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Making the LEP local

The Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has kicked off a series of ‘LEP Local’ events to engage directly with businesses.

The first event, held at the HQ of DCS Europe in Stratford last week, was attended by business leaders from local firms such as Orbit Housing, Johnson Coaches, Ragley Hall and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. National organisations such as Morgan Sindall and Lloyds Bank were also represented.

Executives had the opportunity to speak directly to LEP board members including chairman Denys Shortt, owner of DCS Europe, Daniel Gidney, LEP director and CEO of the Ricoh Arena, and LEP programme director Louise Wall, about a range of issues including finance, barriers to business growth and planning matters.

Following the success of the inaugural event, the partnership is set to roll-out similar LEP Local events for business communities across Coventry and Warwickshire.

Louise Wall, LEP Programme Director and Warwickshire County Council’s Head of Sustainable Communities, said: “Our primary aim is to provide strong, clear and visionary leadership for the future development of the sub-regional economy, and this meeting gave businesses a platform to contribute to the direction of the partnership.

“I am encouraged by the enthusiasm and common approach we share with local businesses to ensuring that Coventry and Warwickshire is in the best possible position for inward investment and stimulating economic growth.”

In the coming months the LEP, which has recently set up a base at Jaguar Land Rover in Gaydon, will continue to address barriers to growth in planning, introduce a strategy to encourage jobs growth, tackle the low carbon economy and capitalise on the fantastic tourism opportunities available in Coventry and Warwickshire. The board has also set up a series of sub-groups including a finance group to assist small and start up businesses gain access to finance to grow their business.

Warwickshire County Council is one of the partners involved in the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, along with Coventry City Council, the districts and boroughs councils and leading private sector business leaders.