Opportunity Peterborough

Opportunity Peterborough is an economic development company serving the needs of the city. So far so good. But what does that mean for Peterborough in practical terms?

On the face of it Opportunity Peterborough’s remit is simple: they are tasked with both attracting new companies to the city and helping them set up, and supporting existing businesses to flourish and prosper – providing advice, useful contacts and economic intelligence. Whilst we all generally applaud such support and services, many of us may be slightly hazy about the specifics – about the nuts and bolts of what exactly is on offer for our business. There are also those cynics, of course, who habitually dismiss any such enterprise as being about little more than kind words and the dispensing of leaflets.

Opportunity Peterborough is far from being an organisation that merely encourages from the sidelines, however. For one thing, they’re not just involved with startups or new arrivals – they’re trusted by some of the biggest and most experienced business names in the city.

We’ve worked closely with companies such as Perkins and BGL, right down to small companies that have been going only a matter of weeks

says director Neil Darwin. They’re not afraid to get their hands dirty, either. Not long ago, they got actively involved in a thorny issue whose successful resolution helped a business stay in the city and in so doing kept 450 jobs in Peterborough.

Opportunity Peterborough has now been going seven years, and, as Neil explains, was initially formed as an urban regeneration company as part of the previous government’s policy.

There were about 20 in the country and they were tasked with physical regeneration and economic development of individual places. Peterborough was quite an unusual model as it had a much wider city-growth brief, rather than just site-specific development

Then, about three years ago, due to various changes that were taking place, the decision was made to move physical regeneration back into the local authority – Peterborough City Council – and leave Opportunity Peterborough to focus on economic development.

After the recent austerity measures, we’re now one of a handful
of such companies left in the country. But from the city’s perspective, and in the long-term, it will pay off because we’re delivering a focused remit

So, what can Opportunity Peterborough do for someone with a business?

We can support them at a multitude of levels. The simplest thing we can do is have a business join our bondholder scheme, which is a free network that enables people to find out what’s going on in the city and encourages business to business activities and opportunities. But we can help companies in whatever way they want: whether it’s working with them on new schemes, helping them source funding, advising of business growth plans, working with the local authority, or improving export opportunities. The answer might not be within Opportunity Peterborough, but we can certainly find someone else who can help

The phrase that crops up time and again in our conversation is “helping businesses at any level”. Suddenly, the key challenge for Opportunity Peterborough in getting their message across becomes clear; there is no one simple thing that they offer – what they provide is defined by the needs of the businesses that come to them. It’s a bespoke service, and, as such, hard to define in simple terms – but incredibly broad in its potential.

Yes, that’s how we’re designed,” says Neil. “Fundamentally, what we’re about is ensuring that business thrives in the city, and if there’s a blockage of any kind, we will assist