Solent LEP seeking new director candidates (1)

The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is seeking prominent business leaders to join its Board of Directors.

The Solent LEP board takes responsibility for shaping economic strategy in the region, including the development of a Strategic Economic Plan for the area and delivery of a growth programme valued at over £1bn supported by a 151.9m Local Growth Deal with Government to create up to 600 new jobs and enable 11,000 new homes to be built.

The LEP Board is made up of business, education and local authority Directors and was the first LEP in the country to have a fully-elected board.

The LEP is seeking applications from business leaders from all sectors of the Solent economy to add to existing expertise on the Board.

Alongside the opportunity to join the main LEP Board, the Solent LEP is also inviting applications for company membership from Businesses operating in the Solent area.

Business members have a critical role to play in shaping the work of the Solent LEP, through electing members of the business community to the Solent LEP Board, voting on membership issues that inform how the LEP operates, and by putting forward representatives to become directly involved in the work of the LEP in its supporting delivery panels.

Gary Jeffries, chairman of the Solent LEP, said:

"It is a very exciting time to join the LEP Board. We have a Growth Strategy in place to transform the Solent economy and resources through the Local Growth Deal to begin delivering on this. With a new Government now in place, it is extremely important that we keep up momentum and demonstrate that the best way to deliver growth nationally is to provide the funding and flexibility for areas to drive growth locally. Our business directors play a vital role in achieving this and I hope we receive many strong applications from what is a dynamic and innovative business community to help us maintain our position in the Solent as a leading LEP area."

Any individuals interested in applying for a role on the Board, or companies interested in applying for membership, can download an information and application pack now at the following link:

• Information and Application Pack

The following documents to support an application are available for download. For details on completing application documents and additional information required, please refer to the Information and Application Pack.

• Business Director Candidate Statement Template
• Business Member Expression of Interest Form