Lost count how many times over the years we have made the statement that deprivation management is the only growth industry in Oldham and here’s more evidence that it is true. So far there has been over £1.1 million spent on the digital enterprise hub in Oldham and judging by today’s Open Future_ North event it is now open. The special news hinted at on social media for some time now turns out to be an accelerator scheme to tackle “the poverty premium”. For those who don’t know the poverty premium refers to poor people paying more for goods and services ie higher charges for gas and electric using prepayment meters and household goods bought on credit. Labour Oldham already tried to tackle high credit charges by opening Our House selling white goods and furniture as we all know the store was bankrupt in under 4 months. No doubt that Wayra have their hearts in the right place and their scope is wider than this borough but Oldham needs a multifaceted attitude adjustment before social outcomes will change here and mass unskilled immigration needs to end. In April the area around Plate St, just a ten second walk from the hub, returned to being the no1 crime hotspot area in Oldham here’s hoping Oldham Council and Wayra spent some of the refurbishment money on a state of the art security system.
We're investing in digital start-ups at Open Future_North to tackle the UK poverty premium @garystew pic.twitter.com/fzeRW4pWxj
— Wayra UK (@WayraUK) June 29, 2017