Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Low Carbon Group

The West of England Local Enterprise Partnership supports business growth and is working to attract new jobs to Bristol, Bath and Weston-super-Mare – and the surrounding countryside.

It’s generally a prosperous area with an excellent quality of life and a growing national and international profile. The West of England has unrivalled business strengths, is at the forefront of academic research, and has a well-qualified workforce and a vibrant social scene.

It’s a great place to live and work and, as a partnership between business and local authorities, we are making it a better one. We are working together to support:

• 95,000 new jobs by 2030
• 3.4% annual growth by 2020
• Over £1 billion of private sector investment over the next 3 years
• A well motivated workforce with the skills that business needs
• The foundations for a long-term sustainable economy

Our Vision and Business Plan, agreed by the LEP Board show how we are going to do this.

Our Structure supports the LEP Board in making it happen. The Board monitors progress regularly and receives regular economic intelligence reports.

We hold conferences for partners and other related organisations and reports of these are elsewhere on this website.

The West of England office provides day to day support to the LEP.

The Low Carbon Sector Group (LCSG) of the LEP seeks to:

  • Explore opportunities for job creation in the low carbon technology sector, and
  • Explore opportunities to reduce the carbon impact of other sectors of the LEP’s portfolio.

We believe there are two principles that are key to sustainable growth. First, job creation should be promoted in the low carbon economy.

Second, existing jobs should be protected from the impact of resource scarcity and climate change whilst new jobs, in whatever sector, should respect these significant and increasing constraints.

The Opportunities

Enterprise Zone/Enterprise Areas

The Bristol Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone is a city centre location that lends itself to service industry, digital and creative sectors. It is in a location where a number of leaders in the field of professional services advising on low carbon developments are located.

The Enterprise Areas are more versatile in their location and type, lending themselves to a variety of uses. Enterprise Areas should develop in ways that make best use of local resources and skills. A circular economy strategy is recommended, again making full use of renewable energy sources and efficiency measures.

Co-ordination and intelligence sharing between existing initiatives

Bristol City Council have been successful in gaining some funding for its ELENA project, which is potentially a very exciting investment opportunity. The LEP will work with, and learn from the City Council’s initiatives. It will seek to ensure the opportunities from ELENA for the West of England economy are maximised.

The Green Deal is another initiative which several of the West of England local authorities and others such as the Federation of Small Businesses are actively engaged in. The LEP is a conduit for maximizing opportunities for investment and growth as a result of these activities.

Learning from existing good practice

The West of England benefits from many initiatives already taking place which exemplify good practice. Such initiatives are championed and supported by the LEP.

Preparing for Change

The Low Carbon Sector Group is keen to engage early in the LEP’s strategic decision making processes. We will explore ways to resource this engagement, with a view to ensuring that the Enterprise Zone and Enterprise Areas develop a zero carbon approach from the outset.

How to contact us:

Chair of the Low Carbon Sector Group:

Caroline MacDonald