A review of our year by Chris Starkie, Chief Executive of New Anglia LEP

“We’ve had a lot of activity and some real impact. The past year, looking back, has been very much about renewing and rebuilding the region’s future economic resilience as  restrictions were lifted and as the economy reopened, providign support to businesses but also relaying the foundations for longer-term sustainable growth. 

“We launched a five-year strategic plan to reposition our Enterprise Zones to drive clean growth and innovation and link the Enterprise Zone sites with our innovation clusters and hubs in a more connected way. We are seeing a great deal of demand for these sites, particularly along the busy A14 corridor as demand for commercial units and warehousing rises.  Although economic growth and a number of business sectors continue to be impacted by various external factors, during 2021-22 our Enterprise Zones reported 480 direct jobs, supported 17 new businesses, made ready 21ha of development land and realised £42.6 million capital investment.  All business rates growth generated by these zones are retained by the LEP and local partners for 25 years to reinvest in local economic growth.  The success of our Enterprise Zones also means we have been well positioned to play a key role in the bid for and then the development of a new Freeport for Felixstowe and Harwich, which offer the prospect and opportunity for more inward investment, jobs and growth over the coming years.  

“A key part of Norfolk & Suffolk’s resilience and ability to fulfil its potential is the availability of a skilled workforce. This is particularly critical in sectors which are growing such as digital, so it was a real priority for us and therefore fantastic to see state-of-the-art new facilities supporting digi-tech at City College Norwich, the University of Suffolk’s new centre at Adastral Park and new facilities at Suffolk New College in Ipswich. All three of these projects were made possible through our Growth Deal with Government and will help to ensure we have a pipeline of skills to support our burgeoning digi-tech sector in the coming years. 

“Some of the projects we helped to fund will also provide a boost to the region’s culture and tourism sector. The new visitor centre at Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve near Lowestoft, opened by the Princess Royal, is a great excellent example of this and, of course, the Marina Centre on Great Yarmouth’s iconic seafront, which opened just a few weeks ago. 

“Our business advisors New Anglia Growth Hub have continued to provide invaluable support to local companies, helping them access funding through our Growth Through Innovation Fund, Small Grant Scheme and Road to Net Zero grants. More than 200 businesses have also benefited from our Peer to Peer Network, a national initiative for ambitious SME leaders, while our Scale Up New Anglia programme has also supported dozens more business owners with ambitious plans for growth. Supporting businesses will continue to be at the heart of the LEP’s plans as we move forward.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has worked with us: our staff, our board who have given their time for free, and in particular our local authority, education, voluntary and private sector partners, simply without whom none of this would have been possible.”