Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership Limited
Board Meeting,
Monday 25th November 2019 - Northgate House, Warwick
In Attendance: Jonathan Browning (Chair) CWLEP Nick Abell (Vice Chair) Wright Hassall Sean Farnell Burgis & Bullock, C&W Chamber/FSB Karl Eddy Grant Thorton Sarah Windrum Emerald Group Cllr Peter Butlin Warwickshire County Council Cllr Daren Pemberton (obo Tony Jefferson) Stratford-on-Avon District Council Cllr Andrew Day Warwick District Council Cllr Jill Simpson-Vince Rugby Borough Council Cllr Neil Phillips Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council Cllr David Humphreys North Warwickshire Borough Council Parveen Rai Rai Properties Ltd Marion Plant North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College Nick Spencer Jaguar Land Rover Clive Winters (obo John Latham) Coventry University Tony Minhas Foleshill Metal Finishing Ltd Cllr David Bill Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council (Observer)
Executives in Attendance: Martin Yardley CWLEP Paula Deas CWLEP Nicola Cox CWLEP Kate Hughes CWLEP Iain Patrick CWLEP Monica Fogarty Warwickshire County Council Craig Humphrey CWLEP Growth Hub Steve Maxey North Warwickshire Borough Council Barry Hastie Coventry City Council Bill Cullen Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Bill Blincoe CWLEP Growth Hub
Apologies: Zamurad Hussain HBT Communications Stuart Croft University of Warwick Helen Peters Shakespeare’s England Cllr Jim O’Boyle Coventry City Council Lee Osbourne FSB Les Ratcliffe C&W Champions
Others in Attendance: Adam Dent Advent Communications Louise Bennett Chamber of Commerce Matt Vins BEIS and C&LoG Team Andrew Todd (obo Richard Hutchins) Warwick University Navjot Johal Coventry City Council Ria Jones Coventry City Council
Item Agenda Item. Action No. Owner 1. Welcome and Apologies The Chair called the meeting to order and extended a welcome to Ria Jones, Growth Deal Programme Manager. Apologies received; John Latham, Helen Peters, Stuart Croft, Cllr Tony Jefferson, Cllr Jim O’Boyle, Zamurad Hussain, Lee Osborne and Les Ratcliffe 2. Call for Declarations of Interest and AOB Items. Declarations of Interest: - MP noted item 9. No AOB requested. 3. Approval of Minutes and Actions from previous meeting The minutes of the last meeting held on 7th October 2019 were approved. Proposed by SF Seconded MP. All actions completed or covered in this agenda. 4. Board Matters and Chair’s Briefing The Chair acknowledged it had been another busy month. C&W Champions event held at the Box, Fargo, a CWLEP funded project, had been well supported. The C&W Chamber of Commerce Conference had been hugely successful, congratulations to LB and her team. We were proud to be sponsors through the Careers and Enterprise Hub alongside Warwickshire College Group, also a headline sponsor, celebrating our regions performance and track record for collaboration. The third C&W Business Festival supported by the Growth Hub showcased the best of our region over a number of events and closed with the Coventry Telegraph Business Awards, showcasing our best talent, business success and confidence in our area. We also attended Wills Kitchen, which is part of Shakespeare’s Henley Street Development, thanks to SW for representing CWLEP. Supported by NA and ZH we remain in dialogue with Government about the upcoming Annual Performance Review and we seek clarity on the process, criteria and evaluation requirements for our January meeting. As we are in the election period, normal rules of purdah apply but the board agreed to continue with our business as usual Board discussions. 5. Coventry and Warwickshire Place Board and Champions Report. NE presented highlights of the Champions achievements and events so far during 2019. Continued growth sees Champions membership increasing in numbers. The first ever Champions, Next Generation event took place and will be on the agenda in 2020. We also took part in the Festival of Place, London, spreading the regions name to a wider audience. NE updated the meeting on the regional and business sector split of memberships. Champions will continue to make use of social media which has increased traction. AD advised on the speakers already engaged and potentially engaged for the next event in January. NE outlined the ambitions for the Place Board in 2020. SF noted the reflection of the SME 80/20 split and requested clarity on the funding of Champions. SW noted the perception change for smaller businesses would be welcomed. SW/NE/PD PD advised that there was a refresh anticipated and change to events moving forward. discuss 6. Commonwealth Games. The Strategic Transport Plan for CWG compiled by WDC was outlined by PB. He updated the meeting on how the region would deal with the number of additional visitors to the area. The report is cognisant of the legacy possibilities following the games. Additional engagement of CCTV to make the games more secure was needed. AD advised WDC had already spent £1m in this respect. JB noted that the training bases had yet to be finalised and would need to be recognised together with accommodation for the athletes. It was recognised that a review of LA’s actions whilst preparing for the CWG timings was needed. NA also noted consideration of the City of Culture requirements was required. 7. Tourism and Culture SM noted thanks to the Board for the appointment of the T&C Chair. Terms of reference have been revised. In line with the WMLIS and Tourism Sector Deal the aim is to champion a Culture and Tourism action plan. Providing support for City of Culture and CWG 2022 to realise their full potential to the region and possible legacies.
Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership Limited Board Meeting, Monday 25 November 2019
It will focus on developing Tourism Zones to increase productivity and extend the visitor season. A draft action plan is in progress and will aim to be agreed in January 2020. The group will support ‘The Meeting Show’ funded by CWLEP. SW, MP and SF all noted there was an interlink with Digital, Skills Group and SME Group respectively. KH advised on how the T&C Group intended to cover this integration requirement. 8. China – Stratford upon Avon NA noted the C&W heritage was seen as an attraction to the world. Further outlining why, the visit was undertaken and the supporting reasoning. The key achievements were, re-affirming the civic and cultural ties; showing Midlands as ‘keen to do business’; developing commercial relationships with Automotive partners. CWLEP has set up a China Business Group led by NA including all key stakeholders and sharing business intelligence with Midlands Engine. DP updated the meeting from a Stratford point of view. JB requested at January board a TOR for the China Business Group NA/MY 9. Nuneaton – Stronger Towns Fund PD outlined how this would affect Nuneaton Borough. The first objective was to set up a private led board and develop a strategy. Capacity funding was already in place to work up a structure. Timescales were noted Both LR and SF had been approached as having businesses connections in Nuneaton to SF support the Chair position. MP would engage support from an FE perspective. MP 10. Programme Delivery Board Report. PD outlined the challenges and the current financial position. Current activity was 110% of target at Q2. Red and Amber projects are all complex. PDB completed a robust analysis and projects are aware of consequences. PD outlined the specific issues of each red projects and the potential actions considered. JB noted this is likely to be the view moving forward given the time left to deliver. Recommendation. The Programme Delivery Board were asked to approve the revised profiles for A46 Stanks, A452 Europa Way, CSW Broadband, Transforming Nuneaton and Shakespeare’s Henley Street. The Board noted the revised profiles and accepted the recommendations of the PDB. 11. Finance and Governance Board. NA advised the board that F&G had been asked to support several small funding requests. Visual Interactive Futures, The Meeting Show and YoungPro Awards (last time) were agreed. Venturefest was asked to supply more information before approval would be released. 12. AOB. None requested.
Next Meeting: 27th January 2020
Venue: TBA
Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership Limited Board Meeting, Monday 25 November 2019