We will will create 100,000 Mersey jobs, claims LEP boss

THE sun rose today on a new entity, charged with taking Liverpool and its five closest neighbours on a voyage of enterprise. 

The Mersey Partnership's flag – well name-plate – was lowered at its Princes Parade headquarters, and up went the signage for the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, known in business and political circles as the LEP. 

'You can't help but feel passionate about
Liverpool and the city region' - Robert Hough

When you listen to the LEP's chairman Robert Hough – who said the aim over the coming decade is to create 100,000 new jobs in Merseyside, oops sorry, “Liverpool City Region” – you are tempted to ask … "What kept you?"

LEPs are the unwanted babies created by Eric Pickles and the Department for Communities and Local Government as the coalition's successors to the regional development agencies. 

The Hough at a CBI
dinner in 2009Indeed, former Peel boss Mr Hough, as chairman of the North West Regional Development Agency, is currently arranging its funeral. 

The NWDA spanned an area stretching from Crewe to the Lake District, and pumped millions of pounds in aid into areas like Liverpool and Merseyside. 

The new LEP will not receive any Government funding and will have to fight its corner and shout for any government or EU grants on offer. Despite this, Hough insists the Liverpool City Region LEP will not be a poor relation of the NWDA. 

After months of discussions, and in some cases wrangling, the LEP has, to all intents and purposes, consumed the Mersey Partnership as its organising body. 

Downtown Liverpool in Business leader Frank McKenna says he has major concerns in the set up, ranging from a lack of consultation with the business community to a distinct shortage of female board members. 

He has also described the make-up of the new LEP as a “joke” criticising it as a staff-heavy, expensive, and potentially inefficient quango. 

He said: “I am disappointed the wider business community has not been properly consulted in the setting up of this new structure. Equally concerning is the poor representation for the SME sector, and the woeful lack of female presence on the board. How can it be right that the Liverpool city region has failed to find a leading business woman to be a member of this new strategic body?” 

Frank McKenna, rightHe also questioned why the LEP will be employing more than 50 people compared to others in the region employing as few as two. 

Hough defended the size of the operation, citing the massive amount of work to do in a city region with an economy worth more than £21bn. 

Old enough to carry a bus pass, he has had a glittering career with Peel and for some years chaired the Peel-owned Liverpool John Lennon Airport. He also delivered the Trafford Centre, another Peel venture. 

So why, with so many successes under his belt, and with the ability to enjoy a well earned retirement, does he want to take the hot seat in a region where for far too long rivalry, tribalism and some of the worst deprivation in Europe have dominated the political landscape? 

“You can't help but feel passionate about Liverpool and the city region,” he said, recalling how at a younger age he would travel to Liverpool's docklands with his father who worked for a timber merchant. 

He says he fully understands the district rivalries – it's human nature, people in Wirral prefer things for Wirral – but we should not lose sight of the bigger picture. 

Liverpool City is the big economic driver – but even here more than half of the people working in the city live outside it. 

It's the start of a new era, he says cheerfully, describing those hoped for 100,000 jobs as deliverable. 

“Without doubt it is ambitious,” he declares. 

But no time for mourning the death of the NWDA. Hough says he is here to deliver Government policies – and that means making a success of the LEP. 

“It won't be straightforward but it will be an exceptional challenge and I'm looking forward to it. The area will have wind in its sails,” he says.

“By establishing the LEP in this way, we are building on solid foundations and the transition means the new LEP can rise rapidly to the challenge of ensuring the City Region is a dynamic powerhouse for economic growth and job creation.” 

There is still a lot of talking to do and sorting out who does what – particularly with promoting and marketing tourism. 

Liverpool's new LEP is open for business.