LEPs yet to convince, say business leaders
Confusion still surrounds local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), suggest Birmingham business leaders. The comments of the panellists taking part in Insider’s Business Agenda breakfast at 35 Newhall Street in Birmingham revealed the government’s chosen structures to replace the regional development agencies (RDAs) have some way to go if they are to convince business leaders that they can succeed.
John Rider, regional chairman of the Institute of Directors, described LEPs as a source of frustration.
“Last week someone described LEPs to me as being like six bald headed men fighting over a comb,” he said. “They’ve got no money and no statutory responsibility and the signs are that they’ve become talking shops already. There’s lots going in the background but quite frankly they haven’t got the tools to do the job.”
Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham, also expressed some concerns to the 80 strong business audience.
“John is quite right when he says there is no money,” he said. “The process by which it (LEPs) was introduced was muddled at best. But for me we are now in a position where the LEP has to agree its priorities and to try to influence national policy. Who knows what will happen and where the process will take us but it’s up to us to help to carve out the objectives for the local enterprise partnerships in this area.”
Ashley Norman, an employment partner at law firm Cobbetts in Birmingham, highlighted the uncertainty surrounding LEPs.
He said: “It’s not exactly clear how they will work, what they are responsible for and what their principal objectives will be. We need clarity around that and we need to understand how they will work between themselves and interact with each other.”
And Rowan Crozier, sales and marketing director at Birmingham manufacturer Brandauer Precision Pressings, expressed concerns about where future business support will come from. He said: “We have had support from the RDA and that single RDA has been replaced by several LEPs.
"Those LEPs must work together. They also have to actively engage with SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises} and support manufacturing. Without that manufacturing will struggle. We need that support we’ve always had.”
