I’m a serious advocate of local approaches to growth. People hire me to deploy my knowledge and network of experts and Whitehall contacts. I am a heavyweight at articulating the growth potential of local areas, in robust economic terms that will pass the Treasury test, win business backing and gain favourable media. I put the ‘economics’ into economic strategies, and produce high impact statements and reports that will make your LEP stand out from the crowd.
Need help with your local growth strategy and local growth deal? I can bring intimate knowledge of LEPs and Whitehall policy to your local area, as well as 18 years of experience in economic development across the UK
I know LEPs: I’ve just completed 18 months working at a LEP, 14 months of these as the interim CEO of Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership. I took GCGPEP from its early foundations to a fully-fledged development organisation with a permanent team of 6 staff, operational budget of £750,000 and 2-year investment fund of £7.5m. I also authored both 2012 and 2013 LEP Network benchmarking reports.
I know about local economic growth and development: I’ve worked in economic development, regeneration, enterprise growth and skills for 18 years now. I’ve got a serious track record in delivering insights and solutions.
Where I can add significant value above and beyond other consultants:
Articulating growth potential, sharpening up the core messages and propositions from your formative growth strategies. You may have a lot of work already done, but perhaps been done at different times; and across several staff, partners and consultants. I am expert at synthesising the ‘collateral’ of strategy development (often across different stakeholders, documents and inputs) into single, coherent high impact statements and propositions.
Putting the ‘economics’ into economic strategies and growth propositions. I am expert at firming up the economic rationale and evidence for proposed priorities and actions – in terms that civil servants understand and the government will back. If the lessons from city deals are anything to go by – where ministers and senior civil servants questioned the economic impacts and growth potential of City Deal proposals – Local Growth Strategies are going to be seriously convincing in terms of having solid economics behind them.
Identifying and quickly resolving any outstanding gaps in knowledge, priority and action development. I am a professional applied economist specialising in local economic development, and I have an excellent practical knowledge of on-the-ground delivery. I can quickly help to suggest options for areas of policy or delivery where there are gaps or current propositions lack substance or detail.
The inside track on local growth policy: I have prime networks with the leading voices and stakeholders for local growth in Whitehall.
I’m committed and passionate: I’ve been a serious advocate for local economic development over the past twenty years, and am committed to helping localities
My experience
My expertise broadly encompasses:
- Specialist understanding of local economic development: in-depth understanding of practice in areas of skills, enterprise, inward investment, innovation, economic inclusion. Grounded in working in 5 different economic development organisations across the UK; with international understanding and networks
- Professional economist specialising in local and regional economic development (for example I researched and wrote the first LEP Network report in 2012 Creating Successful Local Economies: Review of Local Enterprise Partnership Area Economies in 2012, and copy-edited the 2013 edition Local Economies and the Growth Challenge: Review of Local Enterprise Partnership Area Economies in 2013
- Facilitation, workshop and chair skills and experience: ideas generation, project development, stakeholder engagement and management
- Report writing, media work: author of several international and national reports
- Economic appraisal, business planning, monitoring and evaluation
- General project or programme development and management
Don’t just take my word for it – here’s a snapshot of my track record:
LEP strategy: I led the analysis and copy editing for the GCGPEP growth prospectus published in 2012
High profile business-led advocacy – I led on the development of the propositions and supporting evidence for the East of England’s Blueprint for Growth, which helped spearhead the CBI-led campaign and parliamentary events
Writer of groundbreaking analysis of local economic challenges and opportunities: I produced the first LEP Network benchmarking report in 2012, Creating Successful Local Economies: Review of Local Enterprise Partnership Area Economies in 2012; Lead writer and copy-editor of 2013 follow up LEP Network Annual Review report
Expert insights in a language everyone can understand: I led the most comprehensive analysis of current and future skills needs in Scotland in 2002 and 2003, resulting in a suite of public reports that were tailored to a policy and practitioner audience – more about this here.
Winning funding bids: I wrote the £3.2m “Agritech” bid for East Anglia which has been shortlisted for funding in RGF4. Over the past 15 years I have developed and written funding strategies and successful bids for a range of government funding programmes including European funding.
You can read more about my motivation, career highlights and experience on my website.