LEPs ‘must manage expectations’ says Hollis

THE deputy chairman of the Birmingham LEP has warned businesses to be realistic in their expectations of what the body can achieve in the short term.

And leading business figure John Rider said the bodies must avoid becoming ‘talking shops’ and concentrate on doing rather than saying.

Steve Hollis, KPMG Midlands chairman and a member of Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership’s innaugural board, said: “I would like to manage expectations. What we are determined to do is look at everything that’s out there and see what the priorities are and what we believe this area should be focussing on.

“Our first board meeting is on June 8 and, in the course of managing these expectations as we progress, we will be able to share something of substance with people.

“If you look at any successful economy there’s a successful city which lies at its heart and we must address what the big things are which we need to do in Birmingham to make a huge impact.”

Mr Hollis was speaking at the ‘LEP Business Briefing’ event organised by the Birmingham office of PR and public affairs agency Grayling.

Joining him on the panel was John Rider, chairman of the West Midlands Institute of Directors.

He said: “As far as LEPs are concerned, you can put me in the deeply sceptical and frustrated camp.

“Everybody talks but nobody does and that is the real key for me. For 10 years, we have lost private sector jobs and we really need to crank up our efforts to create them – not just a few jobs but thousands upon thousands of jobs.

“Eventually, I could see us having social cohesion problems in the West Midlands unless we do something about it.”

Also speaking at the event was Labour MP for Erdington Jack Dromey, Terry Spall, commercial director for MIRA Technology Park in Nuneaton, and Ross Laird, a director with Grayling in Edinburgh.

Mr Dromey said he lamented the decline of regional development agencies, such as Advantage West Midlands, but called on business to face the future and make the “best of a bad lot”.

“I want to see a renaissance of manufacturing in Birmingham, our strategy for growth has to have advanced manufacturing at its heart,” he said.

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