The Bristol head of one of the world’s biggest property agencies has praised Lord Heseltine’s analysis of where Britain’s industrial strategy is going wrong.
Jeremy Richards, head of the Bristol office of Jones Lang LaSalle was greatly enthused to hear the Tory grandee tell a city audience that the government’s obsession with London must change.
Heseltine’s trenchant comments also offered hope that funding decisions in terms of business support could be made at a regional level, offering a chance to bring economic power back to Bristol.
Jeremy Richards said:
“I am delighted that regional strategy is at the heart of Lord Hesseltine’s proposals for economic growth.
“Bristol, along with other major regional cities, has been trying long and hard to dilute the London-centric focus of successive governments on many strategic issues, particularly the need for significant infrastructure investment in roads and airports outside the South-East.
“Perhaps the coalition, which commissioned Lord Heseltine’s review, will accept his view that cities such as ours should have much more of a say in the way in which national revenues are distributed, and that the Regional Growth Fund needs increasing significantly.”
Jeremy Richards was equally pleased to hear Heseltine’s comment that Local Enterprise Partnerships needed greater financial resources, to allow them to create the jobs which the country’s flagging economy so badly needs.
“I’m a great believer in public-private partnerships, and the LEPs are a great idea, but in terms of wealth creation, it made no sense to abolish the South West RDA – with an annual budget north of £300m – then expect an LEP network in its present under-funded form to match its achievements.
“The review also rightly points out the private sector should work much more closely together with government to create a strong, locally based business support infrastructure. That shift in emphasis can only be a good thing for the Bristol economy.”
