Achievements to date
Since being established, the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership has made huge strides in establishing the strategic frameworks required to deliver growth and in leading programmes and projects. These include:
- Consulting on, developing and publishing the Strategy for Growth, outlining our plans to drive economic growth up to 2020.
- Successfully concluding the Greater Birmingham City Deal following negotiations with Government which will produce a host of benefits including the creation of 10,000 direct jobs and the opportunity to leverage in £15 billion of private sector investment over 25 years from £1.5 billion of public funding via GBS Finance.
- Securing £12 million support for the establishment of an Institute of Translational Medicine, to capitalise on the area’s strengths in life sciences.
- Developing close relations with Government, working alongside Lord Heseltine on the Greater Birmingham Project to showcase to the Chancellor how the GBSLEP could use funding from a Single Pot to accelerate economic growth.
- Supporting two successful Regional Growth Fund Round 1 bids totalling £85.7 million - the A45 Corridor Improvement and Jaguar Land Rover’s bid to create jobs and a Supplier Capital Fund for the automotive sector.
- Securing £125 million from the Regional Growth Fund Round 2 for the national Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI) and launching a £19 million programme to support and strengthen aerospace and automotive supply chains specifically in the Greater Birmingham & Solihull, Coventry & Warwickshire and Black Country LEP areas and Liverpool City Region.
- Supporting other successful Regional Growth Fund Round 2 bids, including Zytec Automotive in Lichfield and Creative Englands’ bid.
- Securing £20 million from Regional Growth Fund Round 3 for the Green Bridge project.
At the launch of the Birmingham City Centre Enterprise Zone in February 2013, Andy Street (GBSLEP Chair), George Osborne MP; Lord Heseltine; Sir Albert Bore (Leader of Birmingham City Council); Cllr Ken Meeson (Leader of Solihull MBC)
- Developing and launching the Birmingham City Centre Enterprise Zone prospectus and approving a £125 million investment plan to kick-start the scheme.
- Allocating £60 million towards the £450 million redevelopment of Paradise Circus as part of the Enterprise Zone fund.
- Awarding £7.1 million of Growing Places funding to support ‘shovel-ready’ infrastructure projects that create jobs.
- Securing £3.9 million of European Regional Development Fund support for the Business Development Programme (BDP) which has already been allocated to 21 successful applicants with the potential to create 120 jobs.
- Launching a Central Business Portal to showcase access to finance and business support schemes and hosted a series of events to promote programmes such as the BDP and AMSCI.
- Publishing a regulation charter through the Better Regulation Delivery Office setting out a new relationship between regulators and business under the ‘Better Business for All’ brand.
- Supporting local authorities in bids to secure £25.8 million of Local Pinch Point Funding to tackle bottlenecks in the LEP’s road network.
- Launching a Planning Charter to ensure closer working between local authorities on planning matters and developing a Strategic Plan for Recovery and Growth in consultation with stakeholders with a view to publication in late 2013.
- Supporting the Government’s development of HS2, recognising local concerns.
