REDDITCH firms are being urged to take advantage of the multi-million pound contracts that will be coming available through the new HS2 rail link between Birmingham and London.
The call comes from borough council leader Bill Hartnett in the light of news that an investment of some £1,015.1 million is being invested in the construction of the new HS2 Curzon Street railway station, a new enterprise zone and metro extension on the east side of Birmingham city centre.
Councillor Hartnett is vice chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) supervisory board which last week discussed the extension of the development’s enterprise zone from 69.8 hectares to 113.5 hectares.
“There is lots and lots of money being spent on HS2 as well as the re-development programme and the station itself and jobs will be available and skills required,” said Coun Hartnett.
“There must be employers in Redditch who want a slice of that cake. Most companies in Redditch employ between 10 and 20 people and my plea to the board was lets get that out to the small, medium enterprises out there to let them know the opportunity exists.
“It’s got to be built and there are millions and millions of pounds worth of contracts available, let’s spread the jam further than the city and into the districts and I encouraged the GBSLEP officers to come out to Redditch and market the opportunities which this major development offers.”
HS2 – the High Speed 2 rail line between Birmingham to London, is expected to cut journey times to the capital to just 49 minutes.
The new Curzon Street railway station is expected to open in 2026.
