Business leaders highlight importance of A50/A500 corridor
Business leaders have spoken out about the need for improvements to two major roads to improve connections for workers and enterprises alike
Business leaders have spoken out about the need for improvements to two major roads to improve connections for workers and enterprises alike.
Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent MPs also highlighted the crucial role the A50/A500 corridor plays in the area’s economy – and joined the calls for more investment in upgrades to improve traffic flow.
Transport body Midlands Connect released an economic assessment earlier this month to show that improvements at Uttoxeter and neighbouring junctions at Blythe Bridge and Sudbury on the A50 could result in significant benefits of £116 million to the economy and over 2,000 jobs. And on Friday (September 12) it held a summit in the city, where the role of transport links in business and economic growth was one of the topics discussed by a panel.
Anthony Hodge, assistant director of business and enterprise at Staffordshire County Council, said: “What’s good for Stoke is good for Staffordshire. We’re keen to work together despite what challenges local government reorganisation might throw up for us.
“The A50/A500 is a real focus for us. Around the A50/A55 we have probably the best digger manufacturer in the world – JCB – but they’re fettered by really poor east-west connectivity.
“You flow off the M1, flow off the A50 then get to Sudbury roundabout and it’s all chaos as you go east. We want to change it and it’s really important to get the investment for our road network.”
Bet365, one of the biggest local employers with more than 5,000 staff, is based just off the A500. Cher Wynne, head of facilities services at Bet365, told the summit most staff at the Bet365 site travelled there via the A50 and A500.
“Additional to that, we source everything for our office locally and most of our supplies come down the A50/A500”, she said. “If our coffee machine breaks down and we have to wait for the contractor to repair it, they may then call to say they are stuck on the A50 or A500.
“Sometimes I go to the Manchester office and it takes me longer to get from home to the office than it does from home to the Manchester office.
“On the recruitment side of it we struggle massively with parking around the area and people commuting to and from work. One of the biggest challenges is recruitment and getting staff in the building.
“We do regular surveys with employees and the feedback we always get is ‘we have to come in a car, we can’t use bikes or walk’. We have a big graduate programme and the feedback from that is they come from all over the country, but when they come here there’s no transport links.
“Stoke Station is great now, but staff have to get a taxi, wait for a bus or walk to the office. We have one bus stop right outside the office and it can be an hour or an hour and a half until you see a bus come by.
“We are a 24-hour business with different shifts. If you finish between 1.30am and 3.30am you won’t see a bus or a train – if you don’t drive you will car share or get a taxi.”
Karen Wooley, Development Manager for Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent at the Federation of Small Businesses, said the right infrastructure was crucially important to the small business community. “Most small businesses will employ people that live within a five mile radius”, she told the summit.
“Public transport is really important – not everyone has access to a vehicle. If we are wanting to support businesses in the High Street it’s crucial we have better links to get people in and out.”