TOO little engagement by big businesses in the region could undermine the effectiveness of the new Local Enterprise Partnerships – according to the regional chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses.
David Caro was speaking as business leaders and politicians from across the region prepared for a conference in Birmingham today to discuss the scope, role and make-up of the LEPs that will replace Advantage West Midlands.
The government has demanded that ‘real’ business people take a lead role in the formation of LEPs, but Mr Caro said: “In this region there is almost no engagement by large businesses. They tend to go through representative organisations like the CBI and others. In a regiona with so many significant large employers, that’s a real problem, and contrasts to the situation in the South East where, if anything, big businesses are crowding out smaller enterprises.”
Last week, local government secretary Eric Pickles said small businesses and the FSB had a vital role to play in LEPs. He said: “We want to urgently rebuild and rebalance local economies without strangling businesses with red tape so that new economic opportunities spread across the country.
“That means the solution needs to be local. I was delighted to meet with and hear the views of the FSB as they have a central role to play, working hand in hand with local leaders, to develop and deliver new local enterprise partnerships that will make the economy responsive to the needs of local business and local people.”
Mr Caro said: “We’re very happy to have the chance to work with local authorities on Local Enterprise Partnerships. Previously, the business community has sometimes found it hard to get access to local politicans, so it has to be a good thing if LEPs manage to pull us closer together.”
