Opinion: Team Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is competing on an international level

I have been disappointed to read the rhetoric that the city in which I live has in any way been left behind by an organisation I represent (Opinion: Time to stop being overlooked by Combined Authority).

This is particularly disappointing because it completely dismisses the hard work of so many people, many of whom live in the city, to help it grow and prosper in a way that benefits residents. It was only a few months ago that I sat on multiple panels, alongside amongst others, the Peterborough City Council Chief Executive and the Combined Authority Director of Place and Connectivity, pitching in Leeds the incredible opportunity Peterborough presents to national and international investors – and the energy and enthusiasm across those sessions was absolutely palpable.

Together our voice is far louder than when we operate as individuals.

I could reel off a long list of the millions of pounds worth of investment that has gone into our city, which will in turn continue to accelerate growth in one of the UK’s fastest growing cities; but residents see it daily. They have seen ARU Peterborough built. They have seen the first cohort of students (many of whom are local) graduate this year, and taking their next steps to a brighter more prosperous future.

I have been Chair of a Multi Academy Trust in Peterborough for the last decade and skills is absolutely at the heart of fuelling long term growth.

Many will have read the headlines about a new £65 million Station Quarter being delivered.

And are some one of the 3,100 residents that have enrolled in an adult education course in the city that has been funded by the Combined Authority, just this year alone.

After 30 years in business, I feel like it is very important to point out that Peterborough does not and cannot grow in isolation. People, and the economy, simply do not work like that. Major investment in Peterborough does not just benefit Peterborough, but right across the whole region. Likewise, investment in other places across our region absolutely benefits Peterborough.

Why? Because people have this funny habit of travelling. They do not live, work and socialise based on local authority boundary lines, nor do they want to.

In business we also have supply chains, which do not exist solely in one locality. Drawing such arbitrary lines will only be to the detriment of the prosperity of the city. Especially in a city like Peterborough, which has a proud history of engineering and manufacturing.

Businesses rely on moving goods and services around in their supply chain (and yes, that might mean using some of the knowledge intensive expertise in Cambridge), in order to develop and export their products.

Preventing this ecosystem will prevent businesses in Peterborough from growing, which will in turn effect the wallets of those in the city.

I am proud to be from Peterborough. I am also incredibly proud of the Combined Authority’s track record of working in collaboration with the ambitious and highly skilled Peterborough team to support the growth of Peterborough and provide additionality to many of our recent opportunities.

My role as Chair of the Business Board is to provide strategic advice on behalf of business across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and to those who are looking to invest and move here. You might hear a lot of intentionally misleading “hot air” convincing you that our city is in competition with Cambridge, but that is not the case. Team Cambridgeshire and Peterborough have been very clear, we are not competing on a UK level, but together, on an international one.

Ironically the more we allow political manoeuvring to talk down our amazing city, to reduce confidence in the opportunities and infrastructure we offer, to dismiss our collective regional strength, then the less we will attract the growth opportunities and investments we all want to see continue to arrive.

Al Kingsley,Chair of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Business Board