It was my great pleasure today to write letters of congratulations to the eight Cambridgeshire businesses that have received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise this year. They are:

BlueGnome Ltd

Colortrac Ltd

Domino Printing Sciences Plc

Horizon Discovery Ltd

Spiral Software Ltd

The Moller Centre for Continuing Education Limited

Ubisense Group Plc (winners of two awards)

Sentec Ltd

Developing the local economy for the benefit of all is one of the County Council’s strategic priorities, and in offering my congratulations to these firms I referenced the ways in which a strong local economy helps us to achieve our wider aims for Cambridgeshire.

Since becoming Leader I have been tenacious in my drive to ensure that Cambridgeshire is open for business.

I see the Council’s role is to do what we can to support our communities and grow our local economy. I’m pleased that we have made progress with key projects such as superfast broadband and the A14, but we have a lot more to do. I also spend a fair amount of time meeting with the local business community to develop the relationship between the public and private sectors.

At a recent meeting of the Cambridge Network I described Cambridgeshire as a ‘sleeping tiger’. We have tremendous potential with cutting edge businesses and research but we need to spread this and help create the right environment for businesses to start and grow as well as providing the right conditions for manufacturers to flourish.

Hearing the great news of these award-winners shows me that this potential is being realised as well as reminding me that Cambridgeshire is in a strong position to continue its economic prosperity. Seeing businesses strive to do better strengthens my resolve that we can also be even better in the future.

Fantastic.