New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Board Meeting
Wednesday 26th October 2022
10.00am - 11.30pm
By MS Teams
Agenda
No. Item
1. Welcome from the Chair
2. Apologies
3. Declarations of Interest
4. Actions / Minutes from the last meeting
Strategic
5. Agri-Food Industry Council Report Update
6. All Energy Industry Council Report Update
Operational
7 Create Growth Programme Report Update
8. Chief Executive’s Report – including confidential items Update
9. Quarterly Management Accounts - Confidential Update
10. October Programme Performance Report Update
11. Board Forward Plan Update
12. Any Other Business Update
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Public
New Anglia Board Meeting Minutes (Unconfirmed)
21st September 2022
Present:
Kathy Atkinson (KA) Valeo Snack Foods
Claire Cullens (CC) Norfolk Community Foundation
Stuart Dark (SD) King’s Lynn & West Suffolk Council
David Ellesmere (DE) Ipswich Borough Council
Viv Gillespie (VG) Suffolk New College
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
Andrew Proctor (AP) Norfolk County Council
Sandy Ruddock (SR) Scarlett & Mustard
Alan Waters (AW) Norwich City Council
Jeanette Wheeler (JW) Birketts
Attendees
Mike Todman (MT) BEIS
Jo Middleton (JM) Norfolk County Council
Rob Hancock (RH) Suffolk County Council
David Dukes (DD) New Anglia LEP
Julian Munson (JM) New Anglia LEP
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: (21.9.22)
None
1 Welcome from the Chair
C-J Green (CJG) welcomed all board members to the meeting and in particular Viv Gillespie (VG) as
she attended her first meeting as a board member.
2 Apologies
Apologies were received from Steve Oliver and Johnathan Reynolds.
3 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
4 Actions/Minutes from the last Meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 27th July were agreed as accurate.
CJG noted that the amendment to the LEP Articles of Association allowing the extension of
the term of private sector board members had been passed and thanked Steve Oliver (SO)
and Jeanette Wheeler (JW) for remaining on the LEP board.
5 Norfolk & Suffolk Space Sector Strategy
Julian Munson (JM) presented the report and highlighted the importance of the space sector
to the UK and the region in particular noting that there are 168 space related organisations
registered here. These mainly focus on the downstream technology such as satellite
applications used in some of the region’s key sectors such as agriculture and marine.
JM confirmed that the current national landscape of space clusters, assets and facilities
identifies an opportunity to establish a stronger regional presence in the East of England and
this is one of the key objectives of a new regional space strategy. This regional strategy will
focus on the progression of satellite applications and aims to lever local assets to obtain the
best benefits
JM advised that the LEP Sectors & Innovation Team has been working closely with the
UK Space Agency (UKSA), European Space Agency (ESA), and Satellite Applications
Catapult during 2021-22 to understand the national and international landscape and
engage with regional organisations from industry, education and research to help shape
the ambitions and aspirations to build the space sector locally and explore the cross-
sector benefits of space technologies.
JM noted that, while the UK National Space Strategy included references to regional clusters,
there was no such cluster for the East therefore this was set up by the LEP and has linked
together key partners to develop a local strategy. The establishment of a cluster was also a
prerequisite to being able to submit applications for funding.
JM advised that the LEP had appointed the specialist UK space consultancy AstroAgency
to work with partners to build an enhanced understanding of the space sector profile in
the East and to develop a space sector strategy to grow and level up the regional space
economy.
This strategy includes identifying the region’s USPs and applications to support the key
sectors including digital communications, agri-food, offshore renewables, marine science,
transport and logistics
A summary version of the Space Strategy will be published for public consumption and a
space strategy launch event is proposed to be held in November 2022 at Adastral Park.
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Claire Cullens (CC) endorsed the strategy and noted that skills needed to be given greater
priority to inspire students’ interest in the sector at an earlier stage.
Helen Langton (HL) noted that the public would not automatically link this region to the space
sector but it is an exciting field where obtaining quick wins would capture the imagination and
improve interest.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
To approve the Space Strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk
6 Inward Investment Delivery Plan Progress Report
David Dukes (DD) presented an update on the delivery plan for inward investment across
Norfolk and Suffolk, led by the Invest Norfolk & Suffolk team.
DD advised that the team had been placing more emphasis was on lead generation in the
face of reduced enquiries which have fallen by 56% compared to last year. In particular the
team has been targeting key sectors for the region and a funding stream has been
established from partners and 4 leads have already been attracted from the latest agri-food
HPO. The team has also been working to ensure that all potential opportunities provided by
Freeport East are exploited to their full potential.
Work is also ongoing with NUA to review and refresh the NSU website to make the best use
of it.
Jeanette Wheeler (JW) queried why enquiries were falling.
DD advised that some historic enquiries had always been unlikely to proceed and were just
companies making enquiries. Brexit has also played a role as enquiries from the EU have
dried up and the pandemic has also affected the way businesses work.
Chris Starkie (CS) noted that the war in Ukraine and energy costs had also played a role in
investment decisions.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
To support the continuation of the partnership for the financial year 23/24 subject to budget
and to support discussions around an extension beyond that date
7 Business Support Proposal - Confidential
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The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
8 Gt Yarmouth O&M Campus – Confidential
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
8 Chief Executive’s Report
CS noted the success of the Skills Boot Camps with nearly 100 people signed up and on
track to meet the target of 120 in September with horticulture and arboreal skill courses
proving to be the most popular.
CS advised that the LEP team continued to be heavily involved in the development of the
outline and then full business case for the Freeport with three members of staff working
continually on the project and a further five members of staff have also contributed significant
time and expertise to the project. The LEP chief executive is currently the LEP’s
representative on the Freeport East shadow board.
CJG invited the board to nominate CS as the New Anglia LEP and South East LEP joint
appointee to the Freeport East company board.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
To nominate Chris Starkie as the New Anglia LEP representative to the Freeport East
company board
9 September Programme Performance Reports
These reports were as included in that board papers.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the report
10 Board Forward Plan
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CJG reviewed the items on the agenda for the October meeting.
The Board agreed:
To note the content of the plan
11 Any Other Business
CJG requested asked for board members to propose and second the adoption of the accounts
and the reappointment of the auditors at the LEP AGM being held at 12pm that day.
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New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Board
Wednesday 26th October 2022
Agenda Item 5
Agri-Food Industry Council Report
Author: James Allen Presenter(s): James Allen, Corrienne Peasgood
Summary
This paper provides an update on the Agri-Food Industry Council, a sub-group of New Anglia
LEP.
Recommendations
The Board is invited to:
Note the contents of the paper
Note the progress made on strategic sector plans
Background
In 2019 the LEP convened three Industry Councils to drive forward the aspirations of our
Local Industrial Strategy in the three strategic areas of energy, agri-food and digital.
The Agri-Food Industry Council (AFIC) was established as a strategic public/private sector
partnership group to provide a focus for decision making and leadership for the agri-food
sector. The AFIC acts as the LEP’s sector group and provides the strategic direction in
delivering the aspiration to be recognised as a leading agri-food region.
Members of the AFIC are drawn from across the agri-food sector in Norfolk and Suffolk and
include representatives of food and drink businesses, farmers, farmer & landowner
organisations, research institutions, utility companies, academia, show societies and other
representatives from the private sector. The AFIC is chaired by Corrienne Peasgood OBE,
former principal of City College Norwich. The LEP works closely with the regional
partnership organisation Agri-TechE in delivering activities related to the AFIC.
Agri-Food Industry Council: objectives and delivery
The AFIC has developed a new delivery plan which fully aligns with the delivery of the
Economic Strategy for Norfolk and Suffolk. This delivery plan is updated for each AFIC
meeting and will be refreshed on an annual basis to ensure it remains relevant to the AFIC’s
aims and objectives. Current strategic objectives include:
1. Deliver a regional innovation support programme at the Broadland Food
Innovation Centre
2. Establish a regional food and drink cluster.
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3. Maximise the potential of the Food Enterprise Zones in Norfolk and Suffolk,
attracting investment to and capitalising on the Freeport East opportunity.
4. Develop collaborative investment where there are economies of scale in
storage, distribution, and processing as a catalyst for adding value to our
agricultural products.
5. Collaborate across the region to develop new projects that harness research
strengths.
6. Develop a world-leading hub for plant and microbial research at John Innes
Centre with the Sainsbury Laboratory.
7. Work with farmers, land managers, and environmental specialists to target
environmental land management initiatives, maximising natural capital and
enabling productivity.
8. Grow the skills provision for the agri-food sector.
Progress and Delivery
Broadland Food Innovation Centre (BFIC): The BFIC officially launched on 22-23
September with a series of launch events to showcase the business incubation
facilities (including 13 food-grade production units, conference facilities and sensory
and test kitchens) and innovation support on offer. The BFIC is represented on both
the AFIC and the Connected Innovation network. Funded support for the food and
drink cluster is available. The Innovation Support programme, delivered by Hethel
Innovation, provides businesses with 12-hours of bespoke advice and guidance
exploring areas, such as:
o Market and consumer trends
o New Product Development
o Packaging and shelf-life analysis
o Strategy and business plan formulation
Within those 12 hours of support, businesses can also access technical specialists
through a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), where the project will cover
consultancy costs.
Establishing a food and drink cluster for Norfolk and Suffolk: Strategic work has
taken place in both counties to raise awareness of the food and drink cluster and its
associated benefits. For example, a recent Suffolk networking event took place for
the cluster on 3 October. The cluster team is working closely with the LEP and
Growth Hub to map out additional support for businesses.
Developing a world-leading hub for plant and microbial research: UKRI
announced a £481m investment into major research and innovation infrastructure
over the next three years. This portfolio includes an outline of the John Innes Centre
and The Sainsbury Laboratory’s Next Generation Infrastructure, subject to business
case approval. The proposed funding of £54.7m over the next three years would
transform existing capabilities via new and shared interdisciplinary research facilities.
Securing this funding would be a major step forward for the ambitious plans to create
a world-class hub for plant and microbial sciences at Norwich Research Park to
tackle major global challenges of climate change, net zero agriculture, food security,
and human health.
Agri-Food in Eastern Region: New Anglia LEP continues to work with
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Greater Lincolnshire LEP,
UEA, University of Cambridge, University of Lincoln, the National Centre for Food
Manufacturing, and Agri-TechE, to build on the regional narrative document
published last November. Recent meetings have explored future activities for
collaboration building on existing agri-food technology partnerships such as the
Ceres Agri-Tech Programme and the AgriForwards Centre for Doctoral Training in
Agri-Food Robotics.
DIT High Potential Opportunity: Collaborative activity is taking place around a
market campaign to promote the Plant Science for Nutrition High Potential
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Opportunity and individual pilot elements. This is being funded by support from
Norwich Research Park partners and retained business rates from the NRP
Enterprise Zone.
Advocacy: The AFIC has responded to inquiries and consultations from Government
and related parties relevant to the rural economy. These include supporting a MP’s
debate on local food infrastructure, responding to the EFRA Committee inquiries into
Food Security and Labour Shortages, and the Independent Chief Inspector of
Borders and Immigration call for evidence on the immigration system as it relates to
the agricultural sector. We are working with partners involved in the ‘Agri-Food in the
Eastern Region’ work to explore themes for joint advocacy moving forward.
Harnessing research strengths: the Research Excellence Framework put UEA at
joint 1st for Agriculture, Food and Veterinary Sciences and 4th for Earth Systems and
Environmental Sciences. UEA presented their capabilities to AFIC and all parties are
keen to establish more opportunities for agri-food companies to benefit from this
research excellence.
Skills Bootcamps: the Fastrack to Farming Level 2 Bootcamp via Suffolk New
College has just commenced their first programme with 10 learners and will be
offering the same course again on 9 January 2023 for another 10 learners.
UK Seafood Fund: East Coast College has submitted a bid for the UK Seafood
Fund which focuses on two key aspects of skills - investment in new training to
address skills gaps and support innovation; and improving courses to aid uptake and
retention. The LEP has written a letter of support.
Space Sector Plan for Norfolk & Suffolk: the agri-food sector already makes
extensive use of space applications and services, and the size of the market offers a
greater opportunity for adoption of space services. Using the region’s expertise at
Norwich Research Park, CEFAS, and Agri-TechE, there is a real opportunity around
space life support and food sustainability, building on our strengths in vertical
farming, hydroponics, and aquaponics. We are working with the Satellite Applications
Catapult to explore the potential for an Agri Living Lab in the region.
Business intelligence Update
A year ago, one of the main topics of conversation in the East Anglian farming
community was the impact of declining Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments and
the introduction of Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs). Twelve
months on all the talk is of soaring fertiliser, fuel and machinery costs with farmers
firmly focused on the fact that they will end up spending more on the crops they will
soon be drilling than ever before.
Current situation around water for the agri-food sector is adding to barriers rather
than building business resilience. Farmers faced major challenges this summer with
their access to water given farm reservoirs were running dry. All abstraction licences
are being reviewed by the Environment Agency. Until the precautionary principle is
reviewed within the Habitats Regulation, there is no help for farmers or growers to
get their licences extended. Environmental assessments are undertaken prior to
planning which makes things more challenging. Environmental impact reports make
the introduction of more reservoirs more challenging, without an adequate system in
place to look at them. We must be more flexible with smart regulation that can control
short-term water shortages and distribution given its importance.
Some farmers are looking at good profits from their 2022 harvest, but they are
resistant to spend due to concerns over the 2023 production cost increases. There
will be others that did not fix their prices for this year and will have major cashflow
issues and require major support.
The drought delayed the harvest of East Anglia's sugar beet crop - prompting British
Sugar to push back the opening dates for its factories. The firm announced that its
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factories at Bury St Edmunds and Cantley will open later than usual this year, on
October 5 and 20 respectively. It said this was due to "exceptional climatic conditions
over the summer", with these factory areas receiving less rainfall than Wissington
and Newark, which will open on September 26 and 19 respectively.
One of the biggest challenges facing horticultural and livestock businesses across
Norfolk and Suffolk is the shortage of labour, for both permanent and seasonal staff.
Despite the Government’s recent Food Strategy focusing on maintaining the current
levels of domestic food production, fruit and vegetables are going to waste because
businesses do not have the right staff available at the right time to harvest them.
Businesses are scaling back on production as they cannot recruit enough. When it
comes to seasonal labour, farmers and growers are paying large fees for the
privilege of having to use intermediaries, would like to see lower costs. Finding that
there is seasonal labour available but would like direct contact, rather than having to
go through the four Government appointed, expensive, operators.
Availability issues are still present for farm machinery. Large products will arrive late
2023 / early 2024 if they are ordered now. Combine availability is capped for 2023.
The owner of chicken producer 2 Sisters and turkey giant Bernard Matthews - whose
East Anglian factories employ dozens of farms and hundreds of employees across
Norfolk and Suffolk – has warned consumers of another price shock due to a CO2
crisis which is costing his businesses an extra £1m a week. CO2 is a vital component
in the food industry - used in the slaughter of chickens, packaging to extend shelf-life,
and in refrigeration systems.
More and continued support is needed around mental health and wellbeing. The
VCSE sector have said farmers in this region are under huge strain (such as
loneliness, financial challenges, supply chain issues, the impact of climate change,
changes in policy, rural crime, access to labour, avian influenza and challenges
facing pig farmers). The YANA (You are Not Alone) project is providing confidential
support, mental health awareness and funding for counselling to the farming and
rural communities of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Looking Ahead
The Council will ensure that business intelligence input from the sector continues to be fed
back to Government by the LEP in the monthly business intelligence returns. Agri-TechE
supports this business intelligence work with a sectoral update at the end of each month.
The Renaissance of the East Anglian Fisheries (REAF) CIC presented at the most recent
AFIC meeting and will have a closer relationship with AFIC moving forward to ensure better
understanding of business support, skills and supply chain needs/intelligence across the
region’s fisheries, shellfish, and seafood sector. The REAF team will also engage with the
Agri-Food Skills Sub Group to ensure that the sector’s skills needs are well understood.
The AFIC is keen to work with districts to support the most effective roll out of the Rural
England Prosperity Fund.
Linking together with the Connected Innovation programme, the LEP is working with
partners such as Agri-TechE to explore the potential for a ‘space tech meets agri-tech’ event
in January, building on the Space Sector Plan for Norfolk and Suffolk. It will explore potential
projects within the region such as an ‘Agri Living Lab’ with the Satellite Applications Catapult.
Recommendations
The Board is invited to:
Note the contents of the paper
Note the progress made on strategic sector plans
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New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Board
Wednesday 26th October 2022
Agenda Item 6
All Energy Industry Council Report
Author: Julian Munson Presenter: Julian Munson and Mark Goodall
Summary
This paper provides an update on the All-Energy Industry Council (AEIC), a sub-group of
New Anglia LEP.
Recommendations
The Board is invited to note the contents of the paper
Acknowledge and thank Mark Goodall as out-going Chair of AEIC
Background
Norfolk and Suffolk is positioning itself as the UK’s epicentre for energy generation and
systems integration with a unique mix of onshore and offshore renewables, gas, hydrogen
and nuclear and is experiencing significant levels of investment, particularly in the offshore
wind sector.
With the potential for the East of England to supply up to 67% of UK homes with clean
energy by 2035 and the proposed new nuclear power station at Sizewell expected to meet
7% of the country’s demand, this region is taking a very active role in delivering the
Government’s 10-Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.
The scale of the opportunity for the East of England as the drive to Net Zero accelerates is
staggering. There is £122 billion of capital investment in clean energy and low carbon
projects across the East of England forecast by 2050 with over 100 clean energy projects in
planning.
During Sizewell C’s 60-year operational phase, £16.1bn is expected to be spent in the East
of England, of which £12.7bn predicted to be spent in Suffolk alone. The construction of
Sizewell C could generate over 24,000 jobs directly with wider economic benefits to the
supply chain.
We already have 8.7GW of clean energy installed capacity in the East of England with
24GW forecast by 2035. Importantly we are the UK epicentre for offshore wind with 54%
(6.7GW) of the UK’s current consented offshore wind off the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk.
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In addition to this, Bacton Gas Terminal and network of offshore gas platforms supplies one
third of the UK’s low carbon transition fuel with interesting opportunities for hydrogen
developments emerging.
At a national and international level, the current energy crisis is not only having a major
impact on society but also on future scenario planning. According to a recent DNV Energy
Transition Outlook 2022 report, global electricity demand will more than double by 2050
whilst at the same time transitioning to greener sources with hydrogen and solar PV playing
an increasingly important role as well as potentially onshore wind.
The All-Energy Industry Council (AEIC) is one of three Industry Councils, established as
strategic public/private sector partnerships to provide a focus for decision making and
leadership in the high value sectors for Norfolk and Suffolk. The AEIC acts as the LEP’s
sector group for energy and provides the strategic direction in delivering the aspiration to be
recognised as the UK’s All Energy Region.
All Energy Industry Council – Progress Update on Delivery
In addition to its strategic role in connecting with Government, including BEIS and the
Catapult network, and the relevant national Sector Deals, the AEIC has in place a delivery
plan with key interventions and activities backed by the AEIC partners. The AEIC is chaired
by Mark Goodall, Senior Manager of Aker Solutions and has representation from major
energy companies, SMEs, education providers, local authorities, Government and the East
of England Energy Group (EEEGR).
The AEIC has agreed a set of strategic objectives:
1. Profile and Promotion – branding and marketing the area and cluster to national
and global audiences. Proactively promoting the offer to attract global investment and
boost exports across the energy sector.
2. Lobbying and Regulation – strengthening links with Government and other
organisations as identified by the Council to attract support and investment and
improve regulations.
3. Supply chain development – strengthening the cluster, helping businesses work
with each other, including tier one corporates, and maximising export and investment
opportunities.
4. Innovation support – helping businesses improve their performance and enabling
them to enter new markets, develop new products, enhance processes and improve
productivity
5. Skills development – overseeing the skills sector plan, connecting employers with
providers and responding to industry demands in developing the skilled workforce of
tomorrow
6. Infrastructure – attracting investment to enhance and build the infrastructure
required to support the growth of the industry and improve connectivity and business
productivity.
Progress Update
The regional energy sector is wide and varied and faces quite complex challenges with
some major projects of strategic national importance either under development or in the
pipeline for Government approval, located in our region or off our coastline. These projects
span nuclear, offshore wind and onshore renewables such as solar. The All-Energy Industry
Council is the only forum where all parts of the sector have the opportunity to come together
to discuss these challenges as well as identify opportunities for collaboration.
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Since the last update to the LEP Board in March 2022, the focus has been on establishing
the new ‘sector councils’ as agreed by the AEIC as part of a new regional communications
structure. The aim is for each ‘sector council’ to represent each part of the energy sector with
Chairs or Sub-Chairs taking a place on the All-Energy Industry Council. This would result in
an overall reduction in AEIC members but ensuring representation from across the energy
sector. Further details on the sector councils are provided in the next section.
New Anglia LEP has in place a service level agreement with EEEGR to help transition to this
new structure. It has been quite challenging and time consuming to establish these sector
councils and as a result the main AEIC meetings have paused so the main industry council
members have not met over the Summer period. This has also allowed time for major
decisions on energy sector projects to be announced including offshore wind (which includes
Vattenfall’s Boreas and Vanguard projects; ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia ONE
North and East Anglia TWO projects; and Equinor’s Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon
extension projects) and nuclear (Sizewell C planning announcement) to then assess how we
might refine and prioritise the focus for AEIC.
It is envisaged that a newly revised and enhanced All Energy Industry Council will be
‘relaunched’ in Q1 2023 with the AEIC remaining an important forum, bridging the gap and
bringing together different organisations and views from across industry, education,
Government, local authorities and the LEP. Part of the transition will involve identifying a
new Chair to take over from Mark Goodall who has steered the current AEIC during his term
of Chair over the past 3+ years.
Project and Programme Delivery
In terms of specific project activity, the following highlights demonstrate some of the work
being led by the LEP and AEIC partners;
Sector Councils
As referenced in the previous section, a key priority has been establishing new sector
councils. These are primarily industry led groups which aim to represent the wide and varied
interests of the energy sector. This work has been led by EEEGR under a Service Level
Agreement with New Anglia LEP. The following sector councils have now been established;
o ‘East Wind’ Offshore Wind Sector Council - involving key industry representatives
from ports, offshore wind developers and supply chain SMEs. Terms of Reference are
currently being agreed. A priority focus for the sector council will be skills and
recruitment with skills, careers and community events planned for Wind Week in late
October. The East Wind group has also worked with Generate partners to support the
regional promotional activity and expressed an interest in innovation and technology.
o Marine Science and Technology Sector Council established with the inaugural
meeting held on 7th July with meetings now held monthly. A range of businesses and
organisations such as CEFAS, UEA and East Coast College are actively involved with a
priority focus around encouraging young people into the industry. There are also plans
to collaborate with the Global Underwater Hub to support representation in our region.
o Southern North Sea Gas Transition Sector Council had its’ inaugural meeting on 21st
September with excellent attendance from representatives across industry and the North
Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) who regulate and influence the oil, gas and carbon
storage industries. Workstreams being planned are; a. Maximising Economic Recovery;
b. Net Zero and c. Reuse, Repurpose and Decommissioning. The already established
SNS Pipeline Forum Network is also incorporated into the Sector Council meetings.
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There was also a group established with a focus on the Bacton Energy Hub with this work
supported by NSTA. A work package is now complete with a final report expected to be
announced later in the year.
In addition, work is also progressing to establish sector councils / regional
partnerships for both the hydrogen sector and nuclear sector.
Profile and Promotion
The new regional energy brand ‘Generate’ was launched in 2021 and replaced the previous
East of England Energy Zone (EEEZ) branding.
The new Generate campaign aims to be more closely aligned with the strong messaging of
the wider Norfolk and Suffolk Unlimited regional campaign to help enhance our inward
investment promotional activity, targeting key energy trade shows and events and specific
business channels/networks to raise awareness of the commercial opportunity.
Following the launch of a new prospectus and website www.generate-energy.co.uk a
programme of attendance at investment and trade events has been led by partners. These
include;
o Wind Europe 2022 in Bilbao, Spain alongside 350+ exhibitors from across Europe and
beyond
o Wind Energy Hamburg 2022 alongside 1,400 international exhibitors
o Wind Week 2022 (24-28 October 2022)
o Offshore Energy Amsterdam (29-30 November)
o House of Commons EEEGR reception (January 2023)
An infographic has also been produced by the Generate partners which summaries the key
facts and figures and positions the East of England as the UK’s energy powerhouse
currently powering 32% of UK homes with clean energy and set to cover 67% of homes by
2035. Clean energy from the East of England could power two thirds of UK homes -
GENERATE Energy (generate-energy.co.uk)
Partners are currently in discussion over developing a business plan for 2023-24 to continue
promotional activity and the targeting of key industry events.
National Strategic Energy Projects
A number of nationally important strategic energy projects have been progressing within our
region and these include;
o Vattenfall’s Norfolk Boreas and Norfolk Vanguard wind farm projects which have been
awarded consent by Government. Around 50 miles off the Norfolk coast, construction of
these next generation of wind farms is due to begin in 2023 creating a number of skilled
jobs and supply chain opportunities. The projects collectively will produce 3.6GW of
green energy, enough to power more than 3.9 million UK homes and will help to support
the Government’s plans to install 40GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.
o ScottishPower Renewables’ East Anglia ONE North and East Anglia TWO offshore wind
farm projects were granted development consent at the end of March 2022. Around 20
miles off the Suffolk coast, these projects collectively will produce 1.7GW of green
energy, enough to power c.1.5m UK homes.
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o Equinor’s application for Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon offshore wind farm extensions
have been accepted by the Planning Inspectorate for examination and will now follow
due process. These two projects, situated off the North Norfolk coast, would power the
equivalent of an additional 785,000 UK homes. If both extensions are built, the projects
will support more than 1800 full time equivalent jobs across the UK and within East
Anglia during the construction phase.
o With regards to Sizewell C and the formal planning process, a positive decision and
recommendation by the Secretary of State was announced in the Summer and a
financial investment decision is expected later in 2022. If the Government gives the
green light to the project then construction is due to commence in 2023. A multi-million
pound government funding deal has been announced to help the project attract further
private investment.
It is also important to note that a new oil and gas licensing round has justbeen announced
by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) inviting applications to explore and potentially
develop new sites to encourage production as quickly as possible in the Southern North
Sea. There are potential commercial opportunities for existing businesses in the region
operating in the gas sector.
Regional Energy Infrastructure
Operations and Maintenance Campus - Progress is being made with specific
infrastructure projects to support growth in the energy sector. The Operations and
Maintenance (O&M) Campus project at Great Yarmouth Port is a key example and will
provide an important UK base for O&M activities servicing the offshore wind farms in future.
Commissioned by Norfolk County Council, the £21.4 million partnership project is a
collaboration with Great Yarmouth Borough Council and New Anglia LEP. A contract has
now been awarded to Tilbury Douglas to construct the new facility which is expected to
provide a major boost to the region’s offshore energy sector. Construction is due to start in
December and expected to take around 12 months to complete.
The LEP has allocated £6 million of Getting Building Fund in support of the project. The
remainder of the investment has been confirmed from Norfolk County Council, the project
lead, Great Yarmouth Borough Council and retained business rates as the project is linked
to one of the Enterprise Zone sites on South Denes.
Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility (LEEF) – Progress is also being made with regards to
plans for investment in significant new infrastructure upgrades at ABP Port of Lowestoft.
This will allow the Port to accommodate the next generation of offshore support vessels
through creating more quay side space and deeper water access as well as new offices and
additional facilities for Crew Transfer Vessels. The Marine Management Organisation
(MMO) has given consent for the £25 million development.
A collaboration between East Suffolk Council and Associated British Ports (ABP) saw the
LEEF named ‘Best Project’ at the regional final of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)
Awards for Planning Excellence 2022.
Supply Chain Development, Business Support and Innovation
The LEP has continued to work closely with the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult
over the past 3 years. A regional base for the Catapult was established in the OrbisEnergy
centre a couple of years ago (through support from the LEP and SCC) providing services to
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businesses and organisations across the region involved in offshore renewables. There has
been a recent, permanent appointment made by the Catapult for a Regional Innovation
Manager who works closely with regional stakeholders.
There has been a successful completion of the Norfolk and Suffolk Fit 4 Offshore
Renewables supply chain and business excellence and mentoring programme, led by the
Catapult with financial support from the LEP, resulting in 15 businesses being supported and
winning new commercial contracts.
Partners are now in discussion to try and establish a new programme to help earlier stage
and growth businesses in the sector. Referred to as Launch Academy this is essentially a
technology accelerator programme for the offshore wind industry. The programme is about
launching new technologies and services into the offshore wind market to enhance the UK
supply chain, enabling greater UK content and supporting performance improvements
through innovation. Conversations are progressing with a view to establishing a regional
programme in 2023 to support a cohort of companies through a tailored 7-month support
programme.
In relation to nuclear and the planned development of Sizewell C, there has been significant
activity led and supported by partners such as Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, EDF, local
authorities and the LEP in building the network of potential supply chain businesses. There
has been engagement with the Civils Alliance and events that have taken place engaging
with a wide range of businesses across sectors. The LEP has also supported through
engagement with sector groups including New Anglia Advanced Manufacturing Group
(NAAME) where the Tier 1 companies have been able to actively engage with local
engineering businesses to promote local supply chain opportunities.
Finally, there has been a focus on cross-sector innovation through a recent event
supported by the LEP’s Connected Innovation programme and delivered in partnership with
Tech East and the East Wind group. The ‘Off-Shore Wind meets Digital Tech’ event was
held at OrbisEnergy enabling businesses from across the two sectors to engage and explore
potential opportunities for collaboration.
Skills and Workforce Development
Sector Skills Hub: Building on existing forms of working, New Anglia LEP, Norfolk County
Council and Suffolk County Council have agreed to strengthen and formalise how they work
together on sector-specific skills needs across the region. This way of working – known as
the ‘Skills Hub’ partnership – will help to utilise LEP and County Council resources and
capacity as effectively as possible across the two counties in order to support the regional
skills agenda.
The primary focus of the ‘Skills Hub’ partnership will be on workforce development and in-
work progression. The first tranche of work will involve supporting the sector skills groups
that exist across the region and providing aligned LEP and County Council input into, as well
as support for, the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP) planning process being led by the
Norfolk and Suffolk Chambers of Commerce.
Energy is obviously an important sector for us so this will be reviewed at an early stage with
the work being led by Norfolk County Council. Re-establishing the skills group responsible
for the sector skills plan will hopefully be an early outcome as this group has not met for
some time.
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With regards to the major energy projects, the LEP continues to engage with offshore wind
farm developers including Vattenfall, Orsted and Equinor to support the implementation of
their skills plans for the region.
In addition, a plan is being developed for Sizewell C to cover skills, employment, inclusion
and diversity for EDF and Tier 2 supply chain businesses to adhere to. There will also be an
outreach programme and bursary funding. Working groups will also be established to
oversee progress and shape strategic direction and the LEP’s Skills Manager is engaged in
this process, alongside other stakeholders.
Looking Ahead – Issues to Address
Despite good progress being made by the AEIC on some activities such as regional
promotion and specific projects such as the supply chain and innovation programmes, there
exist some significant challenges facing the sector and the region.
There is still some risk and uncertainty around speed of progress of new offshore wind and
nuclear new build projects following delays with Government planning approval processes.
This does impact on supply chain and skills provision from a regional perspective and makes
business planning more challenging and potentially impacts on future investment
opportunities for the region.
The AEIC partners, including LEP, local authorities, EEEGR and industry have been working
more closely together with a stronger dialogue with Government to help minimise risk of
further delays, identify possible solutions and to help profile the positive economic benefits of
these major projects.
The reworking of the All-Energy Industry Council and an evolution of its’ structure is
important to ensure that it is robust and fit for purpose to help deliver the key interventions
needed for the sector, for example around skills and supply chain development, and to help
meet some of the challenges facing this complex sector referenced within this report.
However, it has taken longer than expected to establish the new Sector Councils which
impacts upon the revision of the AEIC. We would expect an ‘enhanced’ Industry Council to
be in place in Q1 2023, with continued strong leadership and support from the private sector
via the Sector Councils.
With regards to the complex skills and labour market challenges, often cited by industry as
the number one priority, there will needs to be a stronger focus on reviewing the different
skills partnerships and groups for the energy sector and understanding how these relate to
both the AEIC and the SAP. This will also require a better understanding of EEEGRs role in
the skills area going forward to potentially build on their activity in recent years, subject to
overcoming any resourcing challenges.
The LEP continues to provide resource from the Sectors and Innovation Team to support the
secretariat and administrative functions to underpin the work of AEIC going forward.
Recommendations
The Board is invited to note the contents of the paper
Acknowledge and thank Mark Goodall as out-going Chair of AEIC
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New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Board
Wednesday 26th October 2022
Agenda Item 7
Create Growth Programme Report
Author: James Allen Presenter: James Allen
Summary
This paper provides an update on the successful bid to DCMS’ Create Growth Programme.
Recommendations
The Board is invited to note the contents of the paper.
Background
In June 2022, DCMS invited local area partnerships in England to submit expressions of
interest (EOI) to participate in the Create Growth Programme (CGP) over three financial
years from Financial Years 22/23 to 24/25. It will provide a bespoke package to support
potentially high growth creative businesses and build investor networks. The CGP is an
expansion of the Creative Scale Up Pilot (2019-21) which provided Greater Manchester,
West Midlands and the West of England Combined Authorities with a package of business
and investor support to creative businesses.
New Anglia LEP pulled together a consortium including Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Combined Authority, Norfolk County Council, Suffolk County Council, University of East
Anglia (lead delivery partner), University of Suffolk, Norwich University of the Arts and Anglia
Ruskin University Peterborough. Our EOI was successful, and we were invited to submit a
full submission by 25 August. We received a £7.5k grant to develop evidence for our full
submission, which was supported by an additional £5k from the Creative Unlimited budget.
Following a tender process, MetroDynamics were appointed to pull together evidence on the
creative industries sector across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, with a
specific focus on the potentially high growth creative industries sub-sectors. A survey we
posted received 125 responses from creative businesses across the geography highlighting
two main failures and the programme need – businesses need more work to be ready for
investment and relationships with investor networks need strengthening for creative
businesses.
Based on the evidence, the bid centred around cohorts from two key creative sub-sectors:
Film, TV, Radio and Photography (mainly focusing on Film & TV)
IT, Software and Computer Services (mainly focusing on Games)
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On 28 September, DCMS informed New Anglia LEP that we were successful with our
application alongside five other successful local area partnerships led by Kent County
Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, North of Tyne Combined Authority,
Leicester and Leicestershire LEP and the West of England Combined Authority.
Create Growth Programme: delivery
Each of the successful local area partnerships will receive £1.275m in grant funding for
business support across the three financial years. For creative businesses in the six
successful areas, they will benefit from access to an additional £7m fund which will be
delivered by Innovate UK to provide finance support and deliver national investor networking
activities.
As Lead partner New Anglia LEP will be responsible for the overall governance and
monitoring of the programme. The LEP will convene the Governance Group, manage
programme finance, and claim processes, financial and output milestones, and co-ordinate
with all consortium member organisations and other relevant initiatives across the
programme geography.
As Lead Delivery Partner UEA will provide specialist staff and resources to deliver a high-
quality programme of tailored support to beneficiary businesses on the programme. They will
convene the Industry Steering Group, design and specify the content of the shared elements
of the intensive 20-week core programme and provide specialist advisors to work one-to-one
with businesses until March 2025 (and in some cases beyond that date). They will also
provide individual speakers and mentors from their existing framework of providers on the
UEA Innovation Funding Mentor Pool.
The University of Suffolk will also provide an Advisor to the Create Growth programme. The
University of Suffolk, Norwich University of the Arts and Anglia Ruskin University
Peterborough will provide specialist Mentors and Speakers for sessions; organisational
support for programme events; venues for programme events; and attend the Governance
Group meetings.
As set out in our delivery plan, the consortium will support between 80-100 creative
industries businesses to scale up across the identified geography. There will be a
coordinated marketing campaign to ensure the programme gets the right blend of
businesses.
Looking Ahead
The consortium is engaging with key networks linked to the identified sub-sectors, including
Games Eden, Game Anglia, Norfolk Screen and Screen Suffolk; and investor networks such
as Anglia Capital Group, Cambridge Capital Group and Cambridge Angels to ensure their
buy-in and continued collaboration throughout the delivery of the programme.
Our programme will commence from the end of October, with an official launch event and
the business support due to begin at the end of January 2023.
New Anglia LEP will attend regular meetings of the national steering group consisting of
DCMS, Innovate UK and all successful local area partnerships, providing feedback to our
consortium.
Recommendations
The Board is invited to note the contents of the paper.
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New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Board
Wednesday 26th October 2022
Agenda Item 8
Chief Executive’s Report
Summary
This report focuses on by exception reporting on key issues and information for the board’s
attention.
Regular reports on the performance of individual LEP programmes are provided via programme
performance reports and issues which require board input or decisions are tabled as agenda items
in their own right.
The report is grouped under five headings – 1) LEP managed projects and programmes, 2) LEP
Industry councils and Sub-groups, 3) External Partnership Activity, 4) Governance and Finance,
and 5) LEP future. The communications dashboard is also attached as a separate appendix.
Recommendation
The board is asked to:
Note the contents of the report
Recommended to approve the extension to the Nar Ouse Phase 2 Investment funding
1) LEP Managed Projects and Programmes
i. Enterprise Zone Accelerator Fund: Nar Ouse Phase 2 update – Confidential
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ii. Clean Growth for Business
As part of the LEP’s Road to Net Zero Business Support Programme the LEP is holding a
conference at the King’s Centre in Norwich on Tuesday November 15th.
The event is a ‘call to arms’ in the net zero/clean growth space, considering the quick wins and
longer burns of our unique and diverse offer.
Plenary sessions include:
The Clean Energy Revolution.
Changing the way we think about Mobility.
Decarbonising Agri-food and Challenges and
Solutions for the Built Environment.
Members of the LEP Board are invited to attend the event and promote to their networks.
Tickets can be booked here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/clean-growth-for-business-in-person-event-tickets-423152008047
In addition to the conference, we are delivering a fortnight of learning events between November 7
and 18.
These will promote sustainable best practice to businesses to deepen knowledge/awareness as
well as build collaboration and innovation leadership across the region.
These events will be delivered by our preferred net zero suppliers as follows:
Carbon Literacy with Groundwork East Tickets, Mon 7 Nov 2022 at 12:00 | Eventbrite
Start the Net Zero Change with Groundwork East- Tickets, Tue 8 Nov 2022 at 12:00 |
Eventbrite
‘How to’ Business Case Studies with AMS Consultants Tickets, Wed 9 Nov 2022 at 12:00 |
Eventbrite
Green Financing with EP Consultancy: Tickets, Mon 14 Nov 2022 at 12:00 | Eventbrite
Where to Start when Measuring your Carbon Footprint with AMS Consultants: Tickets, Wed
16 Nov 2022 at 12:00 | Eventbrite
Understanding supply chain emissions and ESG readiness with EP Consultancy Tickets,
Fri 18 Nov 2022 at 12:00 | Eventbrite
iii. Enterprise Zones
Norwich Research Park – works starts this month on the construction of a new Diagnostic
Assessment Centre for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. The centre will be a dedicated
base to scan for health conditions including cancer. It will be located close to the Quadram
2nstitute on the Enterprise Zone site and the build is expected to take a year to complete.
Futura Park – UK Minister for International Trade James Duddridge MP visited Ipswich business
Frugalpac earlier this month, hosted by Ipswich MP Tom Hunt. The business is based on the
Futura Park Enterprise Zone in Ipswich and is a leader in sustainable packaging including recently
selling the world’s first paper bottle machine.
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2) LEP Industry Councils and Sub-groups
i. Innovation Board
Connected Innovation programme update
The LEP’s Connected Innovation project is supporting the UEA’s Help to Grow Programme launch.
This programme, funded by the Government, is an applied course supporting managers and
leaders of SMEs – learn new skills and build capabilities in leadership to drive innovation, profits
and improve business performance.
The LEP is working with Tech East to support and deliver the Fintech Futures Working Group on
the 27th October, hosted by Aviva in Norwich – the event will map out the assets, capabilities and
opportunities through the development of a Norfolk and Suffolk FinTech cluster, involving the
Norwich (FIG) and Ipswich (FIPS) based finance and insurance clusters.
Two further cross sector innovation events are being planned for December 2022 and January
2023 – around the themes of digitisation in manufacturing and a space tech meets agri-tech event,
exploring the various opportunities for the agri-food sector from space. These events are also
planned to include national catapult representation from the High Value Manufacturing Catapult,
Digital and Satellite Application Catapults.
Finally, we are working with partners at Innovate UK Edge and the Growth Hub to deliver two
Innovate Funding roundtables across Norfolk and Suffolk. This invite only event will be targeted at
innovative / scaling business and look to drive engagement with innovation funding sources.
ii. Council for Digital Tech
The LEP’s Industry Council which focuses on the digital ICT sector held its latest meeting on 13th
October with attendance from tech businesses, universities, colleges as well as representatives
from the LEP, Tech East and Tech Nation.
A progress update was provided on the LEP’s Connected Innovation programme and a discussion
on the future opportunities for enhancing the programme in 2023 (subject to further funding). A
stronger focus on support for early-stage businesses to build proof of concept was cited,
particularly around help with accessing investment as well support from co-founders.
There is also a strong commitment for a regional effort to support home grown talent with
businesses highlighting the recent challenges to recruit and retain people with the right skills and
experience. Bev Wallman from New Anglia LEP presented on the opportunities for the ICT sector
from the latest Skills Bootcamps programme which was well received.
Although the sector is facing challenges as a result of the current economic and labour market
conditions, there was some optimism with indications of investment in new technology and
automation increasing globally which potentially translates into more commercial activity for our
regional tech businesses with opportunities to export services overseas, against a weaker pound.
iii. Space Sector
Following approval of the Norfolk and Suffolk Space Strategy by the LEP board in September, the
LEP is leading a bid to the UK Space Agency under its Space Cluster Development Funding call. If
successful the funding would help support the appointment of a dedicated Space Cluster
Development Manager to work with businesses and regional stakeholders to help deliver the
Space Strategy, supporting economic growth across a range of sectors benefiting from the
applications of space technologies.
The LEP’s Sectors and Innovation Team are also in discussions with industry and university
stakeholders and the Satellite Applications Catapult to progress potential project bids relating to
digital health, agri-tech and micro-gravity testing, to build on the region’s capabilities.
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iv. UKRI Innovate UK Launchpad
Innovate UK has announced its’ regional ‘Launchpad’ programme building on two Launchpad pilots
in the Liverpool City Region and Tees Valley.
The Launchpad programme is a new Innovate UK innovation cluster development programme and
through the call is seeking regional partners to help co-create programmes to build and grow SME
innovation clusters within up to 10 regions across the UK. Up to £7.5 million of funding is available
with opportunities to unlock business grant support from the national Innovate UK calls.
New Anglia LEP is liaising with regional partners to identify an opportunity for submitting a bid
building on the strengths of our existing network of innovation clusters and hubs across Norfolk
and Suffolk. The deadline is 7th November.
3) External Partnership Activity
i. Freeport East
The LEP is continuing to provide a range of expertise and support to Freeport East.
Since the last LEP board meeting LEP team members have supported work on responding to
technical questions from Government on Freeport East’s Full Business Case.
FE’s response to the questions was submitted earlier this month and it is hoped approval will be
given by Government in December.
Approval of the Full Business Case will unlock £25m in seed corn funding.
The LEP is also supporting FE develop its activities around inward investment, skills and
innovation.
In terms of delivery on FE sites, detailed planning permission has been given by Mid Suffolk
Council for the new Range development on the Gateway 14 business park. Meanwhile
infrastructure on site is progressing well and is due to be completed by next spring.
The Felixstowe Freeport site has also just been officially granted customs site status, one of the
first in the country to be awarded this status.
FE’s board meeting on Monday October 17th agreed to the formal establishment of the FE
company, agreeing its articles of association and members agreement.
The LEP is one of the founding partners of the FE company, together with local authorities, land
owners, South East Local Enterprise Partnership and the University of Essex.
As a member of the shadow supervisory board, Chris Starkie agreed to the articles of association
and members agreement on behalf of the LEP.
As previously indicated and agreed at September’s LEP board, NALEP and SELEP, whilst
individual members of the company, will have a single board seat. This seat will be taken by
NALEP, with a service level agreement agreed between NALEP and SELEP.
ii. Investment Zones
The LEP executive team has supported local authority colleagues in the submission of proposals
for investment zones in Norfolk and Suffolk.
The Government set a two-week timeline for upper tier authorities to submit bids for investment
zones covering one or more sites in their areas.
Investment Zones would benefit from a similar range of benefits as Freeport tax sites – including
but not restricted to business rates and NI relief.
It is fair to say the guidance for the programme was a little unclear, with limited information about
the types of sites the Government was looking for in terms of size and speed of delivery.
There was no guidance on how many sites the Government is looking to put forward and whether
residential or commercial sites will be given preference.
Perhaps not surprisingly Norfolk and Suffolk colleagues, with the help of the LEP, put forward a
range of sites in scale, type and speed of delivery.
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LEP involvement was extensive. We assisted many of our district colleagues on the preparation of
bids, particularly utilising our expertise to make the economic case for each site, including
developing a methodology around GVA as well as additionality and displacement, and strategic fit.
A separate LEP team also assisted the county councils, who were responsible for submitting bids,
in appraising the separate proposals, prioritising and developing strategic narrative.
Whilst the exercise was time consuming and intensive for all partners, it was also proof of the close
cooperation between the LEP, county and district colleagues.
Government had originally planned a response to the EoIs from local authorities in two weeks.
Given the number of bids, it is expected this process will take a little longer.
Those with successful EoIs will be asked to develop delivery plans for their proposals which will
then need approval by Government.
iii. Coastal LEP group
Chris Starkie has been asked to chair a new regional grouping of LEPs covering coastal issues.
The first meeting was attended by colleagues from the South Coast, and South West, and focused
on issues particular to LEPs with significant coastal populations.
Issues raised included tourism, connectivity, skills, reducing population and aging population as
well as ports, flooding and coastal management.
The group, through the LEP Network, is reaching out to the Coastal Communities Alliance and the
APPG on Coastal Communities to see if there are common areas of their work we can support and
add a LEP perspective to.
4) Governance, Operations and Finance – Confidential
i. Management Accounts: The management accounts for the second quarter of the 2022/23
financial year can be viewed under agenda item 9
5) LEP Future
The LEP chair and chief executive continue to be engaged with local authority and central
government colleagues around the progress of the Suffolk and Norfolk County Deals, and their
impact on the LEP.
Suffolk Public Sector Leaders Board has commissioned Red Quadrant to look at future structures
in Suffolk in the event of a deal being concluded and we are engaging with that work.
Meanwhile Chris Starkie continues to participate in a LEP Network and HMG working group
looking at LEP transition as part of the Government’s LEP Review.
Recommendation:
The board is invited to:
Note the contents of the report
Approve the extension to the Nar Ouse Phase 2 Investment funding
25
This dashboard sets out the outcomes and impact of our communications activities during
September 2022.
Media coverage
- 28 pieces of coverage
- 10 reactive media enquiries
Top 3 stories
Eastern Daily Press
Hundreds of jobs to be created through Enterprise Zone developments
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/business/enterprise-zone-development-jobs-9287664
East Anglian Daily Times
East entrepreneurs dream up new products from e-training to powdered beetroot - with fund
help
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/business/reuzer-and-james-white-drinks-scoop-lep-grants-
9283976
Agritech Future
£11.4m innovation centre hailed as ‘game-changer’ for food industry
https://www.agritechfuture.com/smart-farming/11-4m-innovation-centre-hailed-as-game-
changer-for-food-industry/
Website
There were 11,805 page views on the LEP website (2,733 down on the previous month).
The most visited page was Funding, followed by Small Grant Scheme, Growth Through
Innovation Fund, Contact Us, and Growth Through Innovation Fund.
Campaigns, events, and other projects
•A great deal of work went into the AGM on 21 September, which included liaising
with an agency to produce a 5-minute video showcasing some of our key successes
in 2021-22. You can watch this here. A recording of the meeting is available here.
•We are continuing to promote our programme of Skills Bootcamps via social media
and we have case studies planned to help fill the remaining available places.
•Improvements are being made to the Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited website following
a project involving students at Norwich University of the Arts.
•A concerted campaign to promote the Growth Through Innovation Fund and Small
Grant Scheme via newsletters, social media and press has raised the profile of
these funding programmes. During October we will continue to work closely with the
Growth Hub to publicise the Small Grant Scheme.
Communications activity
during September 2022
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Social media and e-newsletters
Sept 2022
August 2022
New Anglia LEP
Number of Twitter followers
9,478
9,441
Average Twitter engagements per day (likes, retweets etc.)
11.9
20.8
Number of impressions (times a tweet showed in someone’s
timeline)
11.3K
19.4K
Number of LinkedIn followers
5,454
5,386
Number of impressions on LinkedIn
20.7K
27K
Number of unique visitors on LinkedIn
134
145
E-newsletter: open rate
40.8%
40.1%
E-newsletter: click-to-open rate
11%
15.9%
Norfolk & Suffolk Unlimited
Number of Twitter followers
927
924
Average Twitter engagements per day (likes, retweets etc)
1.2
2.8
Number of impressions (number of times users saw our tweet)
565
2,288
Number of LinkedIn followers
2,015
1,998
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New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Board
Wednesday 26th October 2022
Agenda Item 10
October Programme Performance Reports
Author: Programme leads; Presenter: Rosanne Wijnberg/Chris Dashper
Summary
The following reports follow for review by the LEP Board this month:
- Business Growth Programme; Jason Middleton
In addition, to accompany the Business Growth Programme Performance Report, the following
are some recent examples of Small Grant Scheme approvals.
Recommendation
The board is asked to:
- Note the reports
Small Grant Scheme Project Case Studies
Process Instrument Solutions Ltd. (Woolpit, Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk)
About: https://www.processinstrumentsolutions.co.uk/
“We supply measurement devices into industrial applications used to measure and control
processes. We supply to a large portfolio of Blue-Chip companies and have just had a 4th
record year in a row.”
The Project:
To build bespoke software to manage new part of our business. “Historically we have supplied
products, but this will be the bedrock of a new service arm of the business which will install,
commission, service and calibrate the instruments over their lifetime. The software will help
manage all of that and ensure calibration work is booked in automatically and the customer is
notified.
Jobs will be managed from the software and a customer portal will be created as part of this
build to enable management of our customers assets. We see this investment as a core part of
our plans to successfully grow our business.”
SGS support:
£3,600 grant value / £18,000 total project cost (software) – approved in June 2022.
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Thompson Food Service Ltd. (Great Yarmouth, Norfolk)
About: https://www.tfsltd.co.uk/en/
THOMPSON FOOD SERVICE is a cash and carry and independent wholesale company run by
three generations of butchers, with over 60 years experience in supplying the catering industry.
From rearing our own poultry on our local farms to having our own brand range of cleaning
chemicals we pride ourselves on the service we provide supplying a large number of catering
establishments, restaurants, schools, nursing homes and holiday parks to name just a few.
The Project:
To build a new storage warehouse to improve stock levels in peak trading times “Going forward
we intend to grow the business by increasing our customer base, expanding our product lines,
and widening our delivery/catchment area. Our new storage warehouse will aid in all of these.
We plan to build a new warehouse which is opposite our existing site giving us a large storage
facility to hold stock and move it across to our cash and carry as we need it. We can buy in bulk
to gain economies of scale by buying in larger quantities. We can also purchase stock out of
season when the items are available, so we are not so reliant on a just in time stock system in
peak trading season.”
SGS support:
£25,00 grant value / £181,659 total project cost (warehouse) – approved in April 2022.
JKN Engineering Ltd. (King’s Lynn, Norfolk)
About: https://jknengineering.co.uk/
“We are a family run business with over 15 years combined experience in the engineering
industry. We provide metal fabrication engineering for various projects across food, agricultural,
pharmaceutical and construction industries.”
The Project:
Additional milling machine to bring manufacturing in-house “The main focus is to increase our
engineering capacity through the purchasing of machinery which will enable us to carry out all
aspects of our projects in-house as opposed to relying on sub-contractors. Such machinery will
give us more scope to expand the business by offering our customers a one-stop shop for their
engineering requirements.
The project is an ongoing contract in relation to the manufacture of sanitary ware products.
Without the Milling machine in question we risk losing the work due to our customer’s strict lead
times. We currently sub-contract the milling process which adds a substantial delay in the
manufacturing time, with this process essentially in-house it would speed up the jobs
substantially which would eliminate the prospect of our customer taking their work elsewhere.”
SGS support:
£10,200 grant value / £51,000 total project cost (milling machine) – approved in January 2022.
Resound Sound Ltd (Saxmundham, Suffolk)
About: http://resoundsound.co.uk/
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Resound Sound Ltd. provides post-production sound services to the film and television
industry. Established in 2014, owner Chris Roberts left his staff position at a London facility
house after nearly twenty years to relocate to Suffolk and concentrate on the growth of
Resound Sound Ltd. Since then, the company has provided sound editing and mixing services
to a variety of content producers and facilities, primarily in the High End Television Drama
sector, which in recent years has itself seen significant and continuous growth following
investment from the streaming platforms.
The Project:
Purchase and install onsite server and associated software. “Resound Sound Ltd. plans to grow
by gradually taking on more productions, utilising remote working infrastructure and technology
to collaborate with other businesses and individual freelancers to provide its services. The
intention is for Resound Sound Ltd. to keep pace with anticipated demand by investing in
technology, infrastructure and software to work smarter, securely and more efficiently, whilst at
the same time develop training opportunities.
1) Purchase and install an onsite server and offsite mirror server to:
- enable secure remote collaboration with partners, clients, trainees and freelance colleagues
- provide secure disaster recovery infrastructure
Improve onsite data network infrastructure to improve network management and meet the strict
security requirements of partner businesses and end-user clients (e.g. Netflix, Amazon, Prime
Video)
2) Purchase software to improve remote collaboration and supervision of remote recording and
mix sessions
3) Purchase additional online storage and associated hardware to meet expected increase in
workload
4) Purchase additional Apple Mac computer to free up a workstation for prospective trainees”
SGS support:
£2,260 grant value / £11,300 total project cost – approved in July 2021
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BusinessGrowthProgrammePerformanceReport‐August 2022
ProgrammeOverview‐WhatistheBusinessGrowthProgramme?
TheNewAngliaBusinessGrowthProgrammeistheLEP’sflagshipbusinesssupportprogrammeandsinceSeptember2020comprisesoffiveelements:
• NewAngliaGrowthHub(GH),offeringfreeandimpartialadvicetoindividualsandbusinessesaswellassignpostingthemtoarangeofadditionalsupport.
• NewAngliaSmallGrantScheme(SGS),providinggrantsbetween£1,000and£25,000toSMEstoenablegrowth,increasedproductivityandjobcreation.
• TheVisitorEconomyGrantScheme(VEG),providinggrantsbetween£1,000and£3,000toSMEsinthevisitoreconomyimpactedbyCovid‐19(closedinJune2021).
• TheWiderEconomyGrantScheme(WEG),providinggrantsbetween£1,000and£3,000toSMEsinthewidereconomyimpactedbyCovid‐19(closedinJune2021).
• Start‐upandEarlyStageSupportProgramme,providingspecialistsupporttohelppeoplesetupasuccessfulnewbusiness–deliveredbypartnersNWESandMENTA.
TheProgrammewasdevelopedfollowingareviewofbusinesssupportin2013,andisoverseenbytheGrowthProgrammePartnershipBoardandLEPBoard.
ProgrammeyearsrunfromSeptembertoAugust,however,thedataispresentedasthefinancialyear,ApriltoMarch.
AllelementsoftheProgrammearebuiltintotheNorfolkandSuffolkEconomicPlan,withfundingforthecurrentprogrammecomingfromBEISandERDFfunding.
WhatistheoverallProgrammeStatus?
Finance Green Ontracktomeetthespendprofile.
Outputs Green Themajorityofoutputsareontrack.TheGrowthHubarebehindtheirlighttouch(3hours)andin‐depth(12hours)supporttargets.
Delivery Green TheProgrammeisperformingwellintermsofdelivery.
Whatareourkeyupdates?
Covidhadasignificantimpactondelivery,however,aprojectextensionhasprovidedtheabilitytocontinuetodeliversupportuntiltheendofJune2023.
Covidresultedinasignificantreductioninthenumberandvalueofgrantapplicationsandclaims,however,overthelastsixmonthswehavebeenasteadyincreasein
projectsapproved
Deliverypartnershaverespondedwelltoasignificantlychallengingenvironment,withdeliverymodifiedtomeetbusinessneeds,whilstensuringwemeetourcontractual
requirements
Themajorityofprofiledtargetshavebeenexceeded,inpartduetoarecentsignificantdemandforstart‐upsupportandpartnershipworkingtoensuresuccess.
DespitetheGrowthHubsupportingrecordnumbersofbusinesses,Covidhasmeantevidencegatheringwasalmostimpossible,whichhashadasignificantimpacton
targetsclaimed
OurContractManageratDULIChasconfirmedthatweareregardedasaverysuccessfulprojectthathasdeliveredhighqualitysupportinverychallengingcircumstances.
Whatisourfinancialposition?
Financials(£million)
Year 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020 2020/2021 2021/22 2022/23* 2023/2024* Total
ProfileSpend £0.306 £1.301 £3.443 £7.673 £6.108 £4.712 £4.957 £4.299 £1.859 £34.658
ActualSpend £0.306 £1.301 £3.409 £7.672 £6.107 £4.707 £3.897 £0.369 £27.768
RemainingSpend £0.000 £0.000 £0.034 £0.001 £0.001 £0.005 £1.060 £3.930 £1.859 £6.890
WhatisourcontributiontotheEconomicStrategy?
Targets
to
June2023
Deliveredto
endof
August2022
Monthly
Change
Numberofapprovedgrants 460 468 3
Businessesreceiving‘in‐depth’support‐morethan12hours 1,304 992 7
Businessesstart‐upssupported 1,563 1,669 1
Valueofgrantsreceivedbybusinesses £4.781m £3.562m £4,404
Privateinvestmentprovidedbybusinesses £17.329m £14.693m £5,384
Employmentincreaseinsupportedbusinesses 1,646 1,676 12
Businessesintroducingnewproducts 94 79 0
BusinessesreceivingInformation/Diagnostic/Brokerage 4,385 3,308 0
Whatistheprojectstatus?
Overall: Amber→
GrowthHub Amber→ Ongoingissuesgatheringtheevidencerequiredtoclaimlighttouch(3hours)andin‐depth(12hours)supporttargets.
SmallGrantScheme Green→ Workingwithpartnerstoensurethetargetismet
Start‐Up(Nwes) Green→
Start‐Up(Menta) Green→
Whatarethenextsteps?
PartnerstoproactivelypromoteandsupportSMEstoapplytotheSmallGrantScheme,toensurethatthefundingisallocatedanddrawndownbytheendoftheprogramme.
WorkcollectivlytoSupportSuffolkChambertoclaimasmanyoutputsaspossibletomeetourtargets,includingacampaigntoproactivelytargeteligiblebusinesses.
2022/2023ExpenditureProfile(£4.299million)
Workingwithpartnerstoensurethetargetismet
Workingwithpartnerstoensurethetargetismet
Targetexceeded
Ontracktomeettarget
Workingwithpartnerstoensurethetargetismet
Outputs‐CumulativefromSeptember2015toJune2023 Notes
Targetexceeded
Workingwithpartnerstoensurethetargetismet
Targetexceeded
QuarterlyspendforQ122/23
is£750kbelowourprofile
duetodelaysinbusinesses
claiminggrantawards.Thisis
predictedtoalsooccurinQ2
22/23
Q1‐22/23 Q2‐22/23 Q3‐22/23 Q4‐22/23
QuarterlyForecast £1.125 £1.117 £1.040 £1.017
QuarterlySpend £0.369
Variance £0.756 £1.117 £1.040 £1.017
0
1
2
3
4
Forecastand
ActualSpend
£Millions
35
New Anglia LEP Board Forward Plan – 2022/2023
Date
Strategic
Operational
30th November
2022
•ICT Digital Industry Council Report
•Programme Performance Reports
•New Anglia Capital Report
25th January
•LEP Strategic Priorities
•Innovation Board Update
•Programme Performance Reports
•Quarterly Management Accounts
22rd February
•All Energy Industry Council Report
•Programme Performance Reports
30th March
•Agri-Food Industry Council Report
•LEP Operating Budget 22/23 Update
•Programme Performance Report
•CEO Pay Award
April
No Board Meeting
24th May
•ICT Digital Industry Council Report
•Operating and Capital Budgets 22/23
•Quarterly Management Accounts
•New Anglia Capital Report
•Performance Reports
21st June
•Skills Advisory Panel Report
•Programme Performance Reports
•Operating & HR Policies
19th July
•Innovation Board Report
•Clean Growth Taskforce
•Programme Performance Reports
•Accounts Approval
•Quarterly Management Accounts
August
No Board Meeting
20th September
•Inward Investment Report
•Programme Performance Reports
20th September
New Anglia LEP AGM
25th October
•Agri-Food Industry Council Report
•All Energy Industry Council Report
•Programme Performance Reports
•Quarterly Management Accounts
29th November
•ICT Digital Industry Council Report
•Programme Performance Reports
•New Anglia Capital Report
December
No Board Meeting
Meetings are virtual unless otherwise stated.
Standing Items (where relevant)
•IAC recommendations
•Chief Executive’s Report
•LEP Integration (Integrated into CEO report)
Items to be Scheduled
•Skills Bootcamp
•Create Growth
•Growth Hub
•Towns Deals
•Sizewell C
•EZs / IZs
•Freeport East
•Enterprise Advisor Network
