Home to the landmark Digital Media Centre, the Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre (BBIC), as well as advanced manufacturing companies like Koyo Bearings, Kostal and Qualter Hall, has established itself as a national centre of logistics expertise, with leading international retailers like ASOS and Aldi both choosing sites in Barnsley for their distribution hubs.
Enterprising Barnsley, a business support programme delivered by Barnsley Council (funded by the European Regional Development Fund), has helped to create 340 new businesses, support 1,600 companies, attract 40 companies to relocate or expand, and create over 4,000 jobs. The town has plans to generate a critical mass of new, high growth innovative start-ups to generate wider investment, greater competition and more employment opportunities.
Infrastructure, civic and heritage sites are benefitting from regeneration too. The Remaking Barnsley programme, which began in 2003, has already created or upgraded spaces like The Civic, a new transport interchange, Queen’s Court and new council offices at Westgate, while the town centre is undergoing major transformation with a £120 million investment.
Barnsley College, one of the UK’s largest further education colleges in the UK, was named BTEC Apprenticeship Provider of the Year in 2017 and top College in Yorkshire for learner satisfaction in the Department for Education annual learner satisfaction survey.