Chamber President hints at ‘tensions’ over LEP bid

BIRMINGHAM Chamber Group president Paul Bassi has made a veiled attack on the dissenting voices threatening to derail bids to set up a new Local Enterprise Partnership (LEPs) for the city.

In a speech at the Chamber Group’s annual awards last night, Mr Bassi said there were too many individual organisations trying to speak for the city and the wider region and this was undermining attempts with the Government to create a clear strategy for the economic development of the area.

He said: “The multiple number of bodies interested in how LEPs develop and the tension between what should happen at regional level verses what should be delivered locally has seen us deliver mixed messages to government at a time when we should be demonstrating our ability to work together.”

What was needed, he added, was a combined effort – something he dubbed Team Birmingham.

The approach reflects the Chamber-led and city council backed alliance comprising the chambers of Birmingham, Solihull, Burton-upon-Trent, Cannock Chase, Lichfield and Tamworth, and the local authorities for Birmingham and Solihull.

However, he said this approach risked being undermined because of the various organisations all manoeuvring for a slice of the action once Advantage West Midlands is finally abolished in 18 months time.

“Frankly, we have too many individual organisations seeking to speak for a particular part of our region. The Birmingham Chamber Group, Marketing Birmingham, Birmingham Forward and Birmingham City Council are just a few of the local bodies I could mention.

“Add to this the regional business bodies like the CBI, EEF, FSB and the IoD and you get a recipe for mixed messages and potentially, confusion in what we are saying as a city,” he told the hundreds of guests attending last night’s ceremony at the ICC.

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Comparing Birmingham to a business, he said no manager would ever allow multiple marketing departments to compete with each other, using different logos and brands as it would blur the overall strategy.

“In my view, it really is time to put all these organisations under one roof for the sake of the greater good.

“I don’t want to be the second city of the UK; I don’t want to lose out to Manchester or Liverpool; I don’t want to lose the next City of Culture, the next National Stadium, the next Commonwealth Games.

“I believe Birmingham can be one of the world’s great cities but we would get there quicker if we could have a single strong cohesive message under one custodian with an army of leaders, supporters and ambassadors,” he said.