Partner Article

Superfast broadband to boost business and bring jobs across Cheshire

More than 900 small and medium-sized businesses in Warrington and across Cheshire are set

to benefit from a £1.5m investment from the European Regional Development Fund and

Connecting Cheshire to boost digital technology enabled by faster broadband.

The new Connecting Cheshire Superfast Business service will be delivered by Peninsula

Enterprise and Groundwork Cheshire to help eligible businesses learn about and exploit the

opportunities brought about by digital technology and fibre-optic broadband.

The service will work with small-to-medium-sized businesses, which are already benefiting

from good connection speeds or where superfast broadband will be installed.

By helping businesses grow and increase their productivity, Superfast Business hopes to

create about 478 jobs across Cheshire in the next two years and boost the economy by

almost £19.5m.

Connecting Cheshire recently signed a £28.5m contract with BT to extend access to highspeed fibre optic broadband to 96 per cent of all premises by 2016.

Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “Superfast Business is a

great way for firms to understand and benefit from broadband technology. It will complement

our major investment of public funds to extend faster broadband infrastructure to most areas

and bring real benefit to businesses and economic growth to Cheshire.“

Sir Howard Bernstein, vice chair of the North West European Regional Development Fund

local management committee, said: “This programme will help local businesses make the

most of superfast broadband, improving performance and helping to create and

safeguard jobs.

“It will provide a major boost to the Cheshire economy and the North West

European Regional Development Fund programme is pleased to be supporting it financially.“

Ian Gent, director at Peninsula Enterprise, said: “We are excited to have the opportunity to

deliver a high-quality superfast broadband business support service in Cheshire.“

At the heart of the service is a new website: www.ccbusiness.co.uk with an online knowledge

area that holds a selection of top tips, guides and the latest thinking from industry experts on

digital technology and opportunities for businesses.

Eligible businesses will have access to fully-funded support, including a team of expert

advisers, a programme of events on hot topics offering inspirational insights and practical

solutions and specialists with niche expertise.

Greville Kelly, director at Groundwork Cheshire, said: “Superfast broadband is about much

more than speeding up your email or web browsing. It can transform all the ways that you do

business.

“Superfast connections offer a more reliable and consistent service – which is a crucial issue

for rural businesses – whilst opening up new markets and boosting productivity.

“We are urging ambitious businesses with strong growth potential to visit our new website

and find out more about the service – it has the potential to revolutionise the way they

operate.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .