Warm welcome for Council's top brass.

We were recently pleased to welcome Sophie Broadfield, the Chief Executive of Bath and North East Somerset Council for a visit to our premises. She has not been in the top job for very long and is keen to get to know every corner of the district.

It was a good opportunity for us to talk about the 40 years we have been operating here in Bishop Sutton and explaining about the gradual way we have developed, so that now we have 14 tenants and around a hundred people employed onsite.

Sophie said: "I really enjoyed my visit to Westway Farm. It was great to see the difference that this family owned business has made to employment opportunities in the local area. It's a real testament to David's hard work that businesses have stayed and expanded on his site.”

I didn’t miss the chance to make the point about the importance of a strong rural economy and our ambitions for the future. She said she was impressed with what she had seen and very much agreed with what I had to say. She was also enthusiastic about our expansion plans and our aim to provide an even wider range of business space.

“I also visited Arthur David earlier in my tenure as Chief Executive. Both visits have really brought home to me the importance of the wide range of rural businesses we have in the Chew Valley, providing good jobs and economic opportunity across our area.”

“Bath and North East Somerset Council works for all our communities to make this a better place to live and work and so it has been important for me to hear from businesses in the Chew Valley as I come to understand the issues and what needs to be improved," added Sophie.

Good evidence of the health of the economy in the Chew Valley is that we have let a unit in the month of July, which is a first for us, as we find people often put off taking premises until after the summer holidays. We have also had enquiries for small office units which is interesting and will help guide our future plans for how we construct new buildings to provide even more work space which will help grow the local economy.