LEPs pinning hopes on automotive sector to fuel growth

LEP chiefs in the West Midlands are targeting the automotive sector to fuel growth for the the region as it looks to emerge from economic decline.

Both the Greater Birmingham and Solihull and Black Country Local Enterprise Partnerships will focus their attention on the sector’s development at today’s Automotive Engineering trade show, which takes place at the NEC.

The move comes as Land Rover is thought close to agreeing a £10bn investment plan that will see 16 new model variants under development. The firm has recently been granted permission for its Chinese joint venture with Chery.

Paul Heaven, GBSLEP board member with responsibility for Access to Finance, said: “Major investments in automotive engineering in and around the GBS LEP by major players such as Jaguar Land Rover present significant opportunities for the supply chain in the LEP and surrounding areas.

“This is something we are conscious of as shown by the successful bid for £125m from the Regional Growth Fund for the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative programme, working with the Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire and Liverpool LEPs.

“This event is a great opportunity for the LEP and our partners to showcase what we are doing and for companies involved in automotive engineering to find out how we could help them with their growth aspirations.”

He is being joined at the event by Stewart Towe, chairman of the Black Country LEP, and both men will be heading up forums aimed at showing showing what support is available to them.

The move comes as latest UK car sales figures show new car registrations rose 12.1% to 151,252 units in October, bucking current demand trends in Europe.

Jaguar (+18.5%) and Land Rover (+14%) both show growth last month, as do most of the leading manufacturers with the exception of Honda (-31%) and Renault (-48.5%). BMW (+11%) and Mini (+29%), which both have a bearing on the West Midlands automotive sector, were also positive.

The figures, from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show the new car market has increased 5% over the year-to-date, growing in all but one month. Total registrations for the year-to-date stand at 1,771,861 units – this represents an increase of 83,823 units on a year ago.

The growth has prompted the SMMT to revise up its full-year forecast to over 2m units, up from 1.94m in 2011.

Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “Despite uncertainty in the European economy, the UK new car market continues to grow. It is encouraging to see the alternatively-fuelled vehicle market performing strongly, up 13% so far this year. Although the alternatively-fuelled vehicle sector represents only a small share of the overall market, it is vital that government sustains its consumer incentive programme and maximises the benefits available through the vehicle taxation system.”
 
Automotive suppliers from across the UK will be attending the two-day event, however, the West Midlands is better represented than most due to its strong reliance on the automotive sector.

Organisers have scheduled a ‘Meet the LEPs’ programme so delegates can get advice on how the various bodies can support their firms.

GBSLEP will provide an insight into its current initiatives in regard to the advanced engineering / manufacturing sector.

Joining the GBSLEP and the Black Country will be representatives from LEPs in Derby & Nottingham, Liverpool, Northamptonshire and Sheffield.

Likely themes to be covered include:
–           LEP Initiatives for inward & outward investment into the sector
–           Specialist hubs and incubators for sub-groups
–           Partnerships and support from regional OEM’s and Tier 1’s suppliers
–           LEP skills development programmes
–           Education/support on SME finance
–           Links/Partnerships with regional educational /academic / R& D institutions
–           Process improvement initiatives   – collaboration with bodies such as the Manufacturing Advisory Service.

Ian Stone, organiser of the event, said: “We are experiencing a brave new world with the transition from RDA to LEP support structures and this programme represents a timely opportunity to provide a three-way intelligence exchange, to facilitate further action.”

He said LEPs would be able to outline their strategies for developing the advanced manufacturing sector while getting direct feedback from the suppliers themselves.