What is SEEDA?
SEEDA is the Government funded agency set up
in 1999 responsible for the economic and social
development of the South East of England - the
driving force of the UK's economy.
The economy of the region is the 22nd largest in
the world, bigger than several countries including
Denmark, Austria, Sweden, South Africa, Singapore
and Greece. As home to over eight million people, it
is the largest region in the UK - bigger than Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland combined, and covers the
counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire,
the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and East
and West Sussex.
SEEDA's aim is to create a prosperous, dynamic and
inspirational region by helping businesses compete
more effectively, training a highly skilled workforce,
supporting and enabling our communities, while
safeguarding our natural resources and cherishing our
rich cultural heritage.
SEEDA aims to be a catalyst for change within the
South East, working with partner organisations- businesses, education at all levels, local authorities,
Government agencies, voluntary and community
organisations and many others - to produce clearly
recognisable results.
We also have funds from Government to enable us
to invest directly in a range of economic and social
development programmes, and are in a position
to help secure European Union and private sector
investment for the region.
Accountable to Government, SEEDA is a business led organisation, governed by a Board whose
Members have wide-ranging experience in industry
and commerce, local government, education, trade
unionism and voluntary service.
Key achievements
Among SEEDA's major achievements are:
- Setting up 15 Enterprise Hubs - business incubation
establishments - at key locations throughout the South East,
providing workspace and support for over 520 start-up
high-tech companies;
- Enabling more than 350 new businesses to be created;
- Establishing a Regional Venture Capital Fund to help
business start-ups gain ready access to sources of finance
and financial advice;
- Creating or safeguarding over 30,000 jobs, of which
almost 8,000 came through our successes in attracting 124
companies from overseas;
- Rolling out our Broadband programme, in partnership
with the major telecommunications companies, to link up
businesses and homes - especially those in remote areas -
to the Internet;
- Drawing up a Basic Skills Strategy for the region to raise
levels of literacy and numeracy - over one million people in
the South East lack even the most basic reading, writing and
numeracy skills;
- Creating 125,000 learning opportunities which have all
been filled;
- Helping small companies get the maximum benefit from
information and communications technology and ensuring
that more firms are able to train their managers and start in
e-skills;
- Investing over £500 million in urban and rural regeneration
projects - breathing new life into neglected or derelict areas
through job creation and environmental improvements;
- Restoring more than 280 hectares of brownfield land (land
that has been used before) to a reusable condition.
Major projects include:
- Chatham Maritime - with over £400 million of public and
private funds invested so far, this is the largest Government
funded project outside of London. The development will
provide 3,200 homes and workspace for 2,500 people plus
essential services and leisure facilities;
- The Kent Coalfield - where redundant, derelict, former
colliery sites are being brought to productive use through
the creation of jobs and leisure facilities;
- Tackling the economic and social problems of the region's
coastal towns, and devising a radical five point plan for the
regeneration of Hastings & Bexhill. The integrated plan will
include some £400 million of public and private investment
providing a new university, regenerating the town centre,
improving and building new housing and creating a
competitive business environment supported by Broadband
technology;
- Setting up a Regional Design Panel, Design Champion's
Club and substantially increasing the region's capacity for
Architecture Centres. These will ensure that future building
projects in the South East are of the highest architectural
and environmental standards;
- Creating an advisory service - Building for Nature - to guide
developers and local authorities on how to address issues
such as biodiversity and ecology in their development
schemes;
- Helping farmers and rural businesses across the region to
recover from the after-effects of crises such as Foot and
Mouth and Mad Cow Disease, plus the general downturn in
agriculture.
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