Why Stoford continue to strengthen their partnership in Staffordshire

This last 18 months has seen our award winning Pets at Home development complete a full year of operations, as the offsite infrastructure works being undertaken by Staffordshire County Council’s contractor also approach completion on the A34.  The completion of the highway improvements is a testament to our close working relationship with Stafford Borough and Staffordshire County Council.  It represents a complex proposal that has been undertaken alongside the facility’s development and opening.

Not only will these works support a variety of travel modes for Pets at Home employees  – towards a more ‘sustainable Staffordshire’, – but this infrastructure package has been designed to support Stoford’s promotion of additional land at North Stafford totaling some 216 acres.  Stoford has promoted this land through the Local Plan review process and continues to work closely with officers and Members to ensure that potential occupier led schemes are reflective of Staffordshire’s aspirations in respect of being infrastructure led; strong in responding to the climate change agenda; and offering new jobs and homes for local people.

We continue to strengthen our partnership with a local school in Stafford.  Last summer we supported some 90 pupils across two days, attending the UKs first industry led Construction School, in the Forest of Dean.  The pupils gained valuable knowledge of employment roles and opportunities in many sectors, as well as practical experience of particular roles and trades within the construction field, using the latest technologies including drones and digital surveying equipment, to experience the different careers available within the industry.

This summer we have planned for students to undertake a site visit and careers day at our office in Birmingham, where we will share our experience of City regeneration, in addition to industrial and logistics projects.

In February this year, we joined other industry representatives to attend the Staffordshire County Council launch of the Fifty500 Midlands Growth Corridor initiative.  Our joint Managing Director Dan Gallagher attended the House of Commons with council members and other business leaders to call on the government to allocate £3 million from the Spring 2024 budget to further the development of plans for a 90km road from Crewe to Nottingham, and with the potential to create 5,000 more jobs and £100m gross value added across the counties.  We are supportive of the bid to secure government funding for the transformation of the A50/A500.  The Midlands Growth Corridor offers a unique opportunity to transform the area into one of the UK’s prime locations for investment and growth.

Staffordshire’s accessibility to motorway and rail networks, along with its diverse and available labour supply continues to encourage Stoford in our advancement of land agreements, because we believe that Staffordshire is a place to ‘do business’ and we consider the opportunities for doing so are here and now.