Business Week Roundup May 26 - June 1 2012
1 June 2012This week, a Lincolnshire town bags the Portas Pilot, a technical college is approved and a prominent local company sees sales boost.
Lincoln Technical College Approved
The government has approved a proposal to build a technical college in Lincoln, to open in 2013.
The idea by the University of Lincoln, Siemens and Lincoln College is one of 34 University Technical Colleges (UTCs) approved by the government across the UK. UTCs are hoped to encourage students aged 14-19 to study science and engineering GCSEs, alongside core subjects and apprenticeships in the fields.
Lincoln's UTC would specialise in core science and engineering and offer up to 800 spaces.
Locations for the new college are being considered, but due to the idea being in initial stages, it's unclear how much it will cost.
Market Rasen Wins Portas Pilot Bid
Despite being the smallest town in the bid, Market Rasen has become one of the first to become a Portas Pilot town.
It will share £1.2 million in funding with 12 other towns, and also be one of four monitoring the success of ideas to help revitalise High Streets by Mary Portas.
The town's is already seeing success, with a pop-up market selling arts, crafts and food and live musicians achieving great success.
One of the founding members of MR BIG (Market Rasen Business Improvement Group) which submitted the bid, Sarah Lamballe, said: "We're absolutely over the moon that all of our hard work has paid off. We've managed to turn around a general attitude of apathy into some really strong and positive belief that our town can be re-invigorated. Securing the funding really is the icing on the cake."
See more on This Is Lincolnshire|
Co-op Records Boost in Sales
Lincolnshire Co-operative has seen a rise in sales over the first six months of its financial year, thanks to trade in the food, travel and pharmaceutical divisions.
Between September and March, sales grew from £140 million to £141.9m, with a gorup trading surplus (after member benefits) of £9.48m.
Staff were given a bonus of 75 percent of their weekly wage as a thank you for their hard work despite trading conditions.
The Co-op had 214,000 members across the county, with just over 10,000 joining in the last six months.
