Businesses in the county would continue to operate and be profitable with or without an economic development strategy. But what a strategy attempts to do is use available data, forecasting and experience to create a framework for supporting economic growth and removing barriers to development.
It is clear more than one factor affects the economic prosperity, therefore the strategy pulls together those different factors to create a common understanding and informs future direction.
Finally, the strategy will act as a catalyst for partnership working, as it is the combining of effort and forces that will make the most difference.