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Chamber looking to rule Local Enterprise Partnerships |
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Local Enterprise Partnerships – Do you need to be a Chamber of Commerce member to engage in process? Is the process being hijacked before its begun?
Recently I attended a Local Enterprise Partnership event in Slough organised by the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce. When I heard it was happening I emailed the organiser and was advised I was welcome to attend I just had to call their events registrations team who proceeded to check my membership? Now my understanding is that this is a new initiative by government and that membership of the local chamber is not a prerequisite ... or will it be if they become the administrators? I was a little taken aback when I was told my membership had lapsed and the chap on the other end of the phone would have to ask if it was OK for me to attend. I had lapsed my membership because I had not attended any of their networking events during the last year and since any other benefits were better met by my membership of the Federation of Small Businesses, which is the largest small business lobbying organisation of its kind in the UK, then it didn’t seem like a good investment. Cameron’s BIG Society Bank project is offering support to local councils through ministry channels and to my mind we would be better served if the LEP’s admin is managed centrally, so it is then in line with all the other LEPs in the UK. A small team of employed, independent personnel could then be deployed for each LEP giving them the same template nationally allowing for comparative, competitive and innovative measuring tools to be created that allow the best LEP directors to be fought over by the LEPs offering greater bonus structures funded by local businesses engaged in process. I don’t like the idea of local chambers only allowing their membership to benefit from any funding opportunities that arise and preventing non members from engaging fairly. This situation needs to be addressed by the other membership organisations involved in the process to prevent a monopoly situation arising. A figured I heard recently stated that only 15% of small businesses are part of any groups, Chamber, FSB, IOD, etc and that the majority of small businesses simply stood on their own two feet and battled it out in the commercial world. If we are to have a Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership then it needs to start with a clean sheet and not carry any of the previous administrative baggage with it and that means we need a local business leader who has no leaning to any particular business groups, who can bring local businesses together through demonstration of a business building pedigree and who will prove a strong mentor and business generator for other local businesses who will ultimately benefit from his or her leadership. Well that’s what I think and if you agree or disagree please make sure you engage in the process by talking to those looking to manage your local LEP and ensure history doesn’t repeat itself as NOW we need strong leadership and not more leaching from the central pot taking us lower and lower down the economical nations list. Jon Davey 01753 852904 |
