Shropshire business leaders give plans for fresh Birmingham Airport runway a warm welcome

Shropshire Chamber of Commerce managing director Richard Sheehan has been involved in consultation meetings with the airport over its plans. He this afternoon spoke of excitement at the opportunities an expanded airport would present for the county's economy.

"There's fairly compelling evidence that developments of provincial airports have a knock-on effect economically," he said.

"A lot of people from Shropshire work at Birmingham Airport, but it also gives passenger and freight travel, and as we grow our businesses around the world of exports it is vitally important we have increased capacity to support the distribution of clients worldwide.

"As a chamber we have been in consultation with Birmingham Airport. It has shared its plans and we have visited to understand what it is trying to do and we are in support of the development if it will help support the business community in Shropshire."

He added: "The communication links we have with the airport are vitally important and there needs to be careful consideration of transport infrastructure to and from our area.

"Inward investment is often directed towards area of travel convenience. If we want to encourage manufacturers from China or Brazil, or other parts of the world, the airport will give us a unique selling position in promoting ourselves."

Kuldip Sahota, leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "We are now promoting Telford as a destination for business and enterprise and this would provide the opportunity to market the borough even further afield.

"Telford and Wrekin has a long history of successfully attracting foreign investment and a bigger international airport only 45 minutes drive away from Telford with long-haul flight opportunities can only help to make us an even more attractive place for businesses to invest in."