Business leaders unite after Chamber’s broadside at Lancashire Enterprise Partnership

Business leaders and representatives have rallied behind the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) after the leadership of one of the county’s three chambers of commerce publicly blasted the organisation for what it says is a lack of consultation with business.

"Lobbying, it strikes us, is more likely to draw results than lobbing bricks." Read the publisher's comments >>

The very public outburst, which appeared in some media, has left leading business voices baffled and concerned about the message it sends to the outside world and those controlling regional finances, particularly in the context of a difficult and fractious birth for the LEP when rival approaches, which foresaw up to three LEPs for the county, threatened its formation.

“The criticism that has been levelled by Downtown and other business organisations directly to the LEP and its representatives has been that it has perhaps not been as good at communicating that message to the business community.

"The timing of what NWLCC has done is somewhat bizarre." - Frank McKenna

Frank McKenna continued: “Criticism has been accepted, taken on board and acted upon so, again, the timing of what NWLCC has done is somewhat bizarre. I’d say it has been ill-conceived and not really thought through.”

“The reason Manchester is able to do that is they work together and they have their fall outs, of which there are many, very privately.

At the heart of NWLCC’s criticism were questions it put to its members as part of its Quarterly Economic Survey. It asked if they had been consulted on the design and implementation of the LEP’s ‘Strategic Economic Plan’ and reported that only two per cent responded positively.

President Norman Tenray used those statistics to declare: “It is about time Lancashire’s LEP started talking to the businesses it is meant to be supporting and give them a real say on where money is spent in the county.”

"It is about time Lancashire’s LEP started talking to the businesses it is meant to be supporting." - Norman Tenray

The quarterly survey was carried out jointly between the county’s three chambers of commerce. However, the East Lancashire and Lancaster groups declined to carry the questions about the LEP – highlighting some major differences in approach across the county.

So what’s Mike Damms’ take on the situation? “The LEP is work in progress,” he says.

He said the county’s chambers “collaborate well when a single voice is needed; but the value of having several of the UK’s strongest chambers is that they can also be more targeted when local variations are appropriate”.

"The LEP’s priority has been bidding for funds and it has been remarkably effective with almost £1bn won." - Mike Damms

“East Lancashire, for example, has publicised general progress to all its members and then used focus groups to refine the priorities for investment that have been honed through our local partnerships and consultations. The structures in the west are different.”

“In that context Lancashire’s LEP first priority has been bidding for funds for Lancashire, and it has been remarkably effective with almost £1bn won.

“It is, for example, timely for the stakeholder group, which East Lancashire chairs and North and West Lancashire is invited to, to act on its communication remit and to review Boost (the growth hub), and wider business support, as well as formalising its advisory and scrutiny role in the LEP.”

However, he is adamant NWLCC is not trying to pick a fight with anyone. He said the questions that sparked his statement followed a critical letter at the end of last year from central government about the LEP’s delivery record.

"We don’t want fights; we are not starting a fight with anyone." - Norman Tenray

He added: “We don’t want fights; we are not starting a fight with anyone. We are trying to feedback positively the results and say ‘come on, we better do something moving forward’. That’s a good thing.”

Norman added: “The publicity generated by these results has led to support from all corners of the county where people are equally frustrated at the lack of transparency and engagement by the LEP.”

He wants to see Blackpool’s Enterprise Zone move more quickly than the LEP initiatives at Warton and Samlesbury, adding: “This is an ideal opportunity to get some momentum.”

However, he doesn’t see that as a problem. “The issue is not the representation of NWLCC on the LEP, but the lack of consultation which this body has with businesses within the county.”

NWLCC was not present at the last two LEP SME consultation forums. It was also absent from a recent large scale private-public consultation event on the future of business support in the county.

"This will have been seen and noted in Whitehall. We are not going back to those bad old days."

He added: “We propose an annual conference where businesses in Lancashire can be updated on LEP activity and can give their views and ideas on possible future activity.

“However, as the chamber’s own survey recognises, respondents wanted the LEP to focus on getting support to businesses and helping businesses to grow,” he added.

John Kersey, chairman of the county branch of the Institute of Directors, said: “NWLCC’s comments seem a little out of kilter. A discussion between the chambers’ members seems more appropriate rather than open public debate about the workings of the LEP.

"We all would like a fairer more affluent Lancashire. The LEP has the power to deliver this." - John Kersey

“After all we all would like a fairer more affluent Lancashire. The LEP has the power to deliver this for all of Lancashire's residents.”

“An Enterprise Zone has been secured; we have won a City Deal and done extremely well in attracting significant pots of cash for business support from both national and European budgets.

“The county’s Boost initiative is the most comprehensive business support project that I have seen anywhere in the UK.

"We should acknowledge the LEP’s tremendous ability to actually get things done despite the lack of resource it has been given." - Frank McKenna

Publisher's comment: NWLCC stands alone in damning of Partnership

The attack on Lancashire’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) by the leadership of one of the county’s business organisations has been branded ‘bizarre’, ‘ill-conceived’, ‘out of kilter’ and ‘reckless’ by other leaders.

The broadside, by the North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce (NWLCC), sparked negative headlines and led to the county council’s economic development director Martin Kelly responding with a robust public defence of the LEP’s track record, including the development of a £1bn growth programme.

The public airing of perceived grievances has left leading business voices baffled and concerned about the message it sends to the outside world and those holding the purse strings.

And the timing of the NWLCC commentary has been questioned too.

Nonetheless, NWLCC President Norman Tenray declared: “We have been saying for some time now that the LEP does not consult Lancashire businesses enough and this is the proof.”

"Lobbying, it strikes us, is more likely to draw results than lobbing bricks." - Richard Slater

About a hundred or so responses then? They wouldn’t say. And, while we also don’t know how many responded to the specific LEP questions, we do know they self-selected.

NWLCC appears to be on its own here. The business voice for Lancashire is becoming increasingly united and any differences are debated in private. NWLCC has self-excluded from some of these forums and was notably absent from a recent ‘gathering of the tribes’ where the private and public sectors came together to consider the future of business support in the county. It is not the LEP who is letting down members of NWLCC.

There is still Lancashire blood staining the walls of Vince Cable’s office from the pummelling our business leaders received at the start of the last parliamentary term. There were talks of bipartite and even tripartite approaches to the county’s pursuit of an Enterprise Partnership to which Cable said: “One county, one voice: sort yourselves out.”

And if the LEP has not been perfect in communicating its strategies and successes, it’s hardly hidden them either – Google ‘Lancashire Enterprise Partnership’ and you’ll see.

And there’s the rub. That’s what the representative bodies are for: reading, assimilating, sharing, consulting and lobbying.