First of all, some basic facts about the East Midlands:

• The East Midlands consists of the counties of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire;



• It has a population of just over 4 million, which is expected to grow. Of these, 76.8% of working age people are employed.



• Urban areas can be divided into tiers:
  
  • four cities
  • five towns with a population of over 50,000
  • 12 towns with over 25,000 people.
  • 145 market towns with 2,000 to 25,000 people living in them. They tend to provide a role as service centres for the community and rural areas around them.
  • Rural areas have over 40% of the region's population.



• 1,200 companies in the region are foreign owned and account for about 80,000 jobs.



• The area is home to some stunning scenery, including the Peak District, which is the second most visited tourist attraction in the world. 10% of the land in this region is officially declared to be an area of outstanding beauty. That said, if you're a shopaholic, there are plenty of great shopping centres to explore, and you can visit a plethora of art galleries, theatres, museums and more!



• The average journey to work is 21 minutes! This allows people the greater likelihood of a sensible work-life balance. The cost of living is low and the housing affordable. There are superb transport links in and out of the region: 99% of the UK market is within one day's journey by road. That said, transport infrastructure in the west and east of the region varies, with the later remaining isolated from essential services.

So what challenges does the region face?
By 2010, the East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) want the region to be one of the top 20 in Europe. It's already risen 7 places in 2 years, and is now 28th. As EMDA say in their Summary Report for 2003-2004 "We're on our way! Now watch us really go for it."

The Regional Economic Strategy for the East Midlands 2003-2010 has two aspirations:

1. to deliver a competitive region and
2. to ensure that the region has sustainable communities.

The strategy is unpinned by 3 Drivers of Success, namely:

1. Employment, Learning and Skills;
2. Enterprise and Innovation
3. A climate for investment

The RES also considers 12 challenges which face the region and consider what EMDA is doing to tackle them:

The East Midlands Development Agency is working with many partners in the region to tackle these problems. Let's look at some of its results in the 2003-2004 Summary Report.

In 2003-2004, EMDA:

• created 2,768 jobs
• safeguarded 2,619 jobs
• attracted 2,009 foreign direct investment jobs
• created 10,652 learning opportunities
• supported 2,425 companies in increasing the use of ICT
• generated 623 new businesses
• helped 103 companies with regional investment funds
• generated 56 new social enterprises
• restored 151 hectares of brownfield land
• oversaw 514 graduates into employment with small businesses.

This is good news for you. It means that there are greater career prospects and more learning opportunities for you. EMDA, like all the other development agencies, seeks to create such a climate that you will have a choice of top quality jobs on offer and the opportunity to boost your skills as your career progresses.

If you can keep in touch with what's going on at grass roots level in your region and county, you may spot a key learning or career opportunity which could make a huge difference to your career.

Let's consider enterprise and innovation:

More business support and back-up, whether you are considering starting a company or your company needs extra assistance to improve its performance, tap into expertise, solve a problem or implement a new idea. The end result will be greater employment opportunities for you and a higher standard of living.

RESULT! The New Business New Life Enterprise show attracted 5,000 people who were able to get advice on self-employment. Currently, the region sees some 32,000 new businesses being set up. EMDA aims to increase that by 4,000 by the year 2010.

What about Employment, Learning and Skills?
The aim is to put people into better quality jobs. The East Midlands Skills for Productivity Partnership was set up to give the East Midlands a vital competitive edge in employment, skills and learning. It will train people to acquire relevant skills and match those skills to market demands to help businesses develop.

It will be easier for you to move skills from one job to another. If you're over 45, keep a look out for initiatives to help you take up new job opportunities - 3 sites were opened in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire to help people of 45+ to take up new roles. Higher skills = higher wages and salaries. Keep learning and assessing your skills base.

RESULT! The Skills Passport is a personalised record of an employee's job skills and work-related experiences which can be assessed in-house or by an examiner. It gives people greater sense of ownership, better morale and a clear idea of training needs for the company. The East Midlands Food and Drink Forum piloted the Skills Passport with a range of companies and the feedback was extremely positive.

The region is also working with various clustsers to encourage companies and individuals to invest in the area. These could boost your job opportunities.

Clusters have been established in a number of sectors to help them plot their growth. The cluster relevant to your employer could have funding measures (especially if you're a small company), or any other kind of support that your business needs to keep growing. Is your boss aware of what's happening in his region? Such support safeguards and creates jobs at the local level - i.e. career opportunities for you and yours.

RESULT! The motorsports industry employs over 5,000 highly skilled people in the region. Launched last year and led by EMDA, the Government's Motorsports Unit is investing over £35million in the industry and a Motorsports Academy is earmarked - an energy efficient racing formula. A National College for Motorsport in Northamptonshipre established with EMDA funding offers learning opportunities for those in the industry, which is worth £0.65 billion to the East Midlands.

Find out more by visiting these sites and check out what other plans are afoot, as we can only mention briefly here the work being done to make the East Midlands the intelligent and onward place to work!

For further information: Visit www.englandseastmidlands.com which has a huge amount of info on the region, describing it as "the intelligent location for companies establishing UK and European operations, with a unique mix of ... five key ingredients for business success." The East Midlands' Development Agency's web site can be found at www.emda.org.uk Visit www.eastmidlandsobservatory.org.uk/ has information and statistics on the East Midlands and research undertake on the area.