Economic Development

information and support provided by Gloucestershire First to help your business develop in the county

'Supporting and encouraging a thriving local economy'

The County Council's economic development function, including economic regeneration and tourism is delivered by Gloucestershire First - the partnership recognised by the South West Regional Development Agency (SW RDA) and the Government Office for the South West as the sub-regional partnership for Gloucestershire.

All County Council economic development staff are part of the Gloucestershire First partnership and are based at Chargrove Business Centre near Cheltenham.

The functions carried out are as follows:

• Investor Services. This Unit provides support, information and advice for investors from home and abroad. 
  Further details about the Investor Services Unit can be found on the Gloucestershire First web site.

• Tourism. This Team of three staff manages the Gloucestershire Tourism partnership between the County and the six District Councils, and works with Visit Britain and Regional Tourist Boards to promote the county overseas.
  For information about Gloucestershire Tourism please visit the website.

• Economic Regeneration. This Team is now based at Chargrove Business Centre. 
  For more information about the work of the Economic Regeneration team, please click on the link to the web page. Alternatively you could contact us on our enquiry line 01242 864181 or e-mail thriving.economy@gloucestershire.gov.uk

See the following links below:

• to find out more about Gloucestershire First's key programme activities; including the Ambassadors Programme, Inward Investment Programme, Broadband Initiative and Gloucestershire Food Vision - please access the website
• for all other traditional business support enquiries please choose the Business Link website
• for information on the local economy and other labour market statistics follow the link to the Gloucestershire Labour Market Information Unit

Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company is bringing life back to the historic areas of Gloucester, reflecting their special character and creating a new, prosperous, attractive, safe, sustainable urban centre for the 21st century. New shops and continental-style squares will revitalise the historic city centre and attractive pedestrian routes will link the central retail areas with atmospheric waterfronts of Gloucester Docks and the River Severn.

Our Service Standards for Business. Service standards provide a clear and measurable standard of service delivery/provision that the public can expect from the county council.