Business leaders gathered at the House of Commons to call for the Central South to be accepted as an economic region and for action to be taken over the Apprenticeship Levy.
The Business South reception was held in the Thames Pavilion and Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage welcomed 40 guests representing some of the major names in business across the Central South and in partnership with London First.
In her welcome address she said: “Collaboration is needed, and it is vital that we work together.
“It is time to roll up our sleeves and work to make the case for our part of the UK.”
While the perception is that the south is affluent and booming, Caroline said the reality was that there were significant pockets of deprivation.
Data collated by Savills was presented by Gavin Hall, Head of Office at Savills in Southampton. It’s the first time figures for the Central South region have been pulled together and the data reinforced the opening remarks from Caroline Dinenage.
MPs attending included Penny Mordaunt MP, Minister of State for Trade, Stephen Morgan MP, Alan Whitehead MP and Paul Holmes MP and they were shown evidence that while there are significant opportunities and reasons to promote the Central South on a global stage, there were also grave areas of concern.
The new Central South data showed:
● GVA growth lagging behind the rest of the UK
● House prices £100k above the UK average and two thirds of people in Southampton and Portsmouth can’t afford their own homes
● Significant ageing population
Gavin asked whether the region was being set up for decline and called for the Central South to be recognised by the Government as an economic region so it could bid for support on a more level playing field.
Tim Hancock, Chair of Business South’s Regenerate South Action Group, suggested the Central South should put itself forward to be considered as a pilot area for strategic planning, while Robin Shepherd, Partner at Barton Willmore said the Central South has a great story to tell and asked the MPs present, who they should be telling it to.
Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, said Southampton had been identified as one of six industrial clusters in the UK and the green economy was the future.
While Caroline Dinenage suggested the next step could be to put the case for the Central South to all the local authorities concerned to put the case for championing our region.
And Penny Mordaunt, MP for Portsmouth North, said a strategic vision was needed and lessons could be learned from a Texas alliance of public and private sector partners that had created a major logistics hub for the US.
