The past fortnight has been busy on the Island; we have had another year of the Isle of Wight Festival with an influx of 50,000 people travelling to the Island over four days. We do enjoy the sights on the way to work in the morning, all the colourful characters that can be seen strolling into Newport. This is an economy boost for the Isle of Wight Tourist Industry; however there are of course also a lot of manufacturing companies on the Island including ourselves.
Last Monday, Vestas opened their new R&D plant in Stag Lane. In 2009 it closed its blade factory on the Island amid protests and 425 job losses. Let’s hope that this new plant will offer opportunities in the job market and maybe ensuing work for locally based companies.
There is another famous Island event happening this weekend, the JP Morgan Round the Island Race. This race regularly attracts over 1,700 boats and around 16,000 sailors, making it one of the largest yacht races in the world and the fourth largest participating sporting event currently in the UK. This year the 80th Anniversary, there is a record amount of entries, over 1,800 boats. They start from Cowes where a large crowd always gather in the early hours of the morning, for the race starts with many different classes from approximately 0530, depending on the tides. You can follow the race around the Island from different viewpoints and it is a sight to be seen. Have a look at this website for the best view points to follow the race.
