North Kesteven is a district of some 100,000ha and upwards of 110,000 inhabitants located immediately south of the city of Lincoln and east of the A1. The area is largely agricultural with 65% of the population living in rural villages and the remainder in two conurbations, North Hykeham and the Greater Lincoln Area including, Waddington, Bracebridge Heath, Washingborough and Branston and in the south of the district the thriving town of Sleaford with 18,000 inhabitants.

The landscape is dominated by food and farming, chiefly arable crops and poultry although modern scale operations are increasingly diversified. Food processing is the largest employer. There are also two significant operational Royal Airforce bases RAF Waddington and RAF College Cranwell and the area’s association with the air force dates back to the First World War. Defence industries are an increasingly important growth sector for the local economy.

North Kesteven has a recent history of fast growth, with a rate of population growth only bettered by the City of London. It is consistently judged the UK’s safest place to live with the lowest recorded crime statistics, while also boasting the best skilled workforce in Lincolnshire and unemployment figures below 1%.

North Kesteven District Council is investing £200M in ambitious economic growth and regeneration plans.

Getting the right people with the right skills is vital if you want to grow your business. North Kesteven has the most highly skilled workforce in the county, with some of the best performing secondary schools and established strengths in farming, manufacturing, engineering and defence industries not to mention highly skilled RAF personnel at Waddington and Cranwell.

But it’s a competitive marketplace. Improving awareness of your business and the salience of key sectors is one way to get people interested in what the district has to offer. NKDC is working with employers in a variety of ways to improve the prominence of key sectors, promote awareness of local opportunities, engage young people and connect local schools with local business.

The University of Lincoln offers local employers a number of ways to access its support and innovation programmes and is engaged in providing opportunities for student placement, graduate employment and apprenticeships. From May 2019, Office for Students have awarded £5.6 million to projects based in universities and colleges across England to boost opportunities for graduates who seek work close to home. Lincoln University was one of the select universities to be awarded a Challenge Competition Grant.

Useful links:

GLLEP Skills Strategy

North Kesteven District Council is committed to supporting business growth and jobs in the district. We have ambitious plans for regeneration in Sleaford and to drive investment in the wider district in infrastructure and transport links. We will take a proactive approach to the opportunities and challenges that Brexit poses to our economy and work closely with businesses to facilitate investment.

Useful Links:

Central Lincolnshire Local Plan

The NK Plan 2018-2021

Sleaford Strategic Delivery Plan 2018 – 2025

Sleaford Masterplan 2011

The LN6 Plan 2013

Sleaford Vision 2015

Sleaford Transport Strategy 2014

Accessing NK’s unique countryside and aviation heritage couldn’t be easier with the help of over 135 miles of way-marked Stepping Out walks, described in 18 walk leaflets. The 26 mile Spires and Steeples Arts and Heritage Trail, which links Lincoln Cathedral to St Denys’ Church in Sleaford, is a popular way of discovering the district and attracts large numbers of visitors for its annual challenge event in October. Covering many of the green spaces within North Kesteven, Witham Valley Country Park connects and promotes a variety of distinct and individual public green spaces in the heart of Lincolnshire.

NK is also home to two unique environmental attractions. The Natural World Centre in Whisby Nature Park is a popular visitor centre set within 360 acres of Local Nature Reserve, managed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. Hill Holt Wood in Norton Disney is a social enterprise whose aim is to prove the value of ancient woodland in the 21st Century. Hill Holt Wood is a landmark sustainability project delivering value to the community through education and leisure.

The district enjoys high quality leisure facilities, including the recently refurbished Sleaford Leisure Centre, and the North Kesteven Centre in North Hykeham. At Sleaford Leisure Centre you’ll find a fantastic range of activities and facilities for all of your health and fitness needs. Sleaford Leisure centre has a superb gym, recently refurbished swimming pool, an extensive fitness class programme and relaxing sauna and steam room. Membership starts at just £27 a month, with no contract. One NK has a range of facilities including state of the art gym, 2 fantastic swimming pools, studios with an extensive fitness class programme, sports hall, outdoor pitches and much more. With membership from just £26 a month, with no contract. At Better Gym Sleaford you’ll find a fantastic range of activities and facilities for all of your health and fitness needs. Enjoy their 2 great gyms, 10m swimming pool, 2 studios with a great range of fitness classes, squash courts, outdoor pitches and much more. With affordable membership offers and no contract.

North Kesteven is an unspoilt, rural district south of the historic city of Lincoln, a quiet haven in the heart of Lincolnshire attracting 2.2 million visitors a year. Key attractions include Sleaford’s National Centre for Craft and Design (NCCD), Whisby Natural World Centre, Cogglesford Watermill, Heckington Windmill and a variety of important aviation heritage attractions including Cranwell Aviation Heritage Museum, Navigation House and a popular airfield trail.

North Kesteven hosts several active RAF bases and the annual Waddington International Airshow, attracts over 120,000 visitors. RAF Cranwell is the RAF training college where all officers and aircrew are selected and trained. The college also has responsibility for all RAF recruiting and initial training and is a famous landmark in RAF history. RAF Digby is an important signals site for all three armed services. Home to the Joint Service Signals Organisation, the station is alternately commanded by a British Army Colonel or RAF Group Captain. Throughout the district, aviation memorials, museums and visitor centres commemorate the key role Lincolnshire played in the development of aviation during the Great War 1914-18 and of course later, in World War II, with the vital role played by Bomber Command.

The NCCD is the largest venue in England entirely dedicated to the exhibition, celebration, support and promotion of national and international contemporary craft and design. Under one roof, their five gallery spaces showcase up to 20 world-class exhibitions every year from the most innovative, challenging and accomplished artists to new and emerging talent. Their stimulating learning programme inspires people of all ages, skills and interest levels and their shop is a cultural haven for the latest contemporary handmade products. They are also home to Design-Nation, one of the UK’s leading professional development organisations for British designer-makers and artsNK, the country’s largest rural arts development agency that specialises in visual and performing arts projects.

From the 1 October 2018 artsNK merged with The National Centre for Craft and Design. The aim of NCCD and artsNK is to deliver high quality exhibitions and community arts programmes to Sleaford, North Kesteven and the wider community. Their Dance team deliver and develop dance opportunities throughout Lincolnshire, initiating high quality dance projects in schools, the community, leisure centres and at outdoor events such as local festivals. Their visual arts programme includes, education interventions in schools and university, arts and heritage trails, public realm projects, festivals and exhibitions and working with communities to develop projects, and provide people with tasters of particular techniques. They also produce festivals and work within communities to develop festivals.

The Terry O’Toole Theatre is an intimate, 200 seat Arts Theatre situated in North Hykeham. Described as a ‘Hidden gem’ by BBC Radio Lincolnshire, they present a vibrant, high quality programme of professional drama, music, dance and children’s theatre, complemented by a vibrant range of community and hire performances. As well as performances, they deliver a lively participation programme, including LOV Young People’s Project sessions, Folk and Community Music workshops and ACTion Community Theatre.

Sleaford Playhouse was restored to a working Theatre in 2000 and has had a varied history. Originally built as a theatre, it was subsequently adapted for a variety of other uses to meet the demands of the time, and is now once more being used for its original purpose. Sleaford Little Theatre bought the Playhouse in 1994 with intent to restore the building to its original use. A nucleus of enthusiastic members worked hard on the project to provide the town once more with its very own theatre venue. The newly restored Playhouse opened its doors to the public in October 2000, thus once more becoming a working Georgian Theatre, one of only six remaining in the country and out of those six two are with a small, rectangular auditorium. The Playhouse is proving to be a favourite venue for a wide variety of other entertainment too, from local bands and solo artists to professional touring theatre companies and musicians.

Sleaford town centre is busy. In an era when our High Streets are under pressure from on-line shopping, out of town centres and high property values, Sleaford is fortunate in having the highest proportion (79%) of independent retailers in the East Midlands (average 45%) and more than double the national rate (38%) while vacancy rates in the town have come down to around the national average at 10.1%.

But as many of the major brands continue to retrench and shopping habits change, our High Streets and town centres must adapt to meet the challenge of providing residents with an attractive mix of experiences, including leisure, retail and residential uses and a thriving night time economy. Community spaces with broad appeal to families and friends, accessible to all and destinations that encourage residents and visitors to spend time relaxing all have a part to play in supporting a thriving and distinctive retail offer.

A document setting out the challenges and a new vision Sleaford for town centre can be found here Sleaford Vision 2015

NKDC is playing its part in supporting the evolution of the town centre, with investment in a new Cinema and public realm, and in conjunction with Heritage England, Sleaford Town Council and the private sector a shop front refurbishment grant scheme aimed at restoring the historic town centre environment.

The council also provides free training for independent retailers using retail guru Corin Birchall of Kerching Retail.