‘Backing Mansfield business means turning local success into local opportunity’

One of the things I have heard consistently since becoming Mayor is that local businesses are not asking for special treatment, writes Claire Ward, Mayor of the East Midlands.

They want the opportunity to compete, grow and create jobs, and they want confidence that local leaders are listening.

That was reinforced during my visit to Toray Textiles in Mansfield.

More than 180 people work at the site producing specialist textiles used across military and medical supply chains. About 60 per cent of the company’s military textiles are exported into Europe and supplied for NATO uniforms.

This is advanced manufacturing happening here in Mansfield – skilled jobs, international exports and expertise that competes on a global stage.

However, despite that success internationally, Toray told me it has found it harder to secure opportunities domestically – which speaks to a wider challenge.

We often talk about backing British industry, strengthening domestic supply chains and creating more opportunities here at home, and rightly so.

Business ambition

However, if we are serious about that ambition, businesses in places like Mansfield need to be able to benefit.

That is why I wrote to the Chancellor after my visit. Not simply to highlight one business, but to make a broader point: local businesses should not have to look overseas first to prove their value.

For me, this is what local leadership should look like. Listening to employers, understanding barrier and taking those conversations directly into government, ensuring local businesses have someone making the case for them.

Supporting business is not only about attracting the next investment announcement. It is also about recognising the capability we already have and helping businesses access opportunities to grow.

Through the East Midlands Combined County Authority, we are working to strengthen the connection between business, skills and investment so local employers can recruit, expand and create more opportunities here in our region.

Because growth is not something that happens somewhere else and gets delivered to Mansfield. It is built by businesses already here – employing local people, investing in local communities and creating confidence in the future.

For too long, the East Midlands has been underestimated. But businesses in Mansfield prove every day that we have the talent, capability and ambition to compete with anyone.

My job as Mayor is to ensure they get the backing, visibility and opportunities they deserve.