What’s in it for businesses? - Rick Moore, Chair of LSEP - Overthrowing the legacy of cynicism

Personal introduction: background/ the personal challenge of being Chair of LSEP/ as a rookie I can imagine what a lot of the business men and women in this audience are thinking. 

Can I afford to invest my time in this? What exactly am I going to get from it? 

Successful business people throughout Britain DO understand the value of getting involved- to improve their local area as a place to live… as a place to work… as a place to invest in… and as a place where people want to visit.  

For instance our speakers here today expect to get a return on the time they’ve given up. Like most of you, they live and work in this county. So do their employees. If it feels like a great place to live and work… if they hold their heads up confidently to clients or anybody else they come in contact with and believe they are lucky to be based here… and if there are good economic reasons to be here… then your business is probably going to benefit. 

The question is- can we do anything about it? I’ll come back to this.

But there are other reasons to get involved too.

We all know what a tough and sometimes lonely experience it is running a business. Long hours, ongoing problems, tough decisions- it all tests our resolve. Its not always easy to share your challenges with your employees. Sometimes you need to think outside of the box. Find a fresh perspective on things. It can help to feel part of a business community. Share problems, ideas or solutions with people in the same boat as you. 

Today I want to move us closer to being part of a business community. I want LSEP to help facilitate this in the future. To help each of you build the contacts that can help your business grow.

The key focus of our attention today though is to ensure we input our thoughts and ideas into Leicestershire’s Economic Strategy.

This is opportunity time- an opportunity for you to help make a difference - It’s also opportunity time for our county too. It’s not hard to appreciate the signs that something quite marvellous is happening here. The cranes across the skyline of the city… the impressive growth of business across NW Leicestershire… the science and innovation parks… the growth in the creative sector… manufacturing holding firm… exciting new retail developments…  

There is a wave of optimism that we must ensure does not turn to complacency. This is something we can build on. 

So we need your help. Not just today- but to develop a relationship we can all benefit from.

As most companies in Leicestershire are owner managed SMEs, its difficult for any CEO to take time out. If they do take the risk, their time must yield results. 

LSEP must ensure this happens.

There seem to be so many organisations moving towards a socio-economic agenda. They’re given budgets to put on events. The events make mighty claims about what they are going to achieve. People come and listen- speakers make big promises. And invariably, delegates go away and forget. This is very fortunate for speakers, as of course, the promises often never happen. The next time they raise their heads above the parapet, there’s perhaps a new audience awaiting or maybe the same audience with a mild case of amnesia.  

Those of us at LSEP must stop this now. 

There is a danger today that you will listen, contribute and no further interaction will take place. Its always difficult when initiatives are forced on people via public sector money. There’s often not enough driven ownership of it to make people want to go the extra mile to making things happen. An organisation like Leicester Business Voice has been effective in setting out a business point of view. It has organically grown by a team of people who want to do something off their own back with a genuine sense of interest that is sufficient to motivate them to put the effort in. 

As a new Chairman off LSEP, I know we have a challenge on our hands. We ask for honesty. Cards on the table. LSEP must define its role. 

Fundamentally, LSEP must help us all better understand the local economy we work in. If we understand it- we can improve it. We need to identify the main drivers of that economy. What makes it tick?

LSEP must be a proactive mediator between the public sector and the private sector. Many will say that because it is publicly funded, it will always feel more responsible to its paymasters. But it has to more proactively help the business sector have a route to consultation with local authorities and other public bodies. That’s a tough role to fulfil.

To me, most of the problem stems from a mutual lack of understanding between the different parties. The type of language used can often put up barriers. 

Some of you believe that there is a vacuum in terms of political leadership. You may not understand the way councils work and are really uninterested in the differences between Leicester City and Leicestershire County Councils. Indeed, many will be confused or bemused by today’s attempt to separate Leicester and Shire in today’s Leicester Shire Day event. 

LSEP must help all parties to consider cultural differences and how to ensure they don’t get in the way of valuable progress being made. 

And LSEP itself wants you as members. It needs your involvement not just to drive forward the Economic Strategy, but to help us turn this into a deliverable business plan.

We also need a flexible mechanism for ongoing consultation. We are going to present an innovative use of technology to help us do this later this morning. As you will see, it’s a mechanism that allows people to collaborate as much or as little as they have time for- but allows everyone to keep right up to date with how things are progressing.

Today must not be just another talking shop. I want businesses to come to an event like this because they perceive that it will make a difference. You as business people must feel you make a difference too. We must be clear about the purpose of this and future events. At the end of the event, people must decide whether the purpose has been achieved. 

And what are the benefits to companies in getting it right. Companies today operate in a very competitive global marketplace. Anything that helps reduce our competitiveness costs “us”. Today, international business is so cost sensitive. 

All counties across the country are working to get their act together too. We have to do it better than they do if we are going to give our companies any form of competitive advantage. 

Success is not something we are entitled to- its something we have to work at. 

So for all those people out there who think that their lone voice is not going to make any difference, watch this space.