Dorset LEP Chair Jim Stewart has joined fellow LEP leaders to meet with the Prime Minister at Downing Street to celebrate their achievements to date and to map out key areas for cooperation under the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.
At the first meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council of LEP Chairs, made up of business leaders representing the 38 Partnerships, talks focused on where LEPs carry maximum impact: delivering the objectives of the Modern Industrial Strategy in local areas, and investing in the skills people and businesses need.
Welcoming the Council of LEP Chairs, Prime Minister Theresa May said:
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“Local Enterprise Partnerships play a vital role in supporting businesses and innovation across England. From the New Anglia aviation academy - the first of its kind in the UK - to Enterprise M3’s 5G innovation centre, LEPs are developing skills, delivering infrastructure, and securing investment.
That’s why our Modern Industrial Strategy is clear that they must continue to play a crucial role in our plans to deliver further growth in local economies.
Today’s first meeting of the Council marks a milestone in this partnership. By working even more closely together, we will continue to maximise our efforts in creating jobs, growth and investment right across the country, delivering long-term, meaningful results for local communities.”
Dorset LEP Chair Jim Stewart, who is Chief Executive of Poole Harbour Commissioners said: “It was an honour to represent Dorset at the LEP Chair Council meeting and to be able sit down with the Prime Minister and update her on our economic achievements and ambitions for the future.
“It was particularly pleasing to receive recognition from the Prime Minister for the vital roles that LEPs play in supporting business and innovation across England and for our efforts in helping to deliver the national Industrial Strategy on a more local level.”
At the meeting, LEPs reinforced their commitment to help deliver a national Industrial Strategy, using their strengths and expertise to lead local strategies for economic growth and partner more effectively with local government.
From fostering partnerships between businesses and institutions to enable vital research, to spearheading cutting-edge initiatives at the local level in clean growth and supporting major areas of expansion such as the medical technologies sector, LEPs are playing a crucial role in the delivery of the modern Industrial Strategy, ensuring that the UK remains at the forefront of innovation.
The Council of Local Enterprise Partnership Chairs was announced in the 2017 Industrial Strategy White Paper as a new forum for LEP business leaders to help shape national policy decisions and ensure closer cooperation with the Government on Industrial Strategy objectives.