Cuadrilla has today (26 October) issued its latest “Putting Lancashire First” commitments tracker to include figures up to 30th September 2017. The latest report reveals that during the last quarter, when drilling work began at its Preston New Road site, spend in the Lancashire economy has increased by almost £2 million to a total of £4.7 million.
The latest tracker also demonstrates that since Cuadrilla started operations at its Preston New Road site in January 2017 a total of 28 full time and contract jobs have been created, more than doubling the number of jobs created by Cuadrilla in Lancashire since December 2016.
In addition, following the commencement of the first well being drilled at its site in Lancashire, Cuadrilla has also made the first community benefits payment of £100,000 to an independent Community Benefit Fund. This independent fund will facilitate monies being distributed to community projects in the local area which local residents will have been consulted about.
Francis Egan, CEO of Cuadrilla, said: “These latest figures clearly show that the work at our Preston New Road exploration site continues to create significant investment in and jobs for the Lancashire economy. In addition the local community will also directly benefit from our operations with the first payment of £100,000 to the Community Benefit Fund. We are very proud to be the first British onshore shale gas operator to make this happen.”
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 will be released in January 2018 with figures to 31st December 2017.
