Economy and Jobs

The economic success of Cambridgeshire has made it one of the most attractive places to live and work in the UK. It offers a vibrant commercial network, world-famous research and academic institutions, and a high quality of life, which continues to draw both enterprises and individuals from across the country and around the world to the county.

An integral part of delivering sustainable new communities is delivering new job opportunities. By 2021 over 50,000 new jobs are due to be created in the county. However, economic growth cannot take place without the necessary additional affordable and market level houses, and investment in infrastructure, particularly transport.

The growth agenda and the economy are therefore intrinsically linked. Without housing growth and additional infrastructure the local economy will be unable to continue to grow for a number of reasons:

• Employees - If employees are unable to buy a house in the local area they will either have to commute long distances, or simply choose to work elsewhere. Therefore housing is needed to allow all employees the opportunity to live locally.
• Transport - Good transport links are vital to business. They get staff to work on time, goods delivered, clients to meetings, and link businesses with the rest of the region and beyond.
• New developments - Sustainable new communities need businesses based within them. New towns, such as Northstowe, will have new business space built into them to attract companies to the area.

We need to ensure that employers in Cambridgeshire can compete to attract, retain and develop the best talent, and the affordability of housing, ease and sustainability of travel, and the affordability of housing, ease and sustainability of travel, and quality of life, are key to this. The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) are responsible for driving the Cambridgeshire economy forward, and have developed Regional and Sub-regional economic strategies to guide future investment and enable continued economic growth. Both organisations are members of the Horizons Board and as such will contribute to and influence our work.

Read more about EEDA and the GCP.