Tewkesbury borough has one of the fastest growing populations in the country and a lower proportion of working age adults.

The borough was previously rated as the strongest local economy in the UK (Raisin UK, April 2021) and one of the best places for local businesses to recover from the pandemic.

Now Tewkesbury Borough Council is looking to the future with a new Economic Development and Tourism Strategy 2024-29. The new strategy is expected to be approved by the council's executive this week (Wednesday November 27).

The new strategy reflects the council's continued commitment to supporting the borough's economy. The area has many strengths and growth opportunities, but these come with challenges.

The strategy seeks to focus on the areas where the council can make a real difference and ensure sustainable economic prosperity.

Following an economic assessment, intelligence from Inform Gloucestershire and review of the new Gloucestershire County Council Economic Strategy, the draft strategy outlines four priority areas to be delivered over the next five years:

Priority 1 - Enabling business voice and key sector growth

Support and enable an environment for future sustainable business growth, helping foster supportive business networks and advice programmes through Tewkesbury Growth Hub. It will also help support increased business survival rates, along with encouraging increased business births.

The development of a Business Voice Network in the borough will help provide a vehicle for engagement, helping inform local decision making and encouraging an environment for business sustainability. In terms of direct support, businesses indicated guidance with marketing and social media, general business advice and mentoring, increased networking and events and skills training support would be beneficial.

Priority 2 - People and skills

It will be important that the council, along with its partners, works to build skills in the area and address recruitment issues, with 52% of SMEs currently facing skills shortages.

Business feedback identified recruitment as an issue, particularly for businesses with 10 or more employees. Areas highlighted includes skilled manual/ technical staff, semi or unskilled staff, sales and customer services staff.

The council will work with businesses through the Growth Hub and partners to provide targeted advice around recruitment processes and skills.

Priority 3 - Creating a sustainable growth environment

The borough has seen high population growth, which is projected to continue. It is important to plan for this growth with the appropriate supporting infrastructure, business premises and employment land that suits the needs of current and future local businesses and facilitates economic growth.

A new joint Strategic and Local Plan (SLP) is being developed in conjunction with Cheltenham and Gloucester councils, recognising the cross-boundary nature of the local economies and housing markets.

The borough is also promoting the delivery of two garden communities: Tewkesbury Garden Communities and The Golden Valley Garden Village. These reflect the focus on delivering sustainable, well designed and vibrant communities where people can live, work and raise families. Both developments are set to include employment provision, providing the opportunity to support local growth sectors and innovative skills development.

Priority 4 - Promotion of place

Strategically located at the crossroads of major transportation routes, the borough provides connectivity to regional, national and international markets.

With the projected levels of growth for the area, attracting businesses to invest in the borough will be a key driver of long-term economic wellbeing, prosperity and job creation.

The council will work with the Growth and Enterprise Team at the county council to attract new levels of inward investment, foster innovation, create jobs and promote prosperity across the borough.

• In 2022, Tewkesbury borough was estimated to have a population of 97,000. Between 2013 and 2022, the population grew by 13,451 or 16.1%. This was significantly higher than growth in the county (7.8%), region (7.3%) or nationally (5.7%). In fact, Tewkesbury had the fourth highest population growth out of 331 district and unitary authorities across England and Wales.

• It is projected to grow further, with the borough expected to see a 30.8% increase in its population between 2018 and 2043. This will put it second out of the 331 council areas.

• The borough has a lower proportion of working age adults than elsewhere in the county and nationally, with higher proportions of 0-15-year-olds and over 65s.

• The number of jobs in the district is projected to exceed the number of working age residents throughout the period 2022 to 2035, posing a challenge for delivering future growth.

• In 2021, there were around 4,320 active enterprises in the borough. The five-year survival rates for businesses in the borough started in 2017 stood at 46.8%, higher than the national average of 39.4%, and similar to the county average of 47.5%.

• When compared to the county average, the borough has a slightly smaller proportion of micro enterprises (0-9 employees) and a larger proportion of small, medium and large enterprises.

• Manufacturing is the largest sector, accounting for 18.9% of employment, considerably higher than the national average of 7.5% and county average of 11.5%.

The executive is expected to adopt the new strategy at its meeting.