New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)

21^st July 2020

Present:

Sam Chapman-Allen (SC)

Breckland Council

Claire Cullens (CC)

Norfolk Community Foundation

David Ellesmere (DE)

Ipswich Borough Council

Doug Field (DF)

East of England Coop

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

Steve Oliver (SO)

MLM Group

Corrienne Peasgood (CP)

Norwich City College

Andrew Proctor (AP)

Norfolk County Council

Johnathan Reynolds (JR)

Opergy

Alan Waters (AW)

Norwich City Council

Jeanette Wheeler (JW)

Birketts

Tim Whitley (TW)

Attendees

Louise Aynsley (LA)

S151 Officer, Suffolk County Council

Vince Muspratt (VM)

Norfolk County Council

Shan Lloyd (SL)

BEIS

Julian Munson (JM)

New Anglia LEP for Item 6

Chris Starkie (CS)

New Anglia LEP

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW)

New Anglia LEP

Helen Wilton (HW)

New Anglia LEP

Actions from the meeting: (23.06.20)

None

Welcome from the Chair

Doug Field (DF) welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies

Apologies were received from Sandy Ruddock and Helen Langton.

Declarations of Interest

None

Full declarations of interest can be found at http://www.newanglia.co.uk/about-us/the-board.

Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting held on 23^rd June 2020.

Chris Starkie (CS) reviewed the actions from the last Board meeting and confirmed that all

actions from the last meeting had been completed.

LEP Response to COVID-19

CS presented the paper to the board noting that this is will be the last paper where the

Covid-19 response is provided separately and in future it will be incorporated into the Chief

Executive’s Report.

Key items were highlighted to the board.

Getting Building Fund - CS provided an update on the submission to the detailing New

Anglia’s allocation of £32.1m.

R&R: The fund has been very successful with £1.3m awarded covering a wide range of

businesses and a healthy pipeline in place.

Workforce: Work has been ongoing to understand the range of schemes available and a

script will be produced for businesses to use. An initial meeting has been held with key

partners and a Job Support programme is being established. Work is also being carried

out to identify and engage with companies with large numbers of staff on furlough and

which are at risk of making redundancies.

PPE: the database has been expanded to include cleaning products and other support for

businesses opening up and BEIS is now referring businesses to the database.

Peer to Peer: BEIS are progressing this project and have asked for numbers of companies

being invited. New Anglia will be engaging with 250-300 businesses.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Visitor Economy Recovery Plan

Julian Munson (JM) presented the paper highlighting the impact the pandemic is currently

having and is predicted to have in the future and provided an overview of the process

which has been carried out to produce the plan.

The work has been carried out in collaboration with partners and provides a strategic

approach which promotes all areas of the region not just the more well known coastal

areas.

The improved and increased use of innovation and technology were also highlighted as

they will be used to better effect to target potential visitors to the region.

Claire Cullens (CC) noted that improved transport links were vital to encouraging more

tourists. JM confirmed that this was a 6 month plan which could not address large scale

infrastructure projects but that the importance of this was noted and was continuing to be

promoted as key.

Pete Joyner (PJ) highlighted the LEP’s success in bringing the key partners together to

produce the plan. He noted that support for businesses was important but that the LEP

should also be ambitious in its aims in projects which will attract tourists to the region.

Matthew Hicks (MH) asked if the DMOs had approved the plan. JM confirmed that they

had all been involved in its compilation and signed off but that promotion was key to its

success.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

• To approve the Visitor Economy Recovery Plan

Large Company Grant Scheme: CONFIDENTIAL

Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Scheme

CS provided the board with an update on the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer scheme which

has been operating since December 2019 and informed them that, to date, 37 transfers have

taken place to date, with a further 11 in the pipeline pending recruitment with a total monetary

value of over £300k.

The Board was advised that the pandemic has significantly reduced the numbers of

apprenticeships available and there are concerns that some of those on furlough will be

made redundant. The coordinator will therefore also be supporting redundant/at risk

apprentices and working with stakeholders to rebuild apprenticeship numbers and advocate

their value to the business community.

DF noted that the Coop had transferred some of its Apprenticeship Levy to the Scheme.

Corrienne Peasgood (CP) backed the support being given to apprentices facing redundancy

and CC asked board colleagues for their support in transferring any unused levy to the

scheme.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Continuing Business

Rosanne Wijnberg (RW) presented the report and highlighted key issues specifically noting

that the pandemic has impacted on issuing offer letters to recipients from the Innovative

Projects Fund but most projects are still progressing and, given that this is a New Anglia

fund there is no set deadline.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Capital Budget - Confidential

July Performance Reports

RW presented the July Project Performance Reports.

The meeting was advised that the New Anglia Capital report has been postponed as work

is still ongoing on the review of its investments to assess the impact of the pandemic on

performance.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Management Accounts

RW presented details of Q1 2020 and highlighted key areas.

It was noted that that 1/3 of the grant income had been delayed following the change in the

allocation process and was expected in September.

Recharges are down as less money has been spent on events.

Wages & salaries are below budget as there are some vacancies and Keith Spanton has

not been replaced on a like for like basis.

Motor expense & room hire costs are down. Some of these are part of core operations

and some are for programmes which will be reflected in a corresponding reduction in

income.

General expenses have been allocated across the year but some invoices have been

received during Q1 such as LEP Network membership.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the report

Board Forward Plan

CS noted the August meeting had been booked which would have a reduced agenda to

include the 19/20 Accounts and a Chief Executive’s report which would now include the

Covid-10 update.

DF noted that planning had begun on the AGM which would be held virtually.

CS asked for any requests for board items to be submitted to him.

JR asked whether Brexit would be included as a separate item. CS confirmed that this will

be included in the Chief Executive’s report unless key issues arose.

The Board agreed:

• To note the content of the plan

Any Other Business

JR noted that the roundtable session with Nadim Zahawi was very positive and New Anglia had

once again been able to table questions which were addressed by the Minister.

New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Board

Wednesday 26^th August 2020

Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

Author: Chris Starkie

Summary

This report provides an overview of LEP team activities since the July board.

It incorporates both Covid-19 specific activity and business as usual.

The report is split into five parts, reflecting different strands of LEP activity:

1) Programmes

2) Strategy

3) Industry Councils, sector groups and external partnerships

4) Engagement and promotion

5) Governance, Operations and Finance

The media dashboard is attached as an appendix to the report.

Highlights

Continued good progress being made in the delivery of the LEP’s flagship C-19 support

programme the Business Resilience and Recovery Fund.

47 awards have now been awarded totalling £1.811m. Total projects value of £4.392m.

The New Anglia Growth Hub has now handled more than 1,500 C-19 enquiries from

businesses resulting in almost 4,000 hours of one to one support from advisers.

Levels of enquiries dropped off during July but have ramped up significantly ahead of the launch

of a new grants for Tourism and SME businesses. However, our funding allocation from

Government is unlikely to meet demand.

We have asked for an increase in this allocation and are looking at other ways to support the

businesses.

Peer to Peer Network New Anglia LEP has been awarded a budget of up to £345,000 to deliver

a Peer to Peer Network which will provide 250 businesses with a 21 hours programme of

business support delivered by experienced business facilitators.

Enterprise Zones. A topping out ceremony will be held on August 27^th for the new building on

the Norwich Research Park Enterprise Zone. The building is a joint venture between South

Norfolk Council and the LEP. A legal agreement with the planned tenant is closed to being

signed.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Job Support programme. This new programme, part of the restart

plan, will be launched at the start of September.

The campaign will reach out to businesses offering a health check via the Growth Hub and to

promote the services and support for business both looking to increase or reduce staffing.

RESTART Festival. The festival on September 29^th and 30th is free for any business to watch

and will deliver practical training sessions, inspirational business speakers, new ideas and timely

case studies.

Using innovative new technology delivered by a Suffolk event AV company, the two day virtual

event will be livecast across two channels on both days, with hosts in socially-distanced green

screen studios facilitating panel discussions, live Q&As and short training sessions.

Recommendation

The board is asked to note the contents of the report

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Wednesday 26^th August 2020

Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

1) LEP Programmes

Business Resilience and Recovery Scheme

The LEP’s flagship C-19 response programme the Business Resilience and Recovery Scheme is

continuing to see a strong pipeline of applications and approvals.

Our requirement for match funding and clearly structured business plans is ensuring that high

quality applications are continuing to come forward, from a range of sectors and right across

Norfolk and Suffolk.

The majority of applications are being approved, however some bids have been refused or

reduced in scope.

Reasons for rejection include:

1 No clear evidence that the business has been impacted by C-19.

2 A business as usual project being put forward - no evidence of how the funding would be used

to adapt to opportunities or threats of C-19

3 Funding not required. The business clearly has the funds in place and does not need the grant

- in other words the project would happen anyway.

To date 47 businesses have been supported with total grants of £1.811m and private match of

£2.581m committed, giving projects with a total value of £4.392m.

Investment in these 47 businesses will create 33 FTEs and safeguard 1,188.

Of the 47 businesses supported, 27 are in Norfolk (£998,386) and 20 are in Suffolk (£812,808).

Confidential

Another four applications are currently with the panel for decision and 11 are going through the

due diligence process. Together these 15 proposals have a potential grant value of £578,820,

when added to those already approved, the total grant value amounts to £2,390,014.

This means that awarded projects and those in the due diligence pipeline account for 68% of the

available fund.

The programme will be extended through additional funding secured through the Getting Building

Fund.

Peer to Peer Network

New Anglia LEP has been awarded up to £345,000 by Government to deliver a peer to peer

network for 250 businesses.

The project is part of the Government’s Productivity Review which found that peer to peer

networks can significantly improve the performance of businesses.

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Wednesday 26^th August 2020

Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

The project will be managed by the LEP and delivered by the New Anglia Growth Hub, and run

between September 2020 and March 2021.

Businesses will be split into cohorts of 11, with a dedicated facilitator running eight sessions over

a total of 21 hours of support.

Each business will also be entitled to half a day of one to one support.

The Growth Hub will be recruiting three coordinators to organise the 23 cohorts of businesses

and we will be advertising for facilitators to run the sessions which will cover key areas of

business growth such as marketing, HR, and tech adoption.

The programme complements the LEP’s Scale Up programme which provides a more intense

programme for a smaller cohort of businesses, and will be ideal for those business managers not

quite ready for the Scale up programme.

Business Growth Programme

New Anglia Growth Hub

The Growth Hub has handled more than 1,500 Covid-19 related enquiries since the start of the

outbreak in mid-March. The individual queries have as expected been complex, with businesses

experiencing multiple challenges. Just under 4,000 hours of one to one support has been

delivered by the GH advisers to these businesses.

Visitor economy and SME grants scheme

Whilst call volumes reduced during July - the Government announcement of a new grant

scheme to support the Visitor Economy and wider economy (offering grants between £1,000 and

£3,000 to SMEs) has generated just under 2,000 enquiries, which the Growth Hub are now

working to process.

The scheme will be delivered by the LEP through the Growth Hub and will go live towards the

end of August.

The 2,000 enquiries have come before we have even launched the scheme.

The amount of funding we have been allocated (£586,000) will be nowhere near enough to meet

demand - it will enable us to offer around 200 grants.

We have requested additional funding from Government and will be referring applicants to other

LEP programmes as well as partner programmes.

Small Grant Scheme

We continue to receive applications to the Small Grant Scheme, with just under 300 grants

awarded to date, however, the number of applicants has slowed in recent weeks.

Start up programme

The number of people coming forward seeking support to start their own business has continued

to increase and Nwes and Menta are providing a range of virtual based workshops and one to

one sessions.

Growth through Innovation

Since the 1^st April, ten projects have been approved, totalling £192k, which is well towards our

£483k target by the end of March 2021. The average grant value approved to date remains just

under £20k. Our pipeline of potential applications looks healthy, with £375k worth of projects

under development.

Growing Business Fund

Interest in the GBF continues, particularly from the manufacturing sector. As of the end of July

we have approved £636k worth of projects and have a further £1.2m of applications going

through the due diligence process and a further three applications valuing £930k at development

stage with the Growth Hub.

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Wednesday 26^th August 2020

Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

Eastern Agri-tech Initiative

Interest is this scheme continues, with three new applications coming forward in June for

processing totalling £260k, and a further four in the pipeline, which we hope to see approved in

the next month. We continue our work with CPCA to ensure that funding is fully allocated and

drawn down by applicants by the end of March 2021.

Growing Places Fund

Many projects continue to develop well - Norwich Castle has just claimed £0.5m on its Castle

Keep transformation project, Gainsboroughs House is in full construction mode for the

improvements to the museum and the Saxmundham Creative Enterprise Hub has started the

refurbishment of the GPO Exchange building on the High Street in the town.

Several projects that are in the process of receiving Growing Places Fund grants from the LEP

have experienced delays and increased costs due to Covid 19 and are subject to review by the

LEP Executive team and Investment Appraisal Committee. This review includes whether the

projects will meet their spend profiles and/or whether the LEP can provide additional support to

these projects to help them with immediate post Covid 19 recovery.

New Anglia Capital - Confidential

LEP Innovative Projects Fund

Innovative Projects Fund 1 (2018 Call) - £500,000.

IPF 1 Summary: Seven projects supported, with a combined allocation and commitment of £539k.

An amount of £28,616 has been claimed so far in this financial year, bringing the spend to date to

£168,617. Local Authority match funding of £63k and Private match funding of £106k has been

recorded.

One project is now complete and five other projects have either submitted claims or have agreed

dates for claims, meaning these projects remain on course, albeit in some cases delayed in the

main due to C-19.

The final project - Norfolk County Council’s ‘Building Supply Chain Skills Capacity’ project has been

affected by COVID-19 restrictions. The project builds on the opportunities presented by Vattenfall’s

Offshore Wind construction programme. However, delays in obtaining ministerial permission for

the development and in local highways consultations, has meant that the project leader is now

looking at other construction projects that the supply chain can look to support. A progress meeting

is scheduled in Mid-August.

Innovative Projects Fund (2019 Call) - £1.5m

IPF2 Summary: 18 projects with a combined allocation of £1.472m.

Nine projects now have their Grant Offer Letters and have commenced. £15,674 has been claimed

so far in this financial year. Private match funding of £10,450 has been recorded.

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Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

Project Status:

 TCHC’s VG Incubator has submitted its first claim. 1 new FTE job and 1 PTE job have been

created. 15 learners have joined the programme.

 Claims for the remaining eight projects (with Offer Letters) are expected anytime between

now and mid-October.

 A further five projects are awaiting their Offer Letters from SCC.

The remaining three projects are being reviewed and re-profiled in view of current circumstances.

The Ipswich Cornhill project (events) has been returned to the IAC with a revised proposal.

Growth Deal (Capital Growth Programme)

Work on the development of Productivity East, a new regional hub for engineering, technology

and management at UEA recommenced in late June 2020 following delays because of Covid-19.

Although all workstreams are still making progress, health restrictions and co-ordination between

contractors carrying out other necessary works will delay completion and occupation of facilities

by approximately 3 months.

A new Productivity East webpage is due to launch at the end of August 2020. Key features

include a one-stop shop for information on, and access to, business solutions, facilities,

education and training opportunities. Work is ongoing to define what continuous professional

development will be offered.

The Lowestoft Flood Risk Management Project secured an award of approximately £43.5m

from the Government, the largest single award to any scheme in the country.

Anglian Water began ground investigations in June to confirm which water and sewage pipes

would need to be moved or diverted to allow the flood protection scheme to continue.

With planning permissions in place and the anticipated completion of ongoing ground

investigations in August 2020, the project is expected to move into an accelerated delivery mode.

Communications and engagement works will also significantly increase, with the project team

planning a ground-breaking event likely to be held in late September to mark the start of

construction of tidal elements.

Enterprise Zones

Enterprise Zones - Confidential

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Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

Inward investment

Enquiries

The team received two new projects needing a response this month and received reports of a

successful project that landed during the Covid Crisis.

As at 11/08/20 we have 15 enquiries in progress. 22 proposals have been submitted to date in

2020.

Department for International Trade:

The High Potential Opportunity (HPO) which was focused on healthy ageing and the Norwich

Research Park was unsuccessful.

Feedback recognised the strength of the cluster and viability for investment due to research and

academia assets, but pointed to the broad scope of the application and need for a more precise

definition of the commercial opportunity for it to have been a suitable nomination.

The team is due to meet with DIT to understand the outcome and it looks likely the proposal can

be refined and resubmitted in the autumn.

Norfolk and Suffolk key companies list

As part of the development of the Invest Norfolk & Suffolk inward investment service, the team is

developing a list of the key businesses in Norfolk and Suffolk to ensure the LEP, DIT and local

authority colleagues have a clear and consistent approach to working with our biggest employers

and in particular our foreign owned businesses.

The Invest Norfolk & Suffolk team have shared details with all Norfolk districts of the companies

in their area which are either already on the One List of DIT key accounts or which are

considered to be suitable candidates. Review calls with each District are being scheduled over

the next month.

The Suffolk list of key business accounts is nearing initial finalisation, and following review by

LEP colleagues, will be shared with Suffolk districts.

Promotion and profile-raising:

EEEZ energy sector marketing: Delivery Group meeting 9 July, procurement of new brand

management supplier undertaken, Invest Norfolk & Suffolk staff participated in Global Offshore

Wind virtual event 22 & 23 July

Further development on Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited website: property search and report builder

launched https://www.norfolksuffolkunlimited.co.uk/commercial-property-map &

https://www.norfolksuffolkunlimited.co.uk/report-builder/

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Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

2) Strategy

Economic Recovery

Good progress is being made in delivering the Economic Recovery Restart plan. Each part of the

plan has been now been picked up by existing groups, industry council and sub boards with

delivery plans updated.

The Economic Recovery Group met for the first time on 10^th August and will oversee the

implementation of the Economic Recovery Restart plan and provide direction on the day to day

development of the Economic Recovery Renew plan. A Restart progress update will be

presented to the LEP board in November along with a proposal on the approach to the Renew

plan.

The LEP are considering local and sector lock downs and developing plans ensure the LEP and

Growth Hub can respond effectively as well as put in place mitigating actions to try and minimis

impact were possible on the local economy. The LEP remains involved with both Norfolk and

Suffolk Resilience Forums and Health Protection Boards representing business and the

economy.

Economic Indicators Dashboard

The LEP is working with NODA, SODA, and Metro Dynamics to develop an updated set of

economic indicators which will incorporate new, relevant metrics (e.g. Furlough figures, universal

credit claims,) alongside some of the more usual indicators such as employment rates, wages,

and GVA. We are also exploring some options for incorporating a selection of metrics around the

progress towards achieving clean and inclusive growth. We are working to try to reflect our best

understanding of what the likely impacts of both Brexit and Covid are likely to be on the local

economy.

We are working with Metro Dynamics to develop a web-based dashboard which will set out a

revision of longer-term economic growth projections and indicators. This will be open to all

partners and provide live and up to date economic data.

Brexit

At the latest BEIS Transition Business Readiness Forum on 23 July, government officials set out

the latest information/guidance for businesses. Many changes will be required at the end of 2020

regardless of the outcome of the negotiations given the UK will no longer be part of the Single

Market or Customs Union. A major new communications campaign has been launched to run

alongside the negotiation which will indicate changes businesses need to make and the

opportunities that lie ahead. Government is seeking views on the long-term plan for the UK’s

border and the trading of goods and services across the UK’s nations.

Skills and Employment

Job Support Programme

The Redundancy Support Programme has been renamed the Norfolk and Suffolk Job Support

Programme to better reflect that it will be supporting people in work or education and looking for

work or education. A wide range of partners including DWP have been working to put in place the

tools and information and are amin to launch a campaign to promote the programme on 1^st

September.

The Job Support Campaign will reach out to businesses offering a health check via the Growth

Hub and to promote the services and support for business both looking to increase or reduce

staffing.

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Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

Programme will evolve over time as more support and services come on board or are identified

currently it includes:

 A Web based triage system to sign post to support and services providing tailored

information to the individual.

 Job support pack - one-pager infographic sheets with information on schemes and

support e.g. self-employed, apprenticeships etc

 Programme of webinars

 Timeline to outline when key schemes e.g. DWP’s Kick Start will be launched and when

business can expect more information.

We are also exploring how we implement a matching process - identifying new job opportunities

and matching with companies that are looking to make redundancy with similar skill set.

European Funding Programmes

ERDF funding

The remaining funds in the ERDF funding programme have been largely allocated to Covid

response initiatives, including the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund, which has seen £1.5m

funding channelled through Norfolk and Suffolk Districts for projects starting this summer.

The LEP continues to raise the issue of continuation funding for the Growth Hub, whose current

funding ends in 2021, with Government.

ESF funding

The ESF funded projects which are currently live are now on the LEP website. Several further

projects are due to launch in the autumn.

The LEP has submitted three Call requests worth £5m for consideration as part of the ESF

National Reserve Fund process. We expect to hear soon whether they have been approved and

further calls in Norfolk and Suffolk will go live in September.

Infrastructure

Transforming Cities

While DfT continues to review the Transforming Cities submission it was announced at the end of

July they have formally approved funding for Tombland to enable Transport for Norwich to

progress work on this key city centre project.

Transport East

Transport East held its second forum of 2020 on the 22^nd July (Full papers can be found here)

with a range of updates including:

 Summary of progress since April on the 100-day plan

 Presentation of the Communications Plan for Transport East

 COVID-19 recovery: Transport East work programme

 Recommendations for Transport East from the KPMG Decarbonisation report

Ely Task Force

Ely Task Force met on the 30^th July where network rail updated on the programme and timeline.

Positively ground investigation surveys have commenced despite challenges with social

distancing regulations. Task force agreed to produce an assumptions log meaning all members

are clear about what is included within the core scope of the project. The LEP attended a

separate meeting on communications and agreed to promoting project consultation events to

achieve widest engagement.

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Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

There will be a specific item at the next Transport Board on Ely and the communication actions

the Transport Board can lead to support the project.

Broadband

The Suffolk Broadband and Digital Connectivity Working Group updated in July that the Better

Broadband for Suffolk Programme is ahead of delivery plan targets and is now expected to be

completed by September 2020. Superfast coverage in Suffolk has now reached 96.68% and

coverage in the county for speeds of 30Mbps> now stands at 95.87%. As the deployment is now

focussed on FTTP connections in rural parts of the county, the increases in the coverage

percentage will be slower but Suffolk’s coverage is very much in line with counties of similar size

and rurality.

Housing

The 2020 Norfolk Housing Monitoring Report is due to be published shortly noting 4,826 houses

were built in Norfolk in 2018/19, an increase of 1,282 houses since the previous year, 1,092 of

these were affordable homes. The largest increase was recorded by Norwich City Council with

927 dwellings completed. Four district councils, Breckland, Broadland, Norwich and South

Norfolk delivered more houses in 2018/19 than the Local Housing Need figure, which is the

minimum number of houses required to be built each year.

3) Industry Councils, sector groups and external partnerships

LEP Innovation Board

Work is progressing well on implementation of the Innovation Board Delivery Plan. Several

projects are now underway, including the Innovation Mentoring Programme, led by Norfolk

County Council, which seeks to match interested businesses with mentoring support or

innovation funding such as Innovate UK.

The Board also endorsed a bid to the Norfolk Strategic Fund for a ‘Connected Innovation’ project

which aims to link up all the innovation centres with additional business support and cross-sector

events activity. The Innovation Team have also been supporting the Cambridge Norwich Tech

Corridor with the Funding Fit workshops, delivering focussed session on specific Innovate UK

funding calls.

The Innovation Board met in July for an extraordinary meeting to discuss the role of innovation in

economic recovery and clean growth and will be working closely with the LEP executive to

ensure that major innovation and transformational projects form a part of the Renew Recovery

Plan going forward.

Agri-Food Industry Council

The LEP is currently working with Savills to undertake an intelligence and feasibility project for

the sector. The project, which will produce a data set of companies in Norfolk and Suffolk, will

look at emerging food trends and opportunities in order to provide greater understanding and

evidence of areas of specialism, gaps or weak points, relationships and opportunities, to help

strengthen value chains in the sector.

In addition, the study will consider the best way to capitalise on the public interest in local food as

a result of the pandemic. Investigating different models of local branding and distribution, such as

Taste the West, it will provide a set of recommendations for the LEP and Agri-Food Industry

Council to take forward. The final report is due in September and will feed into the Inward

Investment Team’s work as well as the Recovery Renew Plan.

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Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

Sector Groups

Visitor Economy

Following endorsement by the LEP Board, the Visitor Economy Recovery Plan was published in

July, setting out the short-term actions needed to restart the sector.

The Plan, which was a collaborative effort led by the LEP and Visit East of England (VEE), was

endorsed by all the Local Authorities and DMOs in Norfolk and Suffolk. It was sent to the

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) who noted it as an excellent example

of best practice.

One of the ambitions in the plan is for Norfolk and Suffolk to become ‘top of mind’ for domestic

tourists by launching a collaborative campaign. The ‘Undiscovered England’ campaign, which is

being led by VEE in collaboration with an alliance of DMOs, has just been awarded £350k from

the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office and Visit Britain commented that the campaign was

awarded more than the maximum of £300k due to the strong partnership in place.

In addition, the Norfolk Strategic Fund has recently announced a Tourism Sector Support

Package of £2.225m to enable Norfolk destinations to open safely for both visitors and local

residents. With the ‘Kickstarting Tourism’ grants soon to be rolled out through the Growth Hub,

this makes a substantial set of interventions for a sector so affected by the pandemic. Focus has

now turned to monitoring impact of the Recovery Plan and taking forward the strategic Tourism

Action Plan.

Cultural Sector

New Anglia Cultural Board has long been considered an exemplar nationally for the strong

partnership and delivery of cultural led economic growth. The Board has been awarded £60k by

New Anglia LEP, Arts Council England as well as Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils to deliver

a comprehensive strategic plan and ten-year vision as part of the refresh of the strategy Culture

Drives Growth. The project will enable New Anglia Cultural Board to maintain its nationally

celebrated position at the forefront of culture led growth and make significant contributions to the

recovery of the sector.

The new strategy will include a 360 review of the Board, development of cross sector

partnerships and a shared investment prospectus, one of the interventions in the Local Industrial

Strategy. The strategy comes at a pivotal time for the sector, after several high-profile

organisations announcing redundancies.

At the same time, led by National Centre for Writing, the Board is delivering the £457,500 project

Collaboration: Place: Change. The project, which has been funded by Arts Council England and

the LEP is a new leadership programme designed to equip current and future leaders with the

skills they need to drive social and economic change across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Manufacturing and Engineering

Work is progressing well on the NAAME project, Engineering Success. The Talent Sharing

Platform, which is being led by the Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor has significant backing

from the private sector and being developed rapidly in response to the pandemic.

The UEA Business School are working on the cluster development study with several focus

groups scheduled to take place in September which a wide range of business stakeholders. The

study will provide a set of recommendations for NAMME to deliver. Having signed an MoU with

Make UK, the national manufacturing sector body, NAAME has become increasingly engaged on

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New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Board

Wednesday 26^th August 2020

Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

a national level. The LEP Team have been involved with several Make UK roundtables helping to

raise the profile of NAAME.

Cambridge Norwich Tech Corridor

The Re-imagine programme was set up to support businesses to collaborate and come up with

new products and services and to identify opportunities for these to gain funding to be moved

forward. The Tech Corridor and LEP team organised the first Re-Imagine event on the 5^th August

in collaboration with Warren Services to develop a bid to Innovate UK for Industrial Research to

develop a regional digitised supply chain. The proposal was well received and partners, including

the Tech Corridor and Institute for Manufacturing, are now working with Warren Services to

develop a bid of up to £3m.

Ipswich Vision

The Cornhill is due to be reopened to the public on Tuesday 18^th August (subject to a successful

Road Safety Audit) following necessary works to improve access and enhance the public space

with new planters.

4) Communications and Engagement

RESTART business recovery festival

RESTART is a free, virtual, business recovery festival taking place on 29 and 30 September

aimed at businesses large and small across Norfolk and Suffolk.

The event has brought together by the LEP team, supported by the Norfolk Enterprise Festival

and local partners.

The Norfolk Enterprise Festival was developed by Mid-Norfolk MP George Freeman and local

business leaders and the LEP supported the festivals held in 2018 and 2019.

With the outbreak of C-19 a physical festival was not possible and a decision was made to evolve

the 2020 festival into an online event which could serve both Suffolk and Norfolk.

The Restart Festival is designed to bring to life the Norfolk and Suffolk Economic Recovery

Restart Plan.

The festival is free for any business to watch and will deliver practical training sessions,

inspirational business speakers, new ideas and timely case studies.

Using innovative new technology delivered by a Suffolk event AV company, the two day virtual

event will be livecast across two channels on both days, with hosts in socially-distanced green

screen studios facilitating panel discussions, live Q&As and short training sessions.

Training sessions and panels will cover a wide range of practical guidance on grants and funding,

marketing, HR, workplace wellbeing as well as retail and the high streets, innovation funding and

skills.

Sessions are being delivered by local business leaders as well as business support partners.

The event is being supported by sponsors including Norfolk County Council, the Federation of

Small Businesses, Norwich Research Park and Mills & Reeve.

Funding from the sponsors is helping towards the costs of staging the event, which would

otherwise have had to come purely from the LEP budget.

Video content from the festival will be available on the LEP website after the event for free and

for all local businesses and partners to access. Businesses can sign up for free here

https://newanglia.co.uk/restart-festival/

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Wednesday 26^th August 2020

Agenda Item 7 - Chief Executive’s Report

5) Governance, Operations and Finance

This section provides an update for the board on any key operational matters as well as a

headline summary of the LEP’s operational finances.

Governance

Due to the impact of Covid-19, Government has agreed certain exemptions and extensions to the

conditions of the National Local Growth Assurance Framework. We have made good progress to

date and do not plan to rely on any exemptions listed. We will confirm this as part of our quarterly

monitoring process. We anticipate the Mid-Year review with Government will take place in

September. Details are yet to be finalised.

Finance

Following further work to consider and report on the impact that Covid-19 might have on

investments held by New Anglia Capital, Price Bailey’s work is now complete. An updated

Management Letter and statutory financial statements were circulated to the Audit & Risk

Committee for review and agreement. The committee has now recommended the accounts for

approval by the LEP Board. The accounts can be viewed under agenda item 5.

Payment of our final third of 2020/21 Local Growth Funding (£15.8m) is anticipated around 19^th

August.

Government has confirmed the LEP’s allocation of the new Getting Building Fund (£32.1m).

Payment to the LEP is anticipated early September.

Recommendation

The board is asked to:

 Note the contents of the report

112

Communications activity

during July 2020

This dashboard sets out the outcomes and impact of communication during July

2020 through owned media - the information which we control and issue ourselves -

and earned media (third-party outlets). (*Refers to pre-GDPR numbers)

Owned media - social media channels and e-newsletters

July 2019

June 2020

July 2020

New Anglia LEP

Number of Twitter followers

7,904

8,537

8,603

Number of clicked links per month

154

631

411

Average Twitter engagements per

53.8

131.6

114.6

day (likes, retweets etc.)

Number of impressions (the

95.4K

209K

193K

number of times a tweet showed in

someone’s timeline)

Number of LinkedIn followers

977

2,611

2,898

Number of impressions on LinkedIn

N/A

37.2K

52.7K

E-newsletter: open rate

38.3%

39.5%

33.6%

E-newsletter: click-through rate

28.42%

32.55%

26.7%

Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited

Number of Twitter followers

N/A

528

549

Number of clicks per month

N/A

Average Twitter engagements per

N/A

39.2

25.1

day (likes, retweets etc.)

Number of impressions (number of

N/A

36.9K

30.4K

times users saw our tweet)

Number of LinkedIn followers

N/A

836

895

113

Media coverage - New Anglia LEP

July was a bumper month for publicity,

with more than 35 separate pieces of

coverage.

The launch of our Economic Recovery

Restart Plan at the beginning of the

month was well picked up by the local

media. It was the lead story on BBC

Look East on 7 July and featured an

on-camera interview with Chris

Starkie. In addition, Chris was

interviewed by BBC Look East and

Radio Norfolk about our report looking

the impact of Covid-19 on

employment. This and other coverage

firmly positioned us as being at the

forefront of the region’s response to

the pandemic.

The Government’s award of £32m

towards ‘shovel-ready’ projects in our

area was covered in the East Anglian

Daily Times and Insider Media.

Lotus’s announcement that it is to

develop a purpose-built facility in

Norwich, potentially creating 125 jobs

here, was covered by Autocar, Insider

Media, and the Eastern Daily Press in

its print and online editions. The story

was also picked up by the East

Anglian Daily Times and EDP24. The

LEP has supported Lotus with this

move.