Broadband Access for Northwick Business Centre
13th August, 2018
Businesses at the Northwick Business Centre near
Moreton-in-the-Marsh will soon benefit from faster broadband thanks to a grant
from Fastershire.
Gloucestershire County Council’s broadband delivery
project, Fastershire, created the Marches and Gloucestershire Broadband Grant
to provide a bespoke solution for some of the hardest to reach businesses.
Part funded by the European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF), the grant provides up to 100% of the capital installation cost, up
to £25,000 for any eligible small to medium sized business that still require
access to faster broadband.
Jacquetta Whyatt-Watts, Strutt & Parker, site
managing agents said, “Improved broadband access will have a significant impact
for Northwick Business Centre and the businesses on the site.”
The Trustees are dedicated to improving the
existing infrastructure to ensure that the site benefits from high speed
broadband. With Fastershire’s support we worked to put together a collective
application and sought a combined solution which is available and affordable to
all tenants and businesses based on the site.”
Marcus Efstratiou, freelance senior copywriter,
said, “Our wonderful rural business park is unique in many ways – but the
broadband situation has always been dire. That’s why I’m so grateful that we’ve
managed to secure funding from Fastershire for fast broadband here.
As a freelance consultant, a strong web connection
is essential for my day-to-day operations – and I’m excited about not having to
rely on satellite broadband any more, which breaks every time it rains!”
The grant online portal helps to match grant
approved businesses with potential suppliers who can install a high speed
connection. Glide Business, part of
Glide group, specialises in providing connectivity solutions for businesses and
were the selected supplier.
Simon Ward, Strategic Account Manager at Glide,
said “We were delighted to be selected as the network provider for Northwick
Business Centre.
We give companies on business parks and industrial
estates the competitive advantage by delivering our own ultrafast, reliable and
assured broadband. Too many businesses are held back by slow, unreliable
internet, and that’s why at Glide Business we deploy our own physical
infrastructure.
As part of our work under Fastershire’s business
grant, we are supplying our fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) Business Broadband
solution to all the business units on the business park, helping to support
growth both for the businesses themselves and the area.”
Councillor Lynden Stowe, Gloucestershire County
Council Cabinet Member for Economy, Skills and Growth, said, “Gloucestershire
County Council, through the Fastershire project is committed to providing
businesses with the broadband access they need in order to grow and become more
competitive.
Northwick Business Centre is an example of
Fastershire’s innovative approach to enable some of the county’s hardest to
reach premises, by providing funding for bespoke solutions.”
Over the next two years, the project will increase
superfast coverage to 98% of the county, with BT delivering for Fastershire in
Cheltenham and Gloucester and Gigaclear providing a new full fibre network in
rural areas. For the hardest to reach properties in the final 2%, Fastershire
is using a mix of solutions, including possible contract extensions or grants
to local businesses.
To find out if your property can already access
faster broadband or where your property sits in the Fastershire rollout, please use the address
checker above.