New local enterprise partnership for Northamptonshire

A new local enterprise partnership has been approved, which will support businesses in Northamptonshire.

The Northamptonshire local enterprise partnership covers a population of around 683,000 and represents over 24,785 businesses.

It has the support of both businesses and local authorities in the area and joins the 37 partnerships announced since the Government’s Local Growth White Paper was published in October last year.

The priority of the private sector-led partnership is to promote growth and create jobs in the area. To achieve this, the Northamptonshire partnership plans to help create 70,000 new jobs over the next 15 years.

Its priorities include increasing the coverage of super-fast broad band, regenerating and improving connectivity between the main population areas, supporting the tourism industry and helping to realise the potential of the growth sectors like advanced manufacturing and engineering, information technology and logistics.

Local enterprise partnerships bring together local business and civic leaders, working to support their local economy. They operate within a geography that reflects natural economic areas and provide the vision, knowledge and strategic leadership needed to drive sustainable private sector growth and job creation in their area.

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk said: "All local enterprise partnerships are making excellent progress in bringing together their plans for local growth, and I hope to see this partnership working quickly to identify the needs of the area it will serve."

"Local enterprise partnerships have an important role to play in identifying each area’s potential for growth and I want all local communities to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of the private sector and the opportunities that growth brings."

Further information:
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills