Presentation by Grant Seeley of Milton Keynes Partnership

Grant Seeley of the Milton Keynes Partnership At the breakfast meeting on 2nd February 2006, Grant Seeley, Director of Business Development for Invest Milton Keynes, gave a presentation on the plans for developing business in the New City. Invest Milton Keynes is a division of Milton Keynes Partnership. Grant explained that he has a budget of £1.6 and is responsible for a marketing initiative aimed at attracting 70,000 new jobs into Milton Keynes to support the 70,000 new homes planned. Grant has previously been involved in similar campaigns in Manchester and the Black Country before taking up his present employment last year.

Milton Keynes is considered -  a one station stop from London - community and is ideally placed between the learning centres of Oxford and Cambridge. As such the campaign is targeting companies who have demonstrated high growth, high value and are knowledge based currently located in London and the South East.

There is a finite limit to retail growth and therefore more office and flats are required particularly in the central district. The dilemma here is that there is a lack of car parking in the vicinity and the only way to resolve this is to build multi-storey car parks. Funding for this is unlikely to come from the Treasury and all proceeds from the sale of land are clawed back by central government.

Land around the centre is "earmarked" for the manufacture of high value, technological products and a large parcel of land to the south east of the city (Walton and Kents Hill) is reserved for the creation of a Technology park. This will be operated collectively by the Open University, Cranfield University, Bletchley Park with funding from the private sector.

Images of Milton Keynes were shown that are being used in current advertising campaigns in the south of England highlighting the benefits to business of re-locating to the area. Surprisingly the (concrete) cows were expected to feature because of their association with Milton Keynes.

Grant was faced with lively questioning following his presentation because the development of the town raises a number of emotive issues. The meeting could have continued for considerably longer than the allotted time.

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