BHEP Chair - Dean Orgill
BHEP to become Brighton & Hove Business Growth Board
At the full meeting of the Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership (BHEP) last week (3.12.24) the decision was taken to form the city’s first Business Growth Board (BGB).
The move will see the current BHEP evolve, and under an ambitious new constitution, create a more diverse, action-based organisation to support the sustainable economic growth of Brighton and Hove.
During Economic Plan consultations, the need to further enhance the business voice within decision-making emerged as a regular theme. The new Business Growth Board will:
o Help embed a strong and diverse business voice and play a key role in the delivery and implementation of the new Economic Plan
o Work strategically at a local and sub-regional level (including the Greater Brighton City Region) on the prioritisation and execution of projects critical to the development of a fairer, greener, and more competitive economy
o Support the delivery of an inward investment offer designed to attract new investment into the city, as well as retaining expanding companies
o Act as initial Business Ambassadors for the city – promoting opportunities and disseminating relevant information through members’ existing networks
o Collaborate on the development of a strategic economic growth narrative to secure devolved powers and longer-term funding for economic infrastructure and growth.
To enable the Growth Board to build momentum, it was agreed to create a Shadow Board from the BHEP Executive Board that will meet only once.
The Shadow Board will be responsible for:
o Agreeing the process for recruiting new members to the BGB
o Agreeing initial Terms of Reference, consideration of sector-based membership, enhancing diversity, and any wider governance issues
At the conclusion of the Shadow Board meeting, all members will stand down, pending re-election.
The shadow board will meet in Jan, with a public call for board members shortly after that. It is hoped that the first meeting of the new Business Growth Board will be held by March 2024.
Gavin Stewart, Executive Director of the BHEP said, “There is a huge opportunity here for us to work more collaboratively across sectors, and the city, to deliver the ambitious proposals in the Brighton & Hove Economic Plan. I am looking forward to working with the Shadow Board to take the organisation to the next level and help create new ways of working that celebrate the diverse business voice that we should be rightly proud of.”
Dean Orgill, Chair of the BHEP added, “The BHEP has been a critical friend to the Local Authority for over 20 years. The time is right for us to make this next step and embed the expertise and knowledge we have gathered into the next chapter of the city’s rich economic story.”