Crawley’s leisure and defence sectors look set to grow, benefiting from two landmark strategies to kickstart economic growth, drive investment, and support British businesses to thrive – both domestically and on the global stage. As part of its core mission to rebuild the economy, the Government is putting enterprise, innovation, and industry at the heart of its national agenda.

Last month, the Government launched a bold new Industrial Strategy – a long-term, partnership-driven plan designed to boost business, slash energy costs by 30% for key sectors such as car manufacturing and steel, and create 1.1m good, well-paid jobs.

In Crawley, this could mean a big to the town’s major employers in leisure and defence, providing local residents with access to new skills, training pathways, and secure, well-paid employment. Complementing this, the Government has commitment to expanding training capacity with 60,000 new places in high-demand sectors like digital and engineering.

Alongside the Industrial Strategy, the Government has published its new Trade Strategy–the first such UK strategy in decades—to help British businesses sell more goods and services around the world. With major new trade agreements already signed with countries representing over half of global GDP—India, the US, and the EU, the strategy unlocks billions in exports and opens up global markets for UK industries. Backed by the new £5 billion Ricardo Fund and a £20 billion expansion of UK Export Finance, the Government is making exporting faster, cheaper, and more accessible – removing red tape and opening new opportunities for firms of all sizes.

Peter Lamb MP said:

“During the pandemic Crawley’s economy took a huge hit due to being over-reliant on one industrial sector: aviation. The Government’s new industrial and trade strategies help to deliver upon the work undertaken by the council since COVID-19 to diversify the town’s economy and bring new job opportunities to Crawley.”