28/10/10…..Enterprise status boost for Oxfordshire businesses
OXFORDSHIRE has today been recognised by the Government as one of Britain’s most vital centres for economic and business development by being selected to be among the first areas to be Local Enterprise Partnerships, or LEPs.
A total of 56 bids were made and Oxfordshire, with a bid which emphasised its role as a functional economic area in its own right, was one of 24 successful bidders.
LEPs will take on a similar role to that previously undertaken by Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)which will cease to be by March 2012, as announced in the last budget.
The full extent of the changes and how the new system will operate, can be seen HERE
Oxfordshire’s City-Region bid centered on its concentration of high-tech businesses and institutions and its academic strength. It made clear that the county could be at the heart of the UK’s future economy, leading the way in science and research & development.
The bid was strongly and actively supported by a host of top names in Oxfordshire from business, academia, tourism, local government, the health sector and by all of the county’s MPs (Witney MP David Cameron was unable to formally sign the bid because of conflict of interest rules applying to the Prime Minister, but made his support clear).
Dr Martin Dare-Edwards, of Oxfordshire-based company Infineum, and Shadow Chairman of the Oxfordshire LEP, said: “This is fantastic news for Oxfordshire, but the hard work now begins. We need to capitalise on this recognition both in seeking investment to make our vision a reality, and in using it as a springboard to make businesses across the world understand that we’re a hotbed of new technology and new thinking – and that means we’re the gateway to new markets.”
Oxfordshire County Council Leader Keith Mitchell added: “This has been a great example of co-operation between local authorities and business, all striving for the same thing – a brighter future for the county. I’m delighted that hard work has paid off and that Ministers have recognised our potential.”
Big names from the county supporting the bid included Sir Frank Williams (Williams F1), Professor Steve Cowley (CEO of Science Vale UK), Bob Bell (MD of Renault F1), Professors Andrew Hamilton and Janet Beer (Vice-Chancellors of Oxford and Oxford Brookes Universities respectively), Steve Mumford (CEO of software giant Sophos), David Richards (Chairman and CEO of race car specialists Prodrive and chairman of Aston Martin) and Dr Jurgen Hedrich (MD of BMW’s MINI plant in Oxford)
The bid recognised that despite huge strengths in high-tech and academia, Oxfordshire was also disproportionately reliant on public sector employment and was therefore vulnerable at a time of cuts in that sector.
SOURCE: Press release
