Our Annual Report sets out our key highlights over 2021/22 and evolving role as we move forward with pace to deliver a highly skilled, high performing local economy. With a consolidated offer around business support, skills leadership, sector growth and inward investment, Hertfordshire is accelerating its growth plans thanks to the LEP’s unique private-public partnership.

Over the past year, Hertfordshire LEP has sustained its focus on championing the county’s 60,000 small businesses, its high growth sectors and the criticality of advancing employment opportunity and skills across the county’s 1.2m population.

Hertfordshire LEP’s Growth Hub acts as the central point of access to a wide range of local and national support, offering free and impartial advice, whether a business is starting out or scaling up. In 2021/22 the Growth Hub saw continued take up of digital advice via its website, with over 3,000 registered users; assisted 400 users to start a business and supported 1,664 businesses through medium or high intensity support. A total of 40 Business Expansion Grants (BEGs) have been awarded to 38 SMEs, totalling £2.5m, enabling them to scale up.

2021 was another challenging year for the tourism, hospitality and retail industry but with the worst of the pandemic over, Visit Herts has supported the rebooting and rebuilding of the visitor economy through the delivery of a wide range of projects, marketing and industry activity. The Visit Herts’ Annual Review provides an overview of how it has supported the visitor economy and promoted Hertfordshire over the last 12 months.

We have continued to support our early stage businesses via the Get Enterprising Programme led by Wenta and funded by Hertfordshire LEP. The Hertfordshire Start-up Programme gives access to 12 hours of free business support worth £1,400 to help entrepreneurs start a business, survive and thrive. Over the past year it has supported over 1,900 clients with 161 new businesses started.

At the start of this year, Hertfordshire LEP piloted the Service Innovation Programme harnessing the world-class expertise of Estu and Royal College of Art (RCA) to deliver service innovation, better customer experience and improved value for Hertfordshire businesses. From the 16 business leaders who took part in the pilot, a total of £1.15m of private investment is expected to be leveraged along with the creation of 55 jobs.

Sector Action Plans for Life Sciences, Film and TV and Clean Growth have been developed with industry panels being created to help take them forward. Work on smart construction, sustainable technologies and advanced manufacturing is expected to get underway over the next year as part of a wider inward investment programme to maximise fully future growth opportunities.

We have continued to roll out Generation careers fair to all parts of the county connecting young people to local job, training and apprenticeships opportunities and building a valued talent pipeline for employers. Watch highlights from Generation Broxbourne. The skills team has expanded over 2021/22 to develop further its sustainable growth strategy by encouraging residents to work locally, highlighting progression opportunities and championing apprenticeships as a valued career pathway.

Read the Hertfordshire LEP Annual Report.

Hertfordshire LEP Chair Mark Bretton announces decision to step down

For the past six and half years, business leader Mark Bretton has brought his considerable acumen and wide-ranging experience to the role of Chair of Hertfordshire LEP. During his tenure, the economy has withstood unprecedented pressures from Brexit to a global pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Since 2019, Mark Bretton has also chaired the LEP Network, volunteering his time to set the overall policy direction and strategy for 38 LEPs across England.

Announcing his decision in September to step down locally as Chair, Mark Bretton said: “There have been legions of examples where Hertfordshire LEP has made a huge local impact, whether that’s in skills, infrastructure, town centre regeneration, business support, driving through our Strategic Economic and Recovery Plans, our nascent Local Industrial Strategy and our conferences, many engagements with local businesses, MPs and other stakeholders. We have also demonstrated our worth nationally in delivering the Government’s Levelling Up agenda and our vital role championing the voice of business.

“With a new PM and Cabinet now in place and the accession of King Charles III, this will ramp up the national workload. There is still much to be done to finally cement LEPs in the place they deserve to be at the centre of decision making locally and emphasise how we can support Government in delivering its ambitious Growth Plans outlined in its recent mini Budget and more substantively later this year.”

An open and transparent recruitment process for Mark’s successor will get underway soon to ensure that Hertfordshire LEP pools from the widest and most diverse talent pool of potential business leader candidates.

Neil Hayes, CEO, Hertfordshire LEP, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to extend my huge gratitude to Mark Bretton for his tireless work in pursuit of Hertfordshire’s best interests. Mark brought a wealth of experience to the Board and thanks to his dedicated stewardship, he leaves Hertfordshire LEP in very good shape and ready to take on the future.”

Save the Date: Hertfordshire LEP Annual Conference 2022

Hertfordshire LEP’s Annual Conference 2022 will take place at Rothamsted Conference Centre, Harpenden, on 8 December and will address both the immediate cost of living pressures facing our businesses and local economies and the future Hertfordshire opportunities for sustained investment to 2030 + and beyond. Attracting hundreds of delegates every year, the LEP Annual conference is a key fixture in the business calendar bringing in diverse voices from across industry, education, not for profit and government to debate the issues that matter most.

Delegates can register their early interest by emailing info@hertfordshirelep.co.uk.