Heart of the South West LEP look back on their success helping local businesses at the AGM recently.

The Heart of the South West LEP hosted their Annual General Meeting on Friday, October 13.

The event included a summary of the LEP’s activities and achievements over the past year; including unlocking opportunities in key sectors, as well as recent Government announcements and the future of the LEP.

16 Local Growth Fund and Getting Building Fund projects have been completed over the last financial year. Projects such as Marsh Barton Railway Station, InterCity Place in Plymouth and the Somerset Digital Innovation Centre have all reached completion, and the iAero Centre celebrated its ‘one year on’ in July. The Further Education Digital Accelerator is also providing FE colleges across the area with new state-of-the-art IT equipment to develop skills for the future. 

Karl Tucker, Chair of the Heart of the South West LEP, gave an overview of the LEP’s achievements and challenges from the last year. Karl said: “I believe that progress through these challenging economic and political times has been strong. We have seen our own Getting Building Fund programme complete and major initiatives for the area such as the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport, Gravity, the South West Social Mobility Commission and Great South West all take significant steps forward. It’s fantastic to see the positive impact the LEP has had over the past year on businesses, communities, innovation, skills, jobs and much more.”

The AGM also saw an update on the future of LEPs and the transition of LEP functions to Local Authorities next year. 

David Ralph, Chief Executive of the Heart of the South West LEP, said: “Our commitment to an orderly transition is unwavering, and we're fully dedicated to working closely with our local authorities in achieving this as quickly and as smoothly as possible.”