Gearing up to fight Gloucestershire's corner in the national ring
Gloucestershire has lost its voice of business, GFirst LEP, but work is afoot to create a powerful regional organisation to ensure the county is heard, writes Ian Mean, director of Business West.
Over 20 years of editing newspapers in Gloucestershire and Bristol, I have often felt frustrated by the lack of joined up business and leadership thinking in our region.
Why Oh why does this upper part of the South West seem to me to be so often ignored by government?
Do you agree with me? Surely, the innovation and great businesses in our region need to be better recognised.
Well,at long last, something is being done about changing that narrative.
Business West, of which I am Gloucestershire director, has just announced the formation of the Futures West Foundation for Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Growth.
It will bring business leaders, academics and policy makers together to tackle the long term regional challenges to raise productivity, growth and innovation.
The Foundation covers the broader economic geography of the upper part of South West England including Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire and Swindon.
That’s a veritable powerhouse in its own right.
It will work with some of the region’s most important businesses and employment sectors to establish and promote a new regional economic narrative with an evidence base and a work programme.
The Foundation’s collaborative research will provide the evidence base to better inform policy and attract investment to help address key challenges for our region.
Matt Griffith, our director of policy at Business West, tells me: “Devolution and the need for economic growth look like being central priorities for whoever forms the next government.
“Alongside substantial challenges, our region also has huge economic strengths and potential but has sometime struggled to fully articulate a vision and provide a compelling offer to either central government or local people and businesses.
“The new Foundation creates a new partnership between businesses and universities to better understand the strengths of our region and work collaboratively with others to articulate how we can offer something unique to help solve our pressing local and national challenges”.
Every major journey like this with the Futures West Foundation starts with a single step. We hope it will now grow to develop into a unique economic partnership for our region.
*Ian Mean MBE is director of Business West Gloucestershire and the former vice chair of GFirstLEP
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