I am delighted to provide you with a ‘looking ahead’ message in my new capacity as Chair of OxLEP.
It would be wrong not to acknowledge that the past 12 months has provided a continued and sustained challenging period for our business community, still – in a variety of ways – recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing issues related to inflation. Some sectors are ‘feeling the pinch’ more than others, however – from the thousands of engagements our team has had with Oxfordshire businesses in recent times – what can’t be doubted is our business community has always benefited from real optimism and collaboration, underpinned by an economy that is one of only four in the UK that is a net contributor to the UK exchequer.
We too have faced challenges at OxLEP, but we have tried to embrace a positive and forward-thinking approach to how we operate as a Local Enterprise Partnership – perhaps most notably, launching our four-day working week pilot scheme at the turn of this financial year, placing our staff’s wellbeing at the forefront of our operations, which – in turn – provides our business community with a refreshed workforce, ready to support you.
We believe our expertise has never been more needed. We always aim listen to our business community – in particular, via our online business support tool – and build a programme of support that’s tailored to you. We remain agile and adaptable and our support is based on business need.
We are also continuing to work closely with the private sector to understand Oxfordshire’s significant sector strengths and promote them – from our world-class visitor economy offer, right through to our globally-leading innovation ecosystem and the new, transformative technologies being generated within the county.
We are committed to building even greater collaborations between business and academia, informing young people of the major opportunities that exist in the county – after all, we have an innovation ecosystem that matches anywhere in the world.
As you will have noted through the content in this year’s annual report, we have now delivered for Oxfordshire for over a decade – we have a track record of positive success and influence and we wish to continue to build on this next year and beyond.
More broadly, it’s extremely important that we all work together to enable a local economy which is globally competitive, sustainable, diverse, and inclusive – one that benefits all communities in the county. Our emerging Strategic Economic Plan looks to address this.
We are absolutely steadfast in our approach to developing programmes of support that meets the needs of Oxfordshire’s business community. Now, and in the future, we encourage you to speak with us and tell us about your challenges and indeed, opportunities.
Ultimately, if we can make things easier for you by simplifying the business support landscape, helping individuals and businesses to easily connect – whether you are starting out, growing or setting off on a new business challenge – and provide you with the support you need, then we are all in a much stronger position.
I wish you all a prosperous next 12 months.
Professor Alistair Fitt
Chair – OxLEP