Cuadrilla has today (31 May) issued an update to its “Putting Lancashire First” commitments tracker to include figures to 31st March 2017. The new figures show that since Cuadrilla began operations on its shale gas exploration site at Preston New Road at the start of 2017 the company’s activities have contributed almost the same amount of money going into the Lancashire economy in the first three months of this year as in the whole of 2016. The total of direct and indirect spend into the county from Cuadrilla and its suppliers now stands at over £1.4 million.
Lancashire businesses have also been encouraged, since its relaunch in January 2017, to register with the Supply Chain Portal ( www.shalegaslancashire.co.uk) managed by both Lancashire Chambers of Commerce in order to be considered for contracts connected to the Preston New Road operations. By the end of March over 400 businesses had already registered.
The company has also increased its sponsorship of local initiatives in Lancashire with over £100k being invested in community projects to date. This includes a new partnership with AFC Fylde Community Foundation to support a new training programme, Striking Futures, to give young people better employment skills.
Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said:
“These latest figures clearly demonstrate that with works beginning at our Preston New Road exploration site Lancashire has significantly benefited from shale gas right from the start. We are proud to continue to put Lancashire first in terms of how we do business and as a responsible member of the local community. The tracker demonstrates how we are making our commitments to the county a reality.”
In December 2016 CEO Francis Egan signed six public commitments to the county of Lancashire to commit Cuadrilla to putting Lancashire first in terms of creating jobs, investment, new skills and community initiatives as a result of shale gas exploration and, if exploration is successful, shale gas production in Lancashire. The tracker figures have been independently verified by Danbro Accounting Ltd.
The next tracker update to include figures to 30th June 2017 will be publicly released in July.
Lancashire First Commitments Tracker (up to 31st March 2017)
