A moment to reflect on and a legacy to build from

As Enterprise M3 (EM3) Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) comes to a close, and responsibility for LEP functions transfers to Hampshire County Council and Surrey County Council from the 1st of April, I wanted to share my thoughts on what we have achieved, and how we can continue to work together to boost our local economies and support our businesses and communities.

EM3 LEP has been striving for over a decade to drive economic growth, foster enterprise and innovation, and support the transition to a low carbon economy across the LEP region, which includes securing £250 million in government funding to do so. 

One key lesson from the EM3 LEP experience, however – and this is all the more important, given the tough fiscal outlook – is that bringing together businesses, central and local government, education and other partners, can create real economic value, at relatively low cost. We have seen this through our initiatives to develop innovative sectors and clusters with high growth potential, such as Guildford Games, Space South Central and most recently, the Jet Zero Task Force.  We have also seen it in our work with partners to connect the education and skills system with employers and help it to respond more effectively to current and future demand in the labour market.

The recipe that has enabled EM3 LEP to play this linking role so successfully has many ingredients. They include:

• A LEP Board that brought together outstanding leaders from business, local government, and the university, college and third sectors.
• The capability to build trust among partners by operating with transparency and impartiality, and having a ‘can do’ attitude.
• Mobilising and developing an agile, high performing team with a diverse mix of skills and experience, and focusing on delivering a few things exceptionally well. 

I am confident that in providing local leadership for economic development going forward, our local authorities will be able to build on EM3 LEP’s legacy and inherit some of our DNA too.

Finally, a few words of thanks.

The P in LEP stands for partnership, and everything that EM3 has achieved over the years has depended entirely on working closely with our partners.  On behalf of EM3, I would like to thank our two counties and 13 districts and boroughs, our colleges and universities, our business representative organisations, and all the individual businesses and other organisations that have come together around a shared mission – delivering prosperity through innovation. I also want to thank Hampshire County Council and Surrey County Council for working with EM3 to ensure a smooth transition of our economic development functions to them in a way that minimises disruption for our businesses and other stakeholders.

The region owes a huge thank you to all of the current and past EM3 LEP Board members for committing so much of their time, energy and creativity.  And finally, a particular thank you from me to the EM3 team, for being so professional and so much fun to be a part of.  Very best wishes to everyone for the future.