COMMENT
THE
LAST WORD
JEAN MOUNTAIN, Chamber President, on the issues that are worth talking about One minute we’re going to have expansion at Heathrow
HONOURED I am delighted to start my first Last Word of 2016 by congratulating five long-term friends of the Chamber whose endeavours were recognised in New Year’s Honours. Former Chamber Board member and retired Vice-
Chancellor of the University of Derby Prof John Coyne was granted an MBE for services to education. Prof Paul Boyle, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of
Leicester received an MBE for services to social science. Public relations specialist Louise Third received a CBE for
her pro-bono charity work, while Malcolm Hall, founder of Hall-Fast industrial supplies and Martin Rigley, MD of Lindhurst Engineering, both Chamber members for many year, also received CBEs for services to business. Sincerest congratulations one and all.
GOOD NEWS ABOUT UKTI I’m also delighted that Government has sensibly decided to continue to use the expertise of UK Trade & Investment in the national drive to improve exports. The criticisms last year of this organisation were
unfounded, and the Chamber was happy to offer its support to UKTI when it appeared that its existence was under threat. The Chamber welcomes the “whole-of-Government”
approach to exporting announced last month and particularly the assurance that UKTI will continue to be part of the programme.
TEN BILLION GREY FLEET MILES As if the roads were not dangerous enough, in our focus feature this month we learn that there are up to 14 million grey fleet cars on our streets covering on average 700 miles a year – a shade under ten billion miles. We also learn that a significant proportion of ‘grey fleet managers’ don’t undertake the checks they should to ensure their employees can drive, have insurance or that their private cars are road-legal. Come on people. This is a serious wake-up call. While I would hope that all Chamber members would be
complying fully with the law it is possible that statistically 300 might never carry out the required checks and 400 don’t do them properly. Is it really worth the risk?
NOBODY LIKES AIRPORT DELAYS The Government has been accused of playing political football with its airports’ strategy.
50 business network February 2016
or Gatwick, and then the decision is delayed again. This is not conducive to good business and certainly
won’t do anything to boost the national need to drive exports. Of the options on the table, the Chamber said it would
back a third runway at Heathrow so long as transport links between the East Midlands and the airport were improved, but only if the more sensible options were ignored. Far and away the better choice would be for Government
to encourage greater utilisation of the capacity available at regional airports such as East Midlands, Birmingham and Robin Hood. Perhaps, as the football is the air again, Government
should be looking to break away from its London-centricity and aim to head it into the back of a net that would demonstrate its support for the Midlands Engine for Growth.
EVOLUTION OF DEVOLUTION By the end of this month, we should know if Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire have been successful in securing the devolution of a swathe of powers from Government which have the potential to transform the local economy. Leicester and Leicestershire, meanwhile, are in talks with
Government about the formation of a Combined Authority to oversee skills, transport and planning. I may be pointing out the obvious here, but why aren’t
the cities and counties working together on a devolution deal to benefit the lion’s share of the East Midlands? There’s safety in numbers, but I suspect that’s an elephant that will remain in the room for some time…
ENGINE FOR GROWTH How exciting is it, after years of recession and struggling back into the black, that we are seeing real confidence in the local economy again. I refer specifically to the plans to build the East Midlands
Gateway Rail freight Interchange barely a stone’s throw from East Midlands Airport and virtually beside the M1. Ten warehouses, container handling, capacity for 16
trains a day and up to 7,000 jobs… this is all very welcome. Add that to the expansion plans for Magna Park, in
Leicester, which could create thousands more jobs, and a speculative build at Dove Valley Park which could create another 60, and the future is looking very bright.
AGREE OR DISAGREE? Join the debate by following @EMChamberNews and Tweet using the hashtag #LastWord
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52