Insider Media Limited

The chairman of Leicestershire Business Voice has told Insider that the Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is “in danger of falling behind” if progress is not made soon. Ian Borley said a chair had not been appointed for the board and described the development of the partnership as “slow”. However, he added that the next few months would be an “exciting time” for the region and hoped that Leicester would be “put back on the map” with a sturdy economic development plan.

Borley, who is a senior partner at KPMG in the East Midlands, said Leicestershire Business Voice had been pushing for a economic development project for the region for some time.

He said: “We’re just putting the finishing touches to it now, but we hope that it will form a large part of what the Leicester and Leicestershire LEP will focus on. It includes details about knowledge transfer partnerships and transport issues in the area.

“The key is putting Leicester back on the map – we’re the tenth biggest city in the UK, but that’s often forgotten. We need to build on our strengths. We have a very strong food and drink sector here, and need to build on that so that Leicester becomes famous for something once again.”

Borley said the progress of the LEP had so far been “frustratingly slow”. He said that a chair of the board was yet to be appointed, but ruled himself out of the job.

“We had the chance to be at the front of the queue, as one of the strongest LEPs in the country. But we are in danger of falling behind now – I’m sure the powers that be are making the decisions as they can, but we do need to see some progress and appointments made,” he said.