Enterprise capital of the UK impresses Europe

As a traditional seaside town with high unemployment and declining businesses, Scarborough was long overdue its 2005 makeover. Thanks to the Urban Renaissance Initiative – a partnership between The Regional Development Agency, Yorkshire Forward and contributions from the council, European Regional Development Fund, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the private sector – £25m was ploughed into the Waking Sleeping Beauty regeneration project.

And four years on, the bold project has made serious headway. As part of the council’s plan to develop Scarborough’s creative industries, and to complement the well known Stephen Joseph theatre, The Rotunda Museum was given a £4.4m makeover. With backing from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Grade II listed building reopened last year.

Not far from The Rotunda is Wood End Creative Workspace – another new development for the creative industry. Located on the site of the former Wood End Museum, the £4.8m centre provides 38 office units, 2,000sq ft of artist studio space and a unit dedicated to supporting and promoting start up businesses.

The council has shown further commitment to new business by developing a neighbourhood resource centre in Whitby, which provides vocational training, business support and a digital media suite.

As a town blighted by seasonal unemployment – in the winter months unemployment rose by 50 percent – new business support has been a welcome addition to Scarborough. The council has made a concerted effort to include local businesses in the town planning. Two years prior to the first phase of building, the council consulted local businesses on what the regeneration plans, with the aim to reach a consensus on the projects.

They have continued the promotion and encouragement of successful businesses by investing £9.6m into Scarborough Business Park with Caddick Developments. Comprising industrial and retail units, hotels and offices, the 83 acre site is estimated to provide 1,000 new jobs over the next ten years. So far, the site has attracted HSBC, Swedish bank Handelsbanken and two local companies.

The council has been sure to provide updated facilities for businesses and has invested £3.7m into refurbishing the main conference centre, Scarborough Spa. Once completed, the site will include the renovated 1,900 seater Grand Hall, audio and visual equipment and a suite for wedding receptions.

Of course, one of Scarborough’s biggest pulling points remains its coastline and the regeneration project has addressed this with a £2.8m scheme to transform the town’s Sandside and Harbour area. Improvements include new surfacing on the footpaths, better access to the wharfs, new seating areas and the installation of 60 new permanent berths in the town’s inner harbour.

Whitby marina is also having an overhaul, with 40 new pontoon berths in the river Esk and £1m worth of new marina facilities, including toilets, showers, a launderette, disposal unit and recycling facilities.

Scarborough’s make over isn’t only happening in the town centre – Mere and Oliver Country Park is undergoing work to provide a mix of woodland, walking paths, cycle tracks, bridleways and a visitor centre. Proposals have also identified an opportunity for an extreme sports centre, a hotel and eco lodges. Peasholm Park is having £3.2m invested in it, to restore its Japanese style garden and at North Bay, a water theme park is planned.

It is now four years from the start of the Waking Sleeping Beauty project and the statistics show some startling changes in Scarborough. In 2002, unemployment in Scarborough was twice the North Yorkshire average and more than a third of residents were living in neighbourhoods among the 20 percent most deprived in the country.

During summer Scarborough was like any other seaside resort – a bustling high street, busy shops and thriving businesses. The winter was a total contrast – shops closed, unemployment rose and the streets emptied.

Today it is a different story – every £1 invested by the public sector in Scarborough has attracted £10 of private sector investment, while the digital and creative industries now account for 19 percent of Scarborough’s economy. The high street is showing signs of success too – between April 2008 and March 2009 the number of people in the town centre rose by 0.8 percent to 5,590,649.

Scarborough’s redevelopment has been much needed but it still has a long way to go, particularly in the face of a recession. In the last year, the average house price in Scarborough dropped by 15.6 percent – the fourth biggest decrease out of 10 neighbouring authorities. According to home.co.uk the average asking price for a semi-detached house in the town has dropped from £185,031 to £165,161 since 2006, with the same type of house listed for sale 50 percent longer than a year ago.

“The recession has affected our plans – only 25 percent of Scarborough Business Park is rented,” says David Kelly, Economic Development Manager with Scarborough Council. “However, a recent survey of the top 50 businesses in Scarborough found that 40 percent of them plan to increase their staff in the next year and thanks to the weak pound, UK holidays are on the increase – something our town will benefit from.”

 Scarborough’s vision is part of a wider aim to regenerate the whole of the North Yorkshire coast – a project that is estimated to take 15 years. With this in mind, what Scarborough have achieved so far is rather impressive.

According to Nick Fenwick of Scarborough estate agents, Colin Ellis, despite the effects of the recession, the town still has a lot of potential. “There is definitely more activity,” he said. “However prices are still very competitive, vendors have to be realistic. We are still going through a difficult period but there are early signs that it is not as bad as it was. There have been more transactions, which is encouraging.”

Scarborough’s efforts were recognised last year when it was named the enterprise capital of the UK and again this year when the town won the European leg of the competition. The nationwide competition, which is run by Make Your Mark on behalf of the Department for Business and Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), is part of a government initiative to recognise places that have created new jobs, forged links in the community and improved the local business climate.

It’s a good recognition and well deserved award, which benefits the residents and highlights how far Scarborough has come in such a short period of time. “Scarborough is a town with enterprise in its blood,” said Enterprising Britain judge and TV personality, Peter Jones. “The Waking Sleeping Beauty name is very apt: this is a town that has learnt to tap into it latent entrepreneurial talent and harness it with tremendous results.”

Scarborough has been successful so far in its attempts to revive itself but it still has a long way to go – something made particularly challenging by such as unstable market. If the town is to achieve its long term goal of becoming a business and tourism hub and to weather the recession, Scarborough and its residents will have to maintain their entrepreneurial spirit for a good deal longer.