Insider Media Limited

Leicestershire's enterprise zone should be capable of generating £7m within five years of being set up, Insider has been told. The chair of the region's LEP and British Gas director Andrew Bacon also said the LEP was aiming to "close the skills gap" by getting 5,000 into work over the coming years.

Bacon said that he hoped the region's enterprise zone, located at the advanced engineering and research site MIRA, would generate £500,000 in its first year of operation (2012/13). He estimated this would grow to £7m in five years' time.

The director of British Gas Community Energy said the boost from the latest round of regional growth funding allowed the zone's bidders to get straight into the building stage.

"We have already begun implementation," he said. "Construction has started and we are in talks with interested parties and companies to form partnerships and move into the site the funding from the RGF meant we got a head-start and begin early."

MIRA, billed as a £300m enterprise zone, secured a £19.4m slice from the government-funded pot earlier this year.

Bacon took on the role of LEP chair in October having led the East Midlands Regions Board and held the post of regional director for BT in the East Midlands.

"I've been involved in economic development for a few years, and think I've got a decent private sector perspective," he said. "My major initial aim for the LEP is to close the regional skills gap. We've been working closely with employers and universities and got them involved with private skills providers to start up partnerships."

Bacon added that he wanted to "change the curriculum to align it with work requirements".

"Locally, we do have a skills gap and shortage. I want to close this and get 5,000 of our unemployed people into work over the coming years. It's an ongoing challenge, but hopefully schemes like the ones we have begun will help the cause."

Also on the LEP's agenda is promoting the area to inward investors, he said.

"We are currently in talks with 48 potential investors from around the UK and internationally – that's double the amount of inquiries we had this time last year," he said. "The East Midlands has a lot to offer, and hopefully we can show that it is a great place to invest."