1st December 2022
iSH isn’t a place. It is about a place.
iSH Managing Director John Maddison is keen to stress the difference.
iSH is about making a positive difference to people’s lives, to the economy and the environment across the whole of West Cumbria and the soon-to-be Cumberland region.
It will achieve that by building capability through collaboration, creating jobs, which will in turn regenerate our communities, our place.
It is anticipated that 700 jobs will be created at the iSH Enterprise Campus (iEC) alone, by creating opportunities for businesses and organisations to collaborate, enhancing skills and capabilities.
But iSH isn’t all about the iSH Enterprise Campus (iEC), Phase 1 of which is due to be delivered in two years time by Copeland Borough Council, owner of the Leconfield Industrial Estate where it will be situated. The iEC campus is an important part of the business ecosystem we are looking to help create. But it’s about far more than that.
iSH is about joining the dots – a way of working together, connecting what already exists across multiple places in West Cumbria in industry, business, research and development, academia, charities and communities to multiply the opportunities created and ensure potentially life-changing chances are open to, and inclusive for, all sections of our society.
iSH is about maps and gaps – mapping what already exists so as not to duplicate the great work already being carried out by so many individuals and organisations across the region, mapping a view of what the future may bring and what may be needed to deliver that future and then encouraging collaboration to fill any gaps – such as in capability.
We are here to enable growth and the three pillars that lead to it – Collaboration, Innovation, and Diversification – maximising the opportunities which the West Cumbria supply chain can capatilise upon and building on that nuclear decommissioning capability, much of it linked in some way to Sellafield’s presence, to apply that innovative solution-focused expertise to other industries across the region, the UK and around the world.
And, most of all, iSH is about ensuring the outcome of all those jobs and opportunities delivers a positive sustainable difference to our communities.
Working in collaboration with our partners we have already started delivering opportunities.
We joined forces with DASA and FIS360 to hold an event at Rosehill Theatre, Whitehaven last month to help SMEs in the region understand how they can access work and funding in the defence and security sectors.
We played our part in welcoming local authority officials from Fukushima, Japan to West Cumbria last week to demonstrate the capability of businesses and organisations across the area and to showcase the region’s expertise to the world.
We have fulfilled our pledge to operate from the heart of the community by recently opening our iSH office in the centre of Cleator Moor.
We have also said that we will create opportunities for local people within our own organisation and we are delighted to have made the first, of what will be several appointments over the next six months, by welcoming Lynn Huddart from Cleator Moor to our team as office manager. We thank Lynn for already making a positive difference.
It has a busy time for iSH, rolling up our sleeves and getting on with doing and delivering.
But this is only the beginning. There are more exciting days and weeks ahead.