2025 In Reflection
As the year draws to a close, I’d like to wish you all a joyful holiday season and thank you for being part of our journey. In this issue, I invite you to hear from our programme leads as they pause and reflect on some of the brilliant achievements we’ve shared together.
Early in the new year, we will launch Hertfordshire's Economic Strategy, bringing fresh purpose and exciting opportunities for growth. Let’s carry forward the successes of the year and start 2026 with renewed energy and ambition!
Adrian Hawkins OBE
Chairman, Hertfordshire Futures
Hertfordshire Film Office (HFO)
Pippa Cawdron
Hertfordshire Film Office Manager
2025 has been a record-breaking year for Hertfordshire Film Office, with filming activity delivering an exceptional boost to the local economy.
Spend reached £11.9m in the first two quarters of 2025/26 alone, surpassing last year’s total of £11.3m. During this time, we supported 176 businesses, created over 40 jobs, and managed a record number of production referrals and highways permits.
Selvedge © David Ince Photography
Selvedge © David Ince Photography
Hertfordshire Futures and HFO worked closely with Hertsmere Borough Council on plans for its new Elstree Studios Immersive Experience - a showcase of the studio's rich cinematic history, set to open in December 2026.
Our Creative Sector Lead Adam Morley played a key role in securing investment from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to support a Digital Inclusion Hub as part of this exciting new visitor attraction.
I was pleased to take on the role of Chair of Film Offices: UK in March, enabling us to strengthen collaboration and raise Hertfordshire’s profile nationally. Other highlights include sponsoring the Royal Television Society Awards and representing Hertfordshire at Focus 2025 – an international production event attracting over 4,000 industry professionals. These platforms provided a fantastic opportunity to showcase our region’s strengths on a global stage.
Lucy Gravatt
Director of Partnerships and Communication
A standout moment from the year was Hertfordshire leading the UK Screen Investment Programme's inaugural Summit at BAFTA. After nearly a year of planning, we brought local authorities, studios, and regional clusters together and led conversations with Government on key issues such as US Film Tariffs.
This event demonstrated the real power of collaboration and the need for a unified voice to advocate for the UK and Hertfordshire’s screen sector - especially in light of major industry shifts like Netflix’s recent buy-out offer. There is real appetite for this to continue – and Herts was there right at the start!
Melanie Miller
Inward Investment Manager
Invest Hertfordshire has played a key role in raising the county’s profile nationally and internationally, facilitating strategic introductions for land purchases and fostering local partnerships to deliver major mixed-use and employment-led schemes.
This year, we were proud to represent the county at UKREiiF - the UK’s leading real estate and infrastructure forum, and EXPO REAL - Europe’s largest property and investment trade fair. Here we showcased the county's £12.8 billion investment pipeline spanning 24 opportunity sites, including Herts IQ, Stevenage Town Centre regeneration, and Hatfield Innovation Campus.
Melanie receives a UKREiiF Recognition Award
Melanie receives a UKREiiF Recognition Award
Hertfordshire is now at the forefront of the UK’s data centre boom, attracting over £8 billion of investment from global leaders such as Google, Equinix and Ark Data Centres - cementing its position as a national strategic digital hub.
Alongside this, we continue to champion growth in the screen and creative industries, supported by enhanced digital infrastructure, ensuring Hertfordshire remains a dynamic and future-focused destination for investment.
Sophie Mance
Senior Project Manager - Digital Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire hit a key milestone this year, achieving 91% gigabit capable broadband coverage, bringing major benefits to both businesses and residents. This was supported by ongoing investment from our committed broadband suppliers and government's Project Gigabit programme.
Tackling digital inequality continues to be a major priority and to this end, we launched our Hertfordshire Digital Help Finder; a simple online tool that enables residents to search and find local training and 1-2-1 support to help them get online and navigate their devices.
We were also proud to secure funding through government’s Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund to support community-based digital skills projects for older adults, young people not in employment, education or training, and individuals with disabilities, to help us develop a national methodology to measure the impact and benefit of digital inclusion.
Life Sciences & Advanced Manufacturing
Paul Witcombe
Sector Lead
Supported by Hertfordshire Futures and Pharmidex, Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC) delivered its most advanced Catalyser programme yet - enabling eight high-potential biotech companies to refine their market strategies to secure funding. The programme offered tailored workshops and guidance from industry leaders including GSK, Johnson & Johnson, MSD, and leading venture firms.
Notably, Creasallis announced a $7M seed round during the programme, while other participants joined SBC facilities or prepared for pre-seed rounds, demonstrating the Catalyser’s role as a launchpad for scaling transformative science.
SBC's Catalyser Business Accelerator
SBC's Catalyser Business Accelerator
Investment activity has also begun to recover, with private equity investment in early-stage life sciences totalling £97.9m in December - on par with 2024 and significantly ahead of 2023.
In advanced manufacturing, the East of England Made Smarter Adoption programme launched in April, offering digital transformation support, leadership training, and grants of up to £20,000. By November, 21 Hertfordshire manufacturers had engaged with the programme, nine digital roadmaps were completed, and two grants approved.
Looking ahead, Airbus will open its new Launchpad in early 2026 - a collaborative high-tech lab designed to accelerate innovation and SME development within the UK’s space ecosystem.
Adam Wood
Enterprise Zone Manager
Herts IQ has continued to drive investment, infrastructure, and growth across the region, with the Board approving £1.88m funding to support nine projects in Dacorum and St Albans, with a combined value of £5.77m.
These projects include business productivity workshops, skills bootcamps, six Generation events, green corridor development in Maylands Business Park, solar panel installations, an electric bike hire scheme, new wayfinding signage, and sustainable transport improvements along the Nickey Line.
Local Plans for St Albans and Dacorum have advanced well, paving the way for the growth of Hemel Garden Communities – a transformational development of 12,000 homes, new employment space, community facilities, and green infrastructure.
The Crown Estate - East Hemel development
The Crown Estate - East Hemel development
The Crown Estate submitted its planning application for East Hemel, one of Hertfordshire’s largest proposals in decades, featuring 4,000 homes, a 3m sq. ft. employment area, country park, and a sustainable transport corridor.
Maylands Gateway
Maylands Gateway
In Maylands Gateway, Prologis completed its final phase of development, delivering five new units and attracting innovative businesses such as Aerospheres and Biomel. These investments reflect the growing strength of Herts IQ as a hub for advanced technologies, sustainability, and innovation.
Helen Pollock
Clean Growth Manager
From delivering a keynote on green careers at the Teacher Encounter Careers Conference to supporting youth-focused events like YouthCOP, we’ve worked hard to inspire the next generation. Through HOP, we’ve rolled out practical green skills bootcamps in areas such as retrofit coordination and sustainable business management, ensuring Hertfordshire is ready to meet the growing demand for green jobs.
This year also marked major progress in retrofit leadership. Hertfordshire played a key role in shaping the Local Area Retrofit Accelerator strategy, endorsed by over 40 organisations, and contributed to national conversations through reports, podcasts, and publications. Alongside this, we engaged businesses through sustainability workshops and sector events, helping them see the clear business case for climate action.
Women in Green Business Awards
Women in Green Business Awards
I’m proud that our collective efforts were recognised with a GOLD iESE Public Service Award and that I was named a finalist in the Women in Green Business Awards – a testament to the incredible collaboration driving Hertfordshire’s clean growth journey.
Tim Burton
Business Support Services Manager
2025 has been a landmark year for Hertfordshire Growth Hub as it celebrates its 10th anniversary of supporting businesses to achieve their growth ambitions. Over the past decade, the Growth Hub has helped over 14,000 businesses, created 1,750 local jobs, delivered 150 workshops, and facilitated 490 grants (as of April 2025). A huge thank you to our Growth Hub team at Exemplas!
Hertfordshire Futures is leading the delivery of DCMS and Innovate UK's Create Growth Programme locally, connecting SMEs to commercial opportunities within the county's booming film & TV sector. Since it launched in 2024, over 80 businesses have completed the programme, generating over £1.66m in regional GVA and creating 26 jobs. Growth Hub support has also enabled nine Hertfordshire businesses to secure Innovate UK grants worth over £655,000.
A Create Growth Programme event
A Create Growth Programme event
Our Get Enterprising programme continues to make a real difference for pre-start and early-stage businesses, engaging over 2,700 clients since April, creating 118 jobs, and supporting the launch of 92 businesses, despite a challenging economic backdrop. As we move into 2026, we remain committed to helping businesses build resilience, innovate, and thrive.
Caroline Cartwright
Head of Skills, Employment & Apprenticeships
2025 has been another strong year for skills and employment in Hertfordshire. We completed our second year of Skills Bootcamps, with 766 learners starting programmes in sectors including film & TV, the visitor economy, green skills, leadership, digital, construction, and early years.
These bootcamps have delivered real impact, with 451 residents achieving positive outcomes such as sustainable employment, workplace progression or securing new contracts. Planning is already underway for the next series of bootcamps launching in spring.
Claire Scarisbrick
Skills Delivery Manager
The Hertfordshire Opportunities Programme has gone from strength to strength, supporting over 250 businesses to explore workforce development and upskilling opportunities.
Through initiatives such as Skills Bootcamps, online short courses, apprenticeships and other training pathways, we’ve helped employers invest in sustainable skills growth. Many have also connected with partners including Hertfordshire Growth Hub, Wenta and the University of Hertfordshire, as well as engaging future talent through schools, colleges and the Connect to Work programme.
This year saw an exciting enhancement to the Hertfordshire Opportunities Portal (HOP) with the launch of Careers Coach – a tool designed to help residents identify career paths, match jobs to their skills, and access CV and application support. Careers Coach is already helping individuals take confident steps towards employment, and we look forward to promoting this valuable resource further in 2026.
Steve Trotter
Careers Hub Lead
This year, we’ve been proud to work with our borough and district councils to deliver nine Generation careers fairs. These events brought together over 7,000 young people and more than 400 employers, partners and providers - a fantastic showcase of local talent and opportunity.
Generation Stevenage 2025
Generation Stevenage 2025
It’s been inspiring to see such a diverse range of employers actively engaging with students. Many young people have secured work experience, apprenticeship interviews and even degree apprenticeship offers directly as a result of attending. The schools do an excellent job preparing students to make the most of these events, and employers consistently provide interactive, engaging stands that spark curiosity and ambition. Those ‘lightbulb moments’ are what make these events so impactful.
As we move into 2026, we’re excited to build on this success and continue helping young people across Hertfordshire access high-quality, flexible, modern work experiences.
Step2Skills
Chantal Lommel
Head of Service, Step2Skills
2025 has been an exceptional year for Step2Skills as we continue to inspire and support Hertfordshire residents to overcome challenges and achieve their ambitions. We launched the £19.3m Connect to Work programme, which is transforming lives for those facing complex barriers to employment.
Connect To Work programme
Connect To Work programme
Over 200 residents have joined the programme, with job outcomes already being achieved and Hertfordshire recognised nationally as the ‘Gold Standard’ for inclusive employment. Meanwhile, our Local Supported Employment Programme has helped over 300 residents, 80% of whom disclosed autism, with more than 100 securing paid roles across diverse sectors.
Our adult skills provision continues to deliver outstanding results, with 3,000 learners engaged and 1,300 achieving nationally recognised qualifications. We’ve introduced employer-led Skills Bootcamps and strengthened pathways to employment, reaching those most in need and exceeding Department for Education targets year after year.
These achievements reflect our unwavering commitment to inclusion, progression, and partnership – ensuring Hertfordshire remains a leader in skills and employment support.
Our services family
Hertfordshire Growth Hub accelerates the growth of Hertfordshire SMEs
Herts IQ is a 3 million sq. ft. enterprise zone aimed at future facing businesses
Hertfordshire Film Office maximises the potential of the county's film and TV sector
HOP is the premiere gateway to skills, training, and career opportunities in Hertfordshire
Visit Herts is the county's destination management service, which supports the growth of the visitor economy
Invest Hertfordshire supports businesses looking to locate or expand within the county
Get Enterprising delivers fully funded specialist support for start-ups in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire Careers Hub improves and increases careers education to support our future workforce
Step2Skills provides training and support to Hertfordshire residents facing barriers to learning and employment
Digital Hertfordshire supports the development of Hertfordshire's telecoms infrastructure and promotes digital inclusion
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