We're Backing Stroud: The SNJ launches campaign to celebrate all that is great about the Five Valleys

Back in June, the Stroud district bucked the trend by voting to remain in the European Union, 55 per cent to 45 per cent, and when the Brexit result was announced there was understandably some alarm in the community.

However, despite the dramatic drop in the value of the Sterling and the initial fears that Brexit would ravage the UK economy, Stroud has stood up proudly and continued to do what it does best – grow.

No business epitomises this ‘always moving forward’ ethos more than the world’s first green electricity company, Ecotricity.

Founded by Dale Vince in 1995, the company was nothing more than a handful of people with a focus and desire to create sustainable living.

Now, 22 years on and with over 600 employees, Dale has announced plans to completely redevelop New Axiom House, known as the old tax office, in Merrywalks.

The original design for the new-look building was revealed last year and, with the coloured blocks style, it was described by many as a ‘Lego house’ and divided opinion, with many people arguing it was very un-Stroud and would stick out like a sore thumb.

But now there is a radically different new design, created by Glenn Howells Architects, with the aim of giving the building a modern look.

Dale said: “We haven’t ‘got rid’ of the Lego look – we’ve simply gone back to the drawing board with the question, can we do better?

“This building is the result of that, and we think it is better by a long way.

“It will allow us to create about 300 new jobs; we expect them to be mostly in our core business of green energy supply, but also provide growth space for our new mobile phone company Ecotalk, as well as our national charging network for electric cars, the Electric Highway.”

The new structure will harness natural energy from daylight via solar panels on the south side of the building, helping to regulate temperature and reduce energy consumption.

And Dale wants the new building to become the gateway to Stroud.

He said: “I think first impressions matter and so the entrance or gateway to any town or city is important, just like the Eco Park will be another gateway to Stroud.”

An artists impression of New Axiom House

Of course, as well as economic powerhouses like Ecotricity, Stroud is renowned for its independent spirit and there are many determined traders who have developed their businesses from nothing.

Owners are proud of their unique, quirky style and the talk of chain brands is treated as blasphemy.

Clare Honeyfield, owner of Made in Stroud gifts, food and drink shop, believes the town is perfect the way it is.

“I love Stroud and I don’t want to see it change,” she told the SNJ.

“Everyone knows about Stroud’s high proportion of independent shops but it has so much more than that.

“We have a fantastic food culture, there are more gigs than you could ever go to.

“The only thing it doesn’t have is a seaside and I’m not sure that’s something we can change.”

Simon Powell, owner of Brilliant Disguise fashion store, shares Clare’s love and passion for Stroud but says there is still work to be done to improve the town centre.

“Stroud is very individual, quirky and unique – it’s Cotswolds with edge,” he told the SNJ.

 “There are so many independent cafes and restaurants for people to enjoy and people who live here do really care about the town.

 “If I had to criticise anything about Stroud it would be that there still aren’t enough independent shops, there are a lot of empty units and I would love them to be filled.”

He added: “The town centre needs to separate people and cars and we need pay on exit parking not pay on entry.

“When people visit Stroud at the moment all they are doing is thinking about leaving but paying on exit should change all that.

“The town centre needs to be a hub for the community.”

Strong community spirit is one of the aspects that makes Stroud so special, with art galleries, film festivals and an award winning farmers market very much joint efforts and drawing in visitors.

Nick Allan, owner of the Star Anise Café, said he is confident for Stroud’s future because the place is full of determined people.

He said: “There’s no doubt that we are in turbulent times but despite the despicable undertones of Brexit I am full of hope that the spirit of what Stroud stands for will continue to bring new life to the town.”

Kevin Cranston, the Mayor of Stroud, shares the positivity for the district’s future..

“Stroud has the best of town and country,” he said.

“We pride ourselves on having an award-winning farmers’ market, a wide range of independent shops and good food.

“We have a rich arts and crafts heritage which thrives today.

“Most importantly it is the friendly compassionate people of Stroud that makes it the vibrant and caring town that it is.”

By Michael Purton, editor of the Stroud News & Journal

When you’ve lived somewhere for a long time, it’s easy to lose sight of what makes the place special.
I’m relatively new to Stroud, having come here in spring 2015 when appointed editor of the SNJ, so I still view the district through an outsider’s eyes, and what I see is something rare in modern Britain – a place with a clear sense of identity.
Let me give you an example. At the peak of the hysteria over the Syrian refugee crisis, when there was a lot of xenophobic scaremongering about our streets being flooded with migrants, I instantly knew that the people of Stroud would unite to welcome the families fleeing from the war-torn nation. I wasn’t sure how residents in other towns and cities would react, but I had no doubt about Stroud and, of course, our district was among the first to stand up and offer help.
I suppose what it comes down to is that the people of Stroud care. They are driven by compassion and they take action – whether it’s protesting against NHS cuts, supporting independent businesses, campaigning to save the environment or rallying around a family in crisis.
Where else would a green energy company be one of the biggest employers and a new recycling scheme which involved a huge shift in habits be so firmly embraced? Where else would the community unite so quickly to defeat plans to close a maternity hospital or offer refugees a bed in their own homes?
I’ve lived in London, Tokyo, Manchester and York among other places, and none of them had the community spirit and passion of Stroud.
It may be a cliché, but there’s nowhere else quite like Stroud. So I hope you, our readers, will join us in celebrating all that is great about this wonderful place over the next 12 weeks.
We’d love you to share your stories about Stroud with us, whether you live here, work here, run a business here or all three, and we’ll publish the best in the paper over the next 12 weeks. It can be anything, from a couple of lines on why you love living here to a poem about the district written in iambic pentameter (did I mention that Stroud is brimming with artistic talent?).
Please do share your thoughts on why you love Stroud by emailing me at mpu@stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk

By Steve Lydon, leader of Stroud District Council

I’m delighted we’ve been invited to work with the SNJ on the We’re Backing Stroud initiative. It comes just weeks after the launch of the promotional film for the district by our tourism team to promote the area as a great place to ‘work, rest and play’.
Council’s are big employers and have a major influence on how their areas develop – both socially and economically – so it’s reassuring that we’re currently experiencing the highest satisfaction levels we’ve ever had among both residents and businesses. More importantly, satisfaction with the district as a place to live is at its highest too at 91 per cent, and that boils down to the hard work of everyone with a stake – residents, businesses, voluntary groups and public bodies to name a few.
Over the next 12 weeks, we’ll see the best of what the district has to offer and we’ll be highlighting council initiatives and plans aimed at strengthening the district’s economy and improving the prospects for the future to make it a better place to visit, live, shop, work and, of course, relax.
While there’s currently a great deal of doom and gloom in the national media relating to uncertainty, one thing I am certain about is that locally there are huge opportunities, whether it’s regeneration, economic growth, tourism and health and wellbeing initiatives – there’s a lot in the pipeline.

By Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity

Ecotricity is fairly prominent in Stroud – with four office buildings and a team of about 600 people. As a friend pointed out to me the other day, after her first visit to the town, it’s hard to miss us – but it’s not always been that way.
My first office in Stroud was in the early 90s, when Costa was New Look – in a small business centre on the floor above.
They had a spare room, and rent was about £100 a week as I recall – I didn’t have that, so I offered the lady that ran the centre the £50 that I did have and said just kick me out when somebody comes along with the full rent. She went for it, and we never looked back – within a couple of years we occupied the entire top floor.
Soon after that, we bought our first buildings in Stroud, by the train station, and did them up - when they were full, we bought the derelict building on Russell Street and completely renovated it.
A few years ago, we bought the old Stroud and Swindon building when they moved out of town, and more recently the dilapidated old tax office on Merrywalks.
That’s our next big project, and in today’s SNJ we’re unveiling an exciting new design for an entirely new building.
We already have planning permission to re-clad the existing building in a style that some people fairly describe as the ‘Lego look’. I like that design, but over the last few months I’ve been thinking that we could do better.
So we asked Glen Howells Architects, the runners up in our FGR stadium competition, and the award-winning designers of Gloucester Services, to take a look at other options.
As you’ll see on the front page of this paper, they’ve come up with something pretty special – a new building and a new look for this corner of Stroud. I’m keen to hear what people think about it.
The potential for a new building on this site is part of a wider piece of thinking about this area, this gateway to Stroud: it’s designed to work with our main building across the road, the old Stroud and Swindon building; we’re working with Stroud District Council to create some open public space on the land across the road from that, by the canal at Walbridge; and we’re talking to Gloucestershire County Council about a redesign of the current chaotic cluster of roundabouts, and some new pedestrian and cycling access into Stroud – something badly missing I think.
The building itself will make space for some 300 new people to come and work in the town – improved access to the area will help that.
I reckon it will be our last building project in the town, and it will keep us going for a couple of years – that takes care of our growth plans for the short term.
For the medium term and beyond, we’ve come up with the idea of Eco Park at Junction 13 of the M5 – another gateway to Stroud, but this time to the district.
This is the site we hope to grow into for the next decade or so. It’s not instead of our town centre presence – we love it here – it’s what comes next for us as our work in the green economy continues to propel us forwards – creating new sustainable jobs and industry in Stroud.

By Neil Carmichael, MP for Stroud

I am delighted to support the SNJ’s We’re Backing Stroud campaign.
This campaign brings backs memories of the ‘Stroud Special’ in 2011. The idea was the brainchild of Max Comfort of Stroud Common Wealth who noticed that the commuter trains to the capital were coming back empty in the morning and again in the evening en route to pick up returning workers.
After raising this with the Chamber of Trade and Commerce and First Great Western, it was decided that businesses in Stroud and the surrounding areas could capitalise on the empty trains by bringing visitors down for day trips.
The scheme was officially launched at the House of Commons by myself and minister for transport Theresa Villiers, together with Stroud District Council and local traders, so it’s great to see that we are all coming together again to demonstrate why Stroud is a great place to work, live and visit.
And we have come a long way since then.
In March 2014 I launched the Carmichael Commission with the purpose of developing economic growth and local infrastructure investment across the Stroud Valleys and Vale.  It aims to bring together business, stakeholders and local residents to identify our local priorities for investment.
The Commission successfully advocated the redoubling of the Kemble to Swindon railway line, securing a commitment from Government to start work on the A417 ‘Missing Link’ and making the case for a new University Technical College at Berkeley Green, which opens it’s doors to students this year.
Turning again to the railway network, the existing provision would be radically enhanced by reopening the Bristol Road station in Stonehouse.
This would mean commuters from the Stroud Valleys and Vale could reach either Birmingham or Bristol without a lengthy diversion and change of trains. Travel to work distances would be cut significantly and new opportunities for innovative small and larger businesses would emerge.  
Here in Stroud we are thinking about transport infrastructure in a holistic way to enable planners to see the advantages of linking communities together, understand the positive impacts on related policy areas, and calibrate the overall economic and social benefits.
Being bold but thoughtful is the combination needed to pave the way for life fulfilment of all of our people.