WE LEP UPDATE

June2015

Update from WE LEP chief executive

Post election, we are in the process of setting up meetings with our new and re-elected MPs to discuss our priorities and understand more about their agendas.Following the election SajidJavid chose the Engine Shed to announce the new Enterprise Bill which was great news for the West of England.

The new business members of the LEP Board have now been appointed and we are also delighted that Colin Skellett has agreed to stay on. We are very grateful for the input of previous members and look forward to welcoming Nick Horne, Knightstone Housing Group, Neil Way, Jeff Way Electrical Services, John Pritchard, GKN Aerospace Services, Simon Bird, Bristol Port Company and Esther McMorris, Nine Feet Tall at the next Board meetingon 17th June.They join Robert Sinclair, Kalpna Woolf and James Durie, who have been reappointed as business representatives on the newly formed Board.

Venturefest(venturefestbristolandbath.com) takes place next week which I am sure will be another huge success and generate great interest in the regions creative and digital sectors.We are also holding an infrastructure forum at which key industry leaders and skills providers will meet to analyse potential skills gaps in the construction sector.

As you will see from this update there are many exciting initiatives across all our teams and as always your support is much appreciated.

All the best

Barbara

INVEST BRISTOL AND BATH

Invest Bristol & Bath has entered its new five year funding period. An updated strategy and business plan is due to be presented and signed off at the LEP Board on June 17th.

It completed 2014/15 successfully securing 37 successes, committing a total of 875 jobs to the region (from a target of 850).

Successes First Quarter 2015/16

While the new strategy and business plan is being signed off IBB continues to generate and convert investment opportunities. In total 258 new jobs have been committed from inward investment successes, leaving us on track for our overall target of 950 for the year. These include a new purpose built R&D centre for Rolls Royce in Filton to create 120 jobs and the UK HQ for Europe’s 7th largest insurance firm Mapfre in Bristol City Centre to create at least 130 new jobs.

Account Management

IBB continues to manage its pipeline of prospective investment, handing accounts that could generate over 3500 jobs for the region. In many cases we are fighting it out with other regions. These include;

-Danish Pension provider – currently deciding between Bristol and Nottingham with 200 potential jobs.

-French R&D engineering conglomerate – currently looking at four UK locations including Bristol & Bath Science Park, with 130 jobs.

IBB is also working closely with all councils on possible capital investment into Enterprise Areas and the Enterprise Zone. IBB is acting as an interface to major pension funds, institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds to construct investment packages that suit the regeneration and development priorities of each Council.

Marketing and Promoting the Economy

IBBs campaign focus continues uninterrupted despite revisions to the strategy and new business plan.

Activities in the period included:

-Supporting Cray Supercomputers with the launch of their new Bristol office which included Digital Minister Ed Vaisey and Cray CEO Pete Ungaro.

-VentureFest on June 9th at the Passenger Shed and Engine Shed.

  • 1000 sign-ups
  • To showcase the latest cutting-edge innovations coming out of the region and UK
  • Bringing together some of the most influential business leaders including IMDb’s founder, Col Needham, Scott Wilcox, director of technology at SXSW and David Underwood, deputy director of supercomputing at the MET Office.
  • IBB are running the Start-up Village in the Engine Shed showcasing 30 of the regions most promising tech start-ups.
  • IBB is using the event to establish profile and credibility within key tech and digital sectors. The event will generate significant Press attendance including The Times, Sunday Times, FT, Tech World, Computer World and many others.
  • IBB is also using the event to engage with a wide variety of existing prospective investors to help sell the vibrant innovative nature of the region.

-IBB are also preparing for Paris Airshow in late June where the West of England LEP area is the principle in a wider South West Aerospace partnership under the WEAF banner.

-A campaign is progressing to promote the region’s strengths in Financial and Professional Services in partnership with the region’s developers, landowners and agents.

WEST OF ENGLAND GROWTH FUND

The West of England Growth Fund continues to pay grant funding to its 375 beneficiary businesses. By the end of May £13m of grant had been paid out by the Fund leading to the creation of 1000 new jobs here. Businesses have until December to incur expenditure with the Fund closing at the end of March 2016.

The West of England LEP has appointed Business West to deliver its Growth Hub. The Growth Hub, the first point of call for all businesses seeking to access publicly funded support services and opportunities, will launch in late 2015.

The LEP held an EU SIF briefing session on 31 May which proved popular and better than some attendees had anticipated. As such, a second session has been organised for the 24 June and is advertised as a free event on Event Brite.

METROWEST

Consultation launches on MetroWest

MetroWest Phase 1 will launch a 6 week consultation on 22 June to ask local people for their views. Focussing on the Portishead branch line, the consultation will comprise a series of manned exhibitions, leaflets, posters and postcards. Comments on the proposals will be mainly through an online survey. The responses will be analysed over the summer and a second round of consultation will be launched later in the year to show any changes and invite further comment.

SKILLS

Work with Government and National Bodies:

  • Commissioned Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to produce an ‘evidence base’ to determine the employment and skills opportunities emerging in the construction industry in the West of England LEP area. Infrastructure Forum to take place on 9th June with major employers to listen to the skills needs of major construction projects in our area, understand the existing provision, identify the gaps and develop an action plan.

Work with Business:

  • Initial meeting of the Apprenticeship Working Group (sub group of the LEP Skills Group) took place in May to gain business input into the Apprenticeship Strategy
  • Fuller Working Lives Working Group (sub group of LEP Skills Group) also met in May to identify resources and current activity relating to the 50+ workforce and explore issues and key actions which would maximise opportunities for the 50+ workforce.
  • Successful completion of the Creative Employment Programme (Phase 1) and moving forward with business engagement and sign up for phase 2

Work with Education:

  • A very successful Employability Chartermark celebration event was held on the 20th May at the offices of Burgess Salmon with ten schools and colleges receiving their plaques in recognition of achieving the Chartermark.
  • The mapping of provision delivered by providers in the WE is on-going. This work will be included within the overall WE LEP Skills Plan.
  • Planning for the July Pathways 2 Professions event is underway. This event will focus on the Professional Services sector.
  • The FE Skills Funding Incentive Pilot is moving into the last two months of delivery with the gathering of information for the end of year evaluation taking place.
  • The “Your Green Future” student event took place at UWE with over 400 students taking part in the 2 days of interactive workshops and employer input to sector job roles and Apprenticeships.

EU SIF Funding update: Important information

The Skills Funding Agency (SFA) have now opened the Register of Training Organisations for new or refreshed applications, and any organisations wishing to tender for ESF contracts must refresh the information contained on the Register. The Register closes again on 03/07/2015.

There are various different reasons why an organisation would need to be on the register including:

  • The organisation holds a funding agreement with the SFA for the delivery of education and vocational training.
  • The organisation wishes to enter into a subcontract with a lead provider for the delivery of education and vocational skills training, and the aggregated value of the contract(S) will be £100,000 or more.
  • The organisation is a large employer in receipt of, or in the process of applying for, grant funding from the National Apprenticeship Service.
  • The organisation wants to be selected to compete in future tenders (there are no alternative market entry points for organisations that want to deliver a contract).

It is a funding requirement that organisations currently on the Register refresh their information and so all organisations listed on the Register must apply and pass at this opening. If an organisation is not currently listed on the Register they may use this opening to apply.

Further information:

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