Mike Blackburn to head-up Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership

Friday, 25 March 2011

Mike Blackburn will Chair the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (GM LEP) when it becomes operational on Friday 1 April.

His appointment was confirmed this morning at a meeting of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ (AGMA) Executive Board.

Blackburn, BT’s regional director for the North West, will lead a board of nine private sector and four local authority representatives.

The remaining eight private sector board positions will be announced shortly. All appointments were subject to an open recruitment process overseen by the Shadow LEP – a temporary body created by AGMA that utilised the existing infrastructure and partnership arrangements across Greater Manchester to ensure that a permanent LEP could be established and operational by April 2011.

The four local authority positions will be filled by the chair, Lord Peter Smith and the three vice-chairs of AGMA, Sir Richard Leese, Cllr Howard Sykes and Cllr Bob Bibby respectively.

The members of the board will ensure the GM LEP will support business and local authorities to grow the private sector, tackle major barriers to growth and develop shared strategies for the local economy to increase job creation. As the LEP board, they will also play an important role in bringing together Manchester’s bids for a share of the £1.4bn, three-year Regional Growth Fund.

Commenting on his new role, Mike Blackburn said: “I’m honoured to take the helm of the GM LEP at such an important time for the city. The creation of the GM LEP has been a swift and positive process and is testament to the strong sense of partnership working already in place across Greater Manchester. I look forward to finalising the remaining private sector board positions in conjunction with the AGMA Executive and getting down to business.”

Lord Peter Smith welcomed the appointment, “Mike is a respected businessmen in the North West and adds great stature and leadership to this board. He has already demonstrated his passion for the region and has been active in shaping Manchester for sometime and I know he will be committed to galvanising the private sector alongside the public sector to drive economic growth and support the creation of local jobs.”

The creation of the GM LEP was approved by the Department for Communities and Local Government and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in October 2010. It is one of 30 local enterprise partnerships across the UK and forms part of the Coalition Government’s replacement to the regional development agency structure, which it has abolished.

ENDS

For more information:

Trevor Evers

Press & PR Manager, Marketing Manchester

Tel: 0161 238 4542

Mob: 078111 20748