and to promotional activities with key business intermediaries such as property agents, banks and solicitors. The core messages of the campaign are:
- Location and connectivity; proximity to the national motorway network and Stansted Airport combined with fast train connections to central London
- Available land and business units at competitive prices – Harlow provides space for business to grow
- Workforce – a town that already provides 40,000 jobs and which has a catchment area of 4 million people within a one hour journey time
- Opportunity and investment – Harlow continues to attract new investment such as the new Anglia Ruskin University campus which opens in 2011
One company that has recently moved to Harlow has commented:
“With our three units in Tottenham all a quarter of a mile from each other and wanting to expand to 30,000 square feet we needed to move to put the total operation under one roof. We also wanted to buy rather than rent. In Harlow there were more options and at a far more affordable price. Access is very good. We use the M11 and A10 a lot but we can go east/west along the M25 easily. Festivals need us to be able to react to contract variations and we must be able to get onsite quickly. Being based in Harlow allows us to do that.”
Colin Wright, Managing Director of Alistage, provider of staging for the Glastonbury Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals and Somerset House amongst others.
For more information on the Harlow offer visit http://www.harlowbusiness.co.uk/ or call 01279 446447.