LEP celebrates Better Business award success
The team at Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership working to streamline and simplify business regulation are celebrating after being named as runner up in a national awards scheme.
The LEP’s success in working in partnership with local and national businesses in the area saw it named as runner-up in the Partnership Award section of the Better Business for All (BBfA) Awards 2016
The awards, organised by the Better Regulation Delivery Office, part of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, recognise good practice in bringing together business and regulators to change how local regulation is delivered.
Better Business for All is designed to enable regulators to understand business better, and tailor their services to meet business needs.
Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire LEP was an early adopter of the BBfA programme and has brought a wide range of partners around the table to examine issues around regulation. Business representation is a key part of the partnership and the LEP has actively supported the programme and encouraged businesses to get involved.
The partnership has set up an Enterprise Round Table, where business support organisations, including regulators, can share information and build their knowledge. Regulators attend training sessions LEP Growth Hub advisers working to help local businesses grow, and have input into how calls are handled by the LEP’s Business Helpline.
One of the local partners, Lichfield District Council, has also created ‘Talk to Reg’ – an online directory now used by BBfA groups nationally.
LEP chairman David Frost CBE commented: “We are very pleased to see our pioneering work given national recognition. It is vital that regulators should work constructively with business, so that we can help our economy flourish and encourage growth and job opportunities for Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.”
Staffordshire County Council trading standards manager Brandon Cooke and business support team leader Nicola Kent are pictured with the award, which was presented at a BBfA conference in Westminster.
