South London LEP Dropped

A south London business group has withdrawn its bid to form a local enterprise partnership after mayor Boris Johnson said there is no case for having multiple LEPs across the capital.

A business support organisation has scrapped plans for a local enterprise partnership bid covering south London after mayor Boris Johnson warned multiple such bodies in the capital would be a 'mistake'.

South London Business, which is already a partner in the Coast to Capital LEP that was one of the first wave of the emerging bodies to receive government approval, said it had also submitted a LEP bid covering south London on 6 September.
But the body, which runs a number of apprenticeship programmes, said that it would now instead support a London-wide LEP because of the Mayor's plans.

Earlier this month, Johnson said it would be a "mistake" to create a network of local enterprise partnerships within the capital, dealing a blow to several bids proposed by councils and businesses.

He said: "I think there is an obvious LEP in the Thames Gateway area. Other than that, probably the way I think we should go … is to create a single London LEP – that’s the way we’re thinking at the moment."

South London Business said that it is currently working with the mayor and his advisors to develop proposals for a London-wide LEP, and has been liaising with the mayor’s adviser, Mark Kleinman, about how South London Business could support this.

Peter Pledger, chief executive of South London Business, said the body "would be seeking to ensure the proposed London-wide LEP represented the interests of south London".
He added: "The SLB is about helping businesses to grow, creating jobs and helping to set up new businesses."