LEP to expand board with new appointments

The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership is to bolster its executive board by adding three directors who will each oversee a newly developed remit.

The new appointments will be chosen to oversee: skills and technical education; SME business growth and productivity; and strategic place-marketing. This will be in addition to a broader remit of helping to deliver the LEP’s overarching Strategic Economic Plan (SEP).

The SEP is underpinned by a public investment framework valued at nearly £1bn, with almost 50 strategic development, business growth, innovation, skills, infrastructure and place-marketing initiatives underway across the county.

Significant investment projects integral to the SEP include the £320m Local Growth Fund, the £434m City Deal for Central Lancashire and the £20m Growing Places Investment Fund.

Other priority programmes currently being delivered through the LEP’s board include the Boost business support service for SMEs, the county’s Skills and Employment Hub, the £12.5m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and the county’s Advanced Manufacturing and Energy Enterprise Zone Cluster.

Board chairman Edwin Booth said: “Lancashire has one of the largest economies in the North with over 53,000 businesses generating £29bn per year. Employment projections and other performance indicators suggest our economy is set to grow significantly over the next ten years, and we need to be geared up to maximise the opportunities which lay ahead.

“We are therefore looking to recruit several new directors who will help us build on the strong foundations established by the LEP and support our continued delivery of sustainable, high quality and inclusive economic growth.

LEP directors receive no renumeration for their services. Closing date for applications is June 25.