Humber’s time to shine and get businesses booming
ENERGY, the digital sector, infrastructure and skills will continue to be at the forefront of the Humber LEP’s strategy this year.
It is also urging local business to engage with it and help drive this strategy forward.
LEP chair Lord Haskins said: “We have made progress and are getting a lot of support from ministers. Politicians know it is in their interest to be engaged with the Humber. One of the biggest issues facing government is energy and we have our energy estuary. Government have to take this seriously. Siemens is only the beginning of the big story. The Able story is potentially three times bigger than the Siemens story but the problem is locked up in parliament and result is unlikely before Christmas.”
Haskins said the second big sector in the Humber is digital, describing the Humber as having a “USP” in digital with high-speed connectivity from Hull-firm KC but said the region now must work to get security/data centres in the area, too.
The Humber LEP is currently negotiating with Government to secure funding from the Local Growth Fund to support its economic strategy. Projects under discussion include transport schemes, college improvements and flood defences. The outcome is expected next month. Meanwhile a new plan to boost the area’s skills and help people into work is being finalised, over 80 businesses are being supported with grants to create an estimated 1500 jobs, and the LEP is launching a Growth Hub to improve access to business support.
Speaking at a Humber LEP event at the Willerby Manor Hotel, Paul Sewell, the chair of the Business Development board, said: “The stakes are high in what has been a momentous year for this area. This is our time and the visions and hopes are becoming more real. We now must take full advantage and make the most of the opportunities. Now it is action rather than words. It is about leaving a legacy for our communities and that’s where businesses come in.
“We have an impossibly wide and diverse agenda and we are going to have to work really smart, obsess with delivery and make sure we only do what the LEP can only do and businesses do the rest.
“Our primary objective is to grow the local economy for the benefit of the local community. We want players rather than spectators. The LEP needs to know what the big issues are – we aren’t growing the local economy for the benefit of people in London, we are doing it for the people here. We are trying to become an area that is a lot easier to do business, start a business and grow a business.”
Humber LEP chief executive Kishor Tailor highlighted the work of the Investment and Regulation board.
“We want to make the place attractive to investors,” he said. “The energy estuary gives us a uniqueness, but we have to make sure we deal with the issues connected to the estuary and we are ready for investment.”
Tailor said the board will be focussing on road, rail and air infrastructure. One of the biggest challenges it will be working on is to protect the estuary from flooding, however £600m of investment is needed to complete the work around this.
He added: “We are creating the strategy, policy and lobbying. The resources won’t be enough from government, so we need the private sector to invest, too. We are developing a plan for the next 25 years and want to bring the four local authority plans into one single document. We have identified our major challenges and opportunities and are developing a strategy to deal with it.”
Turning to employment and skills, Sam Whitaker Employment and Skills board member highlighted the skills development plan which has been delivered and which suggested that businesses getting involved in the skills agenda is key to success.
Whitaker added that with the brand new industry being developed due to the success of the energy estuary, the region needs to create a training centre of excellence, which he says is possible to do.
Interventions driven by the board include the creation of an apprentice hub where the apprenticeship process will be managed and make it easier for business to employ an apprentice.
The Employment and Skills board is also behind the Humber Skills Pledge – a campaign with aims to bridge the gap and encourage joint working between employers, training providers, local councils and organisations, such as Jobcentre Plus. Whitaker added that there are 40,000 businesses in the Humber region but only 200 signed up. “Get involved and make things happen,” he said.
Tailor concluded: “We want more businesses to be engaged in the framework and help to influence the strategy. We are open as a LEP to engage with businesses. We need to drive the strategy and action forward.”
