The new Coventry and Warwickshire Enterprise Partnership believes the strength of its economy has been underlined by some “outstanding” bids for Government funding.
The board of the LEP – which is designed to promote economic growth in the area – was formally convened this week and was told that at least nine bids have been submitted.
The Coventry and Warwickshire LEP is one of the first in the country to be up and running with a fully operational board and heard that the Government will assess the bids for Regional Growth Fund (RGF) next week and several local initiatives have bid for a share of the £1.4 billion available.
The Regional Growth fund is designed to help create long term private sector-led economic growth and employment, particularly in areas which have been reliant on public sector jobs.
Details of several of the bids were appraised by the new board at its first meeting.
LEP chairman Denys Shortt said: “We have been shown several of the bids and they are outstanding.
“They show innovation and real potential and would all bring very notable benefits to Coventry and Warwickshire in terms of the jobs they would create.
“The whole focus of the LEP is to try to create growth and to remove the barriers that prevent it. Certainly these bids – which are commercially sensitive – show great potential for growth.
“We are receiving details of new bids every day and are very pleased that the bidders are consulting with the LEP.”
The LEP board – made up of five private and five public sector representatives along with one each from the area’s two universities, has started the process of setting out its key priorities including a plan for its first 90 days as well as a longer term five year strategy.
Shortt added: “We have really hit the ground running thanks in part to the work done by everyone in formulating our proposal to Government and the way Brian Woods-Scawen organised the initial arrangements.
“There is a very good balance of talents from both sectors and we have already got things moving. Our banking group, looking into access for finance for small businesses, is scheduled to meet this week.
“Coventry and Warwickshire is very real entity and that has helped us focus on key issues which affect all of us. We will be establishing working groups on several key issues and we feel we can make significant and rapid strides.”
The representatives on the board are: Denys Shortt (DCS Europe), Daniel Gidney (Ricoh Arena), Martyn Hollingsworth (Jaguar Land Rover), Derek Parkin (E.ON), Sir Peter Rigby (SCH, Patriot Aviation, Eden Hotel Collection), Cllr John Mutton (Coventry City Council), Cllr Alan Farnell (Warwickshire County Council), Cllr Linda Bigham (Coventry City Council), Cllr Alan Cockburn (Warwickshire County Council), Cllr Craig Humphrey (Rugby Borough Council), Nigel Thrift (University of Warwick), John Latham (Coventry University).
Media enquiries:
Adam Dent
Advent Communications
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Sandy Lane
Coventry CV1 4JA
Tel: 024 7663 3636
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