THE chief executive of Enterprise Ayrshire John Lord yesterday said
that when his company was consulted by the Government on its views on
the reform of local government it backed the case for a single Ayrshire
authority.
''We thought that Ayrshire was a practical size and had the necessary
critical mass for an all purpose authority. In reaching that view, we
talked to a lot of people and held a series of dinners for business
people,'' he said.
Mr Lord, spending his final day with the Kilmarnock-based company
before moving to become Director of Strategy at Scottish Enterprise, was
commenting on Enterprise Ayrshire's annual report, presented by chairman
John Hornibrook to the company's AGM held at Prestwick Airport.
Mr Lord said that, despite the recession, business confidence in
Ayrshire had remained above the national average in the past year.
Looking back over a year in which the organisation assisted firms with
more than 1000 projects and which saw the start up of 400 new busineses,
Mr Lord emphasised the importance of Ayrshire as a major player in the
Scottish economy.
He said that 41% of Ayrshire's private sector workforce is involved in
manufacturing and while accounting for only 7% of Scotland's employed
workforce, Ayrshire turns out 13% of Scotland's exports.
Two of the most significant landmarks in the past year, said Mr Lord,
were the decisions of the Digital Equipment Company to switch hardware
production from its Irish plant in Galway to Ayr and that of British
Aerospace to switch production of its Advanced Turboprop aircraft to
Prestwick. Together these decisions safeguarded 3000 manufacturing jobs,
he said.
Congratulating PIK Holdings Ltd, the new owners of Prestwick Airport
on their achievement in changing perceptions of what he called ''a place
that was considered to be dead,'' Mr Lord said Prestwick International
Airport was Ayrshire's outstanding economic asset.
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