South: Solent LEP on the hunt for new director candidates

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

The board, which takes responsibility for shaping economic strategy in the region, including the development of a £2.4 billion Strategic Economic Plan, is made up of business, education and local authority members and was the first LEP in the country to have a fully-elected board of directors.

It is specifically seeking applications from business leaders working in the marine and maritime sector to replace the expertise of Doug Morrison and Rory Fisher, who have moved on from their LEP roles in the past year.

Gary Jeffries, chairman of the Solent LEP, said: "There are some big shoes to fill in this regard, but we are in a strong position to build on growing momentum in developing the sector; with resource available through our newly-established Marine and Maritime Steering Group.

“It is an exciting time to join the board, with the LEP having recently signed a £124.6 million local growth deal which will help us start to create 15,500 new jobs, 1,000 new businesses and 24,000 homes by 2020.  I hope that we will receive many strong applications from what is a dynamic and innovative business community."

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.

Any individuals interested in applying for a role on the board, or companies interested in membership, should visit the website: www.solentlep.org.uk

The deadline for applications is September 19, 2014.