#17. BASILDON
The reason we're messing about in a tractor factory
The mayors are coming
So, this week we had it confirmed.
Cumbria, Cheshire & Warrington, Norfolk & Suffolk, Greater Essex, Sussex & Brighton and Hampshire & Solent will be fast-tracked to become Combined Mayoral Authorities.
Big political and economic shake-up, with elected regional mayors possibly as soon as 2026.
I’m going to host some illustrated lunchtime talks and information sessions, starting with a residency at Projects in Brighton throughout March.
10th March - What does a mayor mean for business, investment and the physical environment?
17th March - What does a mayor mean for culture, tourism and community identity?
24th March - What does a mayor mean for public services, democracy, education & health?
If there is interest, these might be repeated in other parts of Sussex, Essex and Hampshire throughout the Summer.
Tickets go on sale next week (along with another BIG announcement).
Paid subscribers to this blog will get a free ticket code (a year’s full subscription to A New England will probably = one event ticket. Bargain!).
But first, a trip to ‘Bas Vegas’ - where something quite extraordinary kicks off on Monday.
Think you know Basildon?
If you don’t know Basildon, then you probably don’t know Basildon.
One of Essex’s post-war new towns built to relieve London’s housing crisis, it became an industrial powerhouse in the late 20th century, attracting global engineering employers such as Ford, CNH Industrial, and Leonardo.
Basildon district is made up of Basildon itself, Billericay and Wickford. It’s Gavin & Stacey country. Denise Van Outen and Ian Dury’s ‘Billericay Dickie’. History relies on the wide-boy cliché. The chancer. The white van man.
And on paper it’s doing alright.
High employment figures. Good average wages for the high skilled managers and engineers. 30 minutes from the City of London, but also not that far from the North Sea coast. Just off the M25.
But in real life, it is more complicated.
Most of its local workforce is concentrated in lower-paid, lower-skilled roles in logistics, retail and manufacturing, leaving the town vulnerable to automation and economic shifting sands.
The town has struggled to attract and retain high-value businesses in digital, creative and tech sectors, leading to a commuter workforce, with many of the skilled professionals travelling to London, Cambridge or Chelmsford for better-paid jobs.
Educational attainment levels in Basildon lag behind the regional average. Many generations of families without any qualifications - because why bother when there will always be a job at one of the factories? Rising property prices and rental costs - designed for the commuting city folk - increase pressure on local residents, particularly younger workers.
Ambitious regeneration projects, such as the Basildon Town Centre Masterplan, are genuinely bold in scope - with £millions of planned private/public co-investment. But hurdles are everywhere. Money is tight. Cynicism is high. And challenges remain in aligning skills development with employer needs, ensuring that local talent is equipped for Basildon of the 2030s not 1980s.
The obvious answer: a festival, right?
In summer 2023, my team at always possible signed a 2 1/2 year contract with Basildon Council to develop an experimental conversation in the town and beyond.
An annual two-week festival, each February, that would open up honest, engaging, hands-on and - frankly - damn cool - experiences. Accessible discussions about the future of work and skills in Basildon’s emerging green and digital economy.
The idea behind Creative Tech Fest is to bring together the corporates, the schools and colleges, the small businesses, the local authority - and national experts - to deep-dive in to what technology and creative thinking could offer Basildon’s young people and entrepreneurs.
Thanks to funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Basildon Borough Council, as well as support from the likes of CNH (one of the world’s biggest agri-tech companies), South Essex College, Ford, Holiday Inn and a huge number of contributors - an idea continues to evolve into an actual thing.
So what?
One of the biggest challenges for Basildon is ensuring that new, high-value jobs in technology, engineering, and digital sectors are filled by local people rather than external talent.
The South Essex Advanced Technical Skills Hub is working to tackle this by training young people in automation, cyber security, and AI, but awareness remains a barrier. Many young people don’t know these careers exist, or don’t see them as an option.
There is no strong HE offer locally, with Anglia Ruskin and Essex universities’ nearest campuses in Chelmsford and Colchester.
The South Essex College Group has expanded its offer in AI, cybersecurity, and sustainable design, but more work is needed to bridge the gap between education and employment.
So rather than tell young people about tech innovation, and rather than tell small businesses about how they can engage differently with the education and skills agenda… we wanted to show them what was possible.
How?
This year’s festival runs from 10th - 28th February - with over 25 free events.
A mix of:
Coding and AI challenges
Animation and game design tools
Robotics programming and automation tasks
Practical science experiments (building circuits and testing batteries)
VR and motion capture experiences
Live demonstrations of medical and assistive technology
Hands-on experience with surgical robotics and wearable health tech
Audience-led debates on AI, streaming, and the metaverse
Live polling and Q&A sessions on automation and AI in industry
Scenario-based discussions on the future of work
Case study presentations with audience input
Interactive sustainability challenges and problem-solving activities
One-on-one discussions with apprenticeship providers
Live pitch sessions for startups and innovators
Interactive breakout rooms for AI and productivity software demonstrations
Networking events with industry professionals and businesses
Hands-on workshops with digital learning platforms
Hands-on stage production workshops
Lighting and sound demonstrations in a theatre setting
Radio and podcast production experience
Opportunity to record audio clips and try DJing with professional equipment
Digital art installations and projection mapping
Coding-led art experiences
Photography competitions with on-the-spot submissions
Drop-in coding challenges and AI experiments
Interactive gadget showcases for all ages
Experimentation with haptic suits and 3D animation software
Career inspiration sessions designed for neurodivergent participants
Creative tech workshops tailored for young women in technology
We’re taking over one of Europe’s biggest tractor factories, with different activity stations, behind-the-scenes tours and a micro film festival.
We’ve got a festival-within-a-festival curated by artist Connor Turansky, focused on digital and algorithmic art.
I’m doing some on-stage interviews with broadcasting legend Nihal Arthanayake and Chris Middleton, author of forthcoming book ‘The Robot Century’.
Can you tell I’m quite excited?
Will it work?
Nothing exists in isolation. And programmes like this obviously take a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of consistent energy from multiple stakeholders - and a lot of risk; this is stuff is new.
Some events sell out in minutes.
Some are a flop and don’t quite land.
Does everyone know about it and ‘get’ it? No.
Does the local media care, and give it lots of coverage? No.
But with each iteration it definitely builds and I just really hope it continues to do so. Getting the right balance of local focus but with an outward looking agenda is crucial. Balancing the inevitable politics and bureaucracy with an agility and lightness of touch takes lots and lots of practice.
Last year, over 1,000 people took part in something that hadn’t existed just three months before. From a standing start.
And huge inaccessible corporations opened their doors and co-design something brilliant. And local artists got to play with ideas that connected with young people who would never have engaged before. And small businesses got to show off, and learn from national experts, and feel proud of the work they are doing to build a future economy of a small town that often gets overlooked.
And from a personal perspective, work like this will always be amongst the most rewarding things I will ever do.
So, if you can get yourself up to Basildon over the next two weeks, you’re in for a treat.
All events and tickets here: CREATIVE TECH FEST 2025