Shared role in support more critical than ever
IT is a challenging time for our business communities who are trying to balance rising inflation, a hike in energy costs and the ongoing Ukraine crisis.
According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), both Government and business have a shared role to play to raise productivity and boost local and national economic growth.
Over the last 11 years, LEPs like GBSLEP have driven inclusive and sustainable economic growth locally. This has been delivered through our unique triple helix structure of local authorities, businesses, and colleges/ universities.
We have worked collaboratively to improve our local economy, using local insight and intelligence to make informed strategic decisions. Our impact ranges from creating thousands of new jobs, attracting private sector investment, upskilling our local people, and funding new infrastructure to support our communities and businesses.
Our unique partnership of local government, business, and academic organisations is key to gathering local knowledge and translating it into real action to support businesses and stimulate the economy. We listen to the needs of our business through our steering groups, committees and Boards and use the information to design and deliver solutions.
GBSLEP demonstrated our agility and flexibility in the immediate months after the first Covid lockdown when we swiftly put together our pilot Pivot and Prosper programme to help businesses survive the pandemic. £1.7m of match-funded grants were distributed and independent evaluation has shown that this led to the retention of £29.8m of productivity in the region. The programme was born out of business intelligence and a Recovery Taskforce which brought together public, private, and academic stakeholders which demonstrates the importance of working together to make a real difference for our people and businesses.
Currently, our £1.2 million Clean Growth grant programme has been designed in response to rising energy costs to help businesses drive down their bills as well as become more sustainable.
This is another example of how we react to changing circumstances and
supply tangible solutions.
Let us not forget the tremendous experience LEPs bring to regional development. Historically we have used locally-led intelligence and business insight to strategically invest in central Government and European funding to create better places for people to live, work and visit.
We are on track to invest £1.85 billion into the regional economy which will leverage £4.72 billion from the public and private sector, and this includes our work with Birmingham City Council and programme management of the Enterprise Zone in the city centre. Paradise is just one example of how we have stimulated regeneration and attracted companies like PWC, DLA Piper and Arup into the beating heart of our city.
Equally, we have listened and responded to the government’s ambition of ‘Net Zero’ by investing in Tyseley Energy Park where the 300-year-old Horsfall and Webster manufacturing firm has come together with local stakeholders to open the UK’s first low and zero-carbon Refuelling Station, the Birmingham Energy Innovation Centre (BEIC) and an incubation space for SMEs.
This is GBSLEP at its best, listening to local needs, balancing them with national ambitions and translating policy into action. Now, the work
that LEPs do is in question following the publication of the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper. Whilst the White Paper acknowledges the unique strength of LEPs as an ‘important organisational means of bringing together businesses and local leaders to drive economic growth’ it also directs them to be integrated into locally elected democratic institutions.
For GBSLEP this means integrating into the West Midlands Combined Authority but it’s unclear if the voice of business and education will be heard in the same way as it is now to shape and inform decisions that impact local communities. On the ground, we know that our local decisionmaking has been strengthened by these local voices.
Like the Government’s Levelling Up aspirations, we also have had clear targets on raising and improving the quality of life of our residents. This has been done through investing in infrastructure projects and critically people, through targeted skills and employment programmes designed by our skills service which is an integral part of the business support we deliver through GBSLEP Growth Hub.
Here we offer free and impartial advice ranging from access to finance, and intellectual property rights to marketing and skills training, and so much more.
In the first quarter of this year, we have helped businesses secure £4.4
million in finance and over 5,000 businesses have been supported since GBSLEP Growth Hub was set up in 2017. GBSLEP plays a vital role in helping businesses to navigate the choppy waters of our economy.
In the words of Shaun Sookoo, founder of Winny’s Kitchen and our newly appointed Board Director for SMEs, the work of GBSLEP Growth Hub is invaluable. Shaun said “Without them, I wouldn’t be as far along in business as I am today. The Growth Hub at GBSLEP is the go-to place for us when it comes to making any important changes within the business. They have never ever let us down.”
It is not yet clear if the same model of delivering projects and interventions that drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth and business support will be replicated. If they are not, we must ask ourselves ‘where will businesses’ voices be heard?’.
GBSLEP, as an independent company, is collaborating with the Combined Authority, Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council to ensure support continues to be delivered in our region because we believe businesses need this service now more than ever in the context of rising living costs and a turbulent economic outlook.
There are many complexities to iron out over the coming months, but we must also continue to serve our communities. For now, it is business as usual for GBSLEP, we have projects to deliver, skills to shape up and businesses to support.
This is GBSLEP at its best, listening to local needs, balancing them with national ambitions and translating policy into action.