New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Confirmed)
25th November 2020
Present:
Kathy Atkinson (KA)
Kettle Foods
Sam Chapman-Allen (SC)
Breckland Council
David Ellesmere (DE)
Ipswich Borough Council
C-J Green (CJG)
Brave Goose
John Griffiths (JG)
West Suffolk Council
Matthew Hicks (MH)
Suffolk County Council
Pete Joyner (PJ)
Shorthose Russell
Dominic Keen (DK)
Britbots
Helen Langton (HL)
University of Suffolk
Steve Oliver (SO)
MLM Group
Corrienne Peasgood (CP)
Norwich City College
Andrew Proctor (AP)
Norfolk County Council
Alan Waters (AW)
Norwich City Council
Jeanette Wheeler (JW)
Birketts
Attendees
Dan Greeves (DG)
Pegasus Welfare Solutions - For Item 2
Shan LLoyd (SL)
BEIS
Jai Raithatha (JR)
Suffolk County Council
Vince Muspratt (VM)
Norfolk County Council
Chris Starkie (CS)
New Anglia LEP
Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)
New Anglia LEP
Helen Wilton (HW)
New Anglia LEP
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Actions from the meeting: (25.11.20)
Economic Recovery Restart Plan Progress Report
Sources of visitors to the vacancy page on the New Anglia Web site to be circulated
CS
Insolvency advice to be provided to the Growth Hub
RW
1
Welcome from the Chair
CJ Green (CJG) thanked everyone for joining noting that the second lockdown will have caused
additional pressures on some sectors.
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Presentation from Dan Greeves, CEO of Pegasus Welfare Solutions
CJG welcomed Dan Greeves (DG), CEO of Pegasus Welfare Solutions which received £25,400 from
the Business Resilience and Recovery Scheme to support the development of sanitary units for
companies working offshore.
DG provided the board on the background to the company highlighting its aims of attracting more
women into the offshore wind industry and increasing productivity.
The board learnt that all units are constructed in Norfolk with extensive use of the local supply chain
and DG thanked the LEP for the financial support it had provided which allowed the company to
develop and launch a new unit. This is a world first and allows self-contained toilets to be fitted into
wind turbines and enquiries have already been received from 5 of the 6 main developers in the UK.
DG confirmed that the LEP support had been game-changing and had given the company the
confidence to relocate to new premises allowing take on 3 more staff and expand the product line.
Benefits had also been received from the media promotion provided by the LEP.
DG advised that the next stage was development of data collection on the units which will reduce the
need for site visits with large cost saving implications. He confirmed that they were also linking up with
other companies on the new site and worked closely with the UEA to reach staff with the required
skills.
CJG thanked DG for his presentation and he left the meeting.
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Apologies
Apologies were received from Claire Cullens, Johnathan Reynolds and Tim Whitley.
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Declarations of Interest
None
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Actions/Minutes from the last Meeting
The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 21st October 2020.
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Inward Investment Delivery Plan
Chris Starkie (CS) presented the paper highlighting the team’s partnership working with
colleagues across Norfolk and Suffolk and recent successes including the purchase of the
Philips Avent site in Sudbury by GCB.
Jeanette Wheeler (JW) noted that following the recent ministerial roundtable proposed linking
with colleagues from the OxCam arc to investigate companies looking to expand outside that
area and that the team could investigate the opportunities his presented.
CS agreed and confirmed that the team work closely with partners from local authorities,
universities and the Department of Trade.
CS reviewed the six workstreams through which the team delivers:
Identification of market need
Identification of market offer
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Communicating/promoting the market offer
Partnership development
Support retention, development, and expansion of existing local businesses
Systems development/management
The meeting discussed the rationale for GCB’s investment and which including offering an
existing building rather than a new build.
CS confirmed that the Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited (NSU) site included a property index and
agreed that having details of those properties available for repurposing would be beneficial as
this region did not always have the funding available to support new builds as in other areas.
Andrew Proctor (AP) noted the difficulty in setting targets for inward investment and asked if
the offshore wind investment should be highlighted given the importance of the sector for the
region.
CS agreed that it was challenging to set KPIs in the current climate but confirmed that these
would be developed during 2021.
Pete Joyner (PJ) asked whether there was evidence that the NSU brand was helping in
bringing in enquiries. CS advised that it was difficult to ascertain whether this was the sole
factor but agreed that it helped in raising the profile of the region and to position it alongside
the offers from the other regions.
CS noted that the NSU brand had been very well received by the DIT and provided them with
a simple and precise image of the area had supported them around the world.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
To endorse the proposed Inward Investment Delivery Plan
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Economic Recovery Restart Plan Progress Report
CS presented the progress report which has been designed to sit alongside the original plan
and included updates on the major programmes and successes.
CJG asked if there was any evidence on the sources of visitors to the site. CS confirmed that
work was being done to trace sources and this would be shared to board members.
ACTION: Sources of visitors to the vacancy page on the New Anglia Web site to be circulated
CS
JW proposed providing information to anyone facing redundancy due to insolvency and
suggested compiling a fact sheet to signpost to further support.
CS noted that work was ongoing to scale up local support, support start ups and also support
companies facing insolvency and agreed that Government support has kept insolvency rates
low at the current time but were likely to increase in 2021.
ACTION: Insolvency advice to be provided to the Growth Hub
RW
PJ asked if any sectors were being prioritised for support. CS advised that challenge was to
help those sectors not normally supported such as retail but that the LEP was considering all
areas funding being provided by Government and by all partners and is therefore focussing
on those sectors who have not received any support.
SO asked if other sub-boards were adjusting future plans to account for the plan. CS
confirmed that this was the aim and he was aware that the Innovation Board and Cultural
Board were doing so.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
To note the progress that has been made against the interventions in the Economic
Recovery Restart Plan and approve its publication
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8
EU Exit / End of Transition Period Report - Confidential
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
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Chief Executive’s Report
CS highlighted key items in the Chief Executive’s report including the open letter sent to
Prime Minister in response to the Ten Point Green Recovery plan and the Peer to Peer
Network which is proving successful with over 70 business included so far most of which are
new engagements.
CS presented the video produced by the LEP highlighted 3 of the companies which had
received BR&R grants and the impact that the grant had made.
CS noted that the recent ministerial roundtable had again proved successful and confirmed
that Government are keen to do more.
JW noted that these provided an opportunity to pitch directly to Government and the LEP
should exploit this opportunity at any future ones.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
10
November Performance Reports
Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) presented the reports to the Board and highlighted key items.
Growth Deal - RW noted that the pandemic has caused delays for some projects therefore
delivery and spend are rated amber. Outputs remain green as it is anticipated they will be
met. A rollover of around £18m is predicted.
RW explained the approach for relocating funding if not spent by individual projects.
The meeting reviewed the programme dashboards.
Helen Langton (HL) noted the significant impact of the pandemic on apprenticeships and
noted that these would not be recover until 2022.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the reports
To approve the Growth Deal dashboard
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Board Forward Plan
RW presented the board forward plan and asked for any requests to further items to be
submitted to Helen Wilton.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the plan
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Any Other Business
CS advised that he would be receiving a briefing on the Comprehensive Spending Review at
the end the day and he would be circulate this to board members.
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