Economic development – the ongoing conversation
By Kevin Smith, Chief Executive, Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce
Last year I talked a lot about ‘economic’ development for the Isle of Wight and some of the areas that the IW Chamber is focused upon, which bring and add value to our economy. When you talk to local council officers or government officials the language of economic development can at times sound very complicated and not the type of thing that anyone can comment upon or have input into. It comes across from these individuals, who are well-meaning I am sure, as a high-end art form that us mere mortals should refrain from attempting to understand. Many of these individuals often talk about business growth and wealth creation being good for our economy and that we should have more of it. Unfortunately in most of their rhetoric they never quite articulate how this important work is to be achieved.
I have sat in many meetings over the years with many of these same people earnestly saying the same thing, but still with no guidance to the important question of ‘how’ we are to achieve this economic growth. I am further bemused by many of these individuals who are, more often than not, career government officials with very little, if no, commercial experience or understanding of running a business, or managing a profit & loss account, or maintaining a healthy balance sheet.
In my time I have also come to partly understand the world of local and regional government and the way that they are funded. As you may expect, this is a totally different operating culture to that of a commercial business. I think that this cultural difference has been an issue for local government and local business in particular when we come to talking about the ambitions of growing a healthy local economy. A business that must rely on its wits and commercial acumen to survive is the polar opposite to a grant funded organisation discussing how much grant it will receive this year and how it should be spent!
So, back to our focus on economic development and the work that the Isle of Wight Chamber is currently working on, to increase the health and wellbeing of the local economy. From my perspective, this means creating the right business environment which is attractive to existing Island businesses to help them grow and employ more people. This involves ensuring that the planning system says ‘yes’ to business growth and only in exception says ‘no’. I know that many businesses feel that things are the other way around. We also want to encourage more high paying employment opportunities by attracting more innovative tech companies from the wealthy south east to come and join the successful number of tech and manufacturing businesses who are already set up here.
To aid this we are currently putting together a prospectus for promoting the Isle of Wight as a great place to relocate your business, from amongst the SME community in the south east of the country. We are also working with existing Island businesses encouraging them to look for new business opportunities both here in the UK and across the world. Growing the business base on the Island in this way will support the development of high value, high skilled careers, and job opportunities for our young people to pursue as they leave education.
This is an ongoing conversation with local government, to work with, gain common understanding and to encourage meaningful collaboration. I am confident it will provide the economic benefits for the Isle of Wight to which we all aspire.
This article was first published in the January/February issue of Island Business magazine
