
18th February, 2019
SEMLEP marks key milestones as Chair Ann Limb prepares to sign off
At the end of her second and final term in office, South East Midlands LEP (SEMLEP) Chair, Dr Ann Limb CBE DL, reflects on SEMLEP’s impact on strength...
Posted on:
3rd October, 2018
Dr Ann Limb CBE DL is Chair of the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership, and an educationalist, business leader and social entrepreneur. She is also Chair of the Scout Association - the UK’s largest youth engagement and volunteering charity, the first ever woman to take on this role.
Last week I was invited to speak at a lunch that brought together an incredibly talented group of business leaders. The room was represented by, among many others, Lloyds Banking Group, The British Film Institute, Bosch UK, Weber Shandwick, Housing Finance Institute, Goldman Sachs, BBC, PWC.
The topic? How do we strengthen women in leadership.
Yes, this was a women leadership roundtable and needless to say, the room was buzzing with ideas.
Some commentators question why, in 2018, women representation at senior executive level is still a challenge for us. Why are we still tackling the clichéd ‘pale, male and (for some) stale’ Board room view? Indeed I have spent many years advocating for equality and diversity at leadership level. Not only for gender equality but for serious and widespread reform for diversity across the private and public sector. The way I’ve chosen to do this, is from within.
The lunch is particularly timely for me. This year, I head towards the end of my seventh, and final, year as Chair of SEMLEP. This is also the year that government has challenged Local Enterprise Partnerships to ensure that by 2021, one third of our Boards are represented by women. With 50% representation by 2023.
So, in preparing for what I would say at the lunch, I considered why only three of 38 LEP Chairs are women. And what we, as a national network of public-private partnerships, need to do about it.
The mix of public and private sector in the LEP partnership is unique. We can bring together the best of commercial and corporate practice with local civic leadership.
The nature of local enterprise partnerships requires the skills and competences women (not exclusively) possess. I list them as the 5 ‘Cs’
These skills and competences are what’s required to make things happen. The last point – communication - is particularly important. Advocacy and promotion of our places is a fundamental role of the LEP. Chairs and Board members must have these skills to make sure the LEP and their places are firmly on the map.
All LEPs have equality and diversity policies. These must be fully embedded into everything we do. Our goal is for LEPs to reflect the society in which we operate.
SEMLEP is recognised by government as a highly-performing LEP and we’re ambitious. Being ambitious is conducive to success but we’re not complacent. We must strive to have the very best leadership at the helm. By taking these three actions, we stand a much better chance of achieving this.
This week SEMLEP has launched a recruitment campaign for new private sector Board directors to join us. With a campaign to find a new Chair starting soon. This campaign has equality and diversity at the core.
The new Board members will be ambitious, they’ll be successful and they’ll be leading a highly successful private – public partnership that will shape the future success of the UK’s economy.