The Great South West partnership has announced the formal appointment of its first chair.
Karl Tucker, who is also chair of Yeo Valley and the heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), has been given the title by the Great South West board. Mr Tucker intends to lead the board in its ambitions to drive regional growth through green and blue economies.
Towards the end of last year the partnership held its first board meeting to discuss objectives to build on the region’s natural capital opportunity, develop a clean, digital economy, and tackle climate change. Covering the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset, the pan-regional partnership is "focussed" on delivering a larger and more productive economy to establish the South West as the UK's "Natural Powerhouse".
The Great South West believes that the region's marine, energy, environmental, technological and agricultural strengths present an opportunity to be a "major contributor" to the economy, alongside powerhouses such as the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine.
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Mr Tucker commented: "I am delighted to have been formally appointed as the chair of the Great South West. We have worked hard since the Government's Levelling Up white paper in February 2022, which acknowledged the Great South West as a good example of a business-led pan-regional partnership. Having turned this acknowledgment into formal recognition and funding is a testament to the effort and commitment shown by all involved in the process."
Mr Tucker added: "The Great South West represents a significant opportunity for the region to be heard by central Government and investors within the UK and beyond. There are major opportunities to transform our economy, creating new careers and jobs within our blue and green economies. The Great South West has the potential to become the UK’s Natural Powerhouse, helping to deliver on our decarbonisation and net zero targets. To unlock these opportunities we need Government investment in our infrastructure, the national grid, roads and rail networks, digital connectivity, housing and workforce development. As the Chair of Great South West I am excited to get on with working with the Government, our partners and stakeholders, in the region and beyond to deliver on this opportunity.”
Mark Duddridge, chair of the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly LEP, said: “The Great South West is England’s newest regional powerhouse that will lead the country in the transformation to a net zero economy, unlocking new industries such as floating offshore wind, reinventing our land-based and hospitality sectors, and developing traditional specialisms such as marine and mining, and in so doing attract billions of private and public investment.
“We are delighted that Karl Tucker will lead a board of public and private sector leaders along with our universities to deliver this promise. Karl has led the three LEP teams to achieve recognition of this Partnership by Government over a number of years, so is ideally placed to move the Great South West to the next stage of its evolution.”
Earlier this month industry leaders in Cornwall called for floating windfarms off the coast, which could unlock green growth and create thousands of jobs, if power is landed directly in Cornwall.
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