Paul Moorby OBE reflects on his first year as Chair of the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership .
Foreword from the Chair
I started my role as Chair at the beginning of April 2020 , just as the pandemic hit . I reflected internally that I became Chair , and everyone locked the doors , and they haven ’ t been out since , but this really summarises the environment of the last year .
It ’ s been incredibly tough , and I praise the Swindon and Wiltshire business community for its tenacity , resilience , and entrepreneurial spirit , rising to the challenges we have faced however complex and impossible they may have seemed at first . I ’ m proud of our business community , business representation group partners and the SWLEP team for working together more than ever to help us through this crisis , strengthening our assets so that we are ready to embrace whatever the future has in store for us .
2020 / 21 was always going to be a challenge for the SWLEP regardless of COVID-19 , as we knew that we were soon coming to the end of a cycle of Government investment for LEPs . This was signposted not long after I became Chair , and the exact spending review and changes are set to be in place by April 2022 . Therefore , this year has been all about concentrating on the work that our previous Chair , John Mortimer , started by setting us up as a Limited Company and making us fit for purpose for whatever is coming next .
The whole of this year has been about making the SWLEP self-sustaining , ensuring we ’ re here for the long term as a local asset . We ’ ve been working on two main projects to achieve this . The first is our Growing Places Infrastructure Fund , loaning out millions to local businesses . The interest that those invested in the scheme pay gets recycled straight back into our business community in Swindon and Wiltshire . ( Find out more on page 17 ).
The second project has been pitching for funding for our new Business Cyber Centre . We were successfully awarded capital through the Government ’ s Getting Building Fund to support our idea , and this new facility we are creating will be a UK-first , putting our area at the cutting edge of cyber technology with world leading skills here in Swindon and Wiltshire . We will become a landlord for the building we are signing a lease on , with profits being fed back into the SWLEP to keep our organisation in business and able to support our community with future projects to better our economy . If we can make sure that the core costs of the SWLEP are paid for through these two initiatives , any extra funding we secure allows us to do more and get greater return for every Government pound that ’ s spent in our region .
My personal contribution has been as aggregator and convenor . Managers are not needed in good times , they ’ re needed in bad , so I ’ m pleased to have been involved when a business voice is needed most . I will continue in my mission to ensure Swindon and Wiltshire ’ s 720,000 + residents are heard on a national level , to create new opportunities which will create jobs and generate security for our region in the years to come . I invite you to contact me with any challenges you face .
Paul Moorby , Chair Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership , July 2021