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Thursday, 21 January 2016

Devolution for Devon and Somerset? >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> of Local Enterprise Partnerships, 'opportunites for East Devon' and 'competing for crumbs at Hinkley Point'.

The Heart of the SouthWest's Local Enterprise Partnership is looking to Hinkley Point as providing considerable business opportunities:

The problem is that the HOTSW LEP is neither accountable nor transparent:

... nor particularly convincing, as pointed out in this piece today by the East Devon Watch blog:


ADVICE FOR EAST DEVON BUSINESSES FROM OUR LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP


21st January 2015

Our Local Enterprise Partnership is pouring millions of our pounds into the Hinckley Point nuclear power plant:

Heart of the South West LEP: Growth Deal 2015/16 - 31st March 2014

It is to be owned by the French and it is said that they are finding it difficult to get investment because it is the wrong kind of design:
EDF: Investors shun Hinkley Point because they think it will go wrong - Telegraph

and part-owned by the Chinese:
Work to begin on Hinkley Point reactor within weeks after China deal signed | Environment | The Guardian

Half the suppliers will be from outside the UK:

Half of £24bn nuclear reactor investment will go to overseas suppliers | Business | The Guardian

including suppliers of steel, where the UK has just lost thousands of jobs:

UK steel snubbed for Hinkley Point C | Process Engineering

Notwithstanding this, a puff job in the Express and Echo East Devon says businesses are being advised by the LEP on how to “maximise opportunities” arising from the project:
East Devon businesses can benefit from Hinkley advice sessions | Exeter Express and Echo

Good luck with that people – but don’t forget East Devon is quite a way from Hinkley Point and there are an awful lot of businesses competing for these crumbs!



This is the piece from yesterday's Express & Echo:


East Devon businesses can benefit from Hinkley advice sessions


By Exeter Express and Echo | Posted: January 20, 2016



hinkley point

East Devon businesses are being advised on how to make the most out of one of the biggest engineering projects in history.

Sessions will be held throughout February advising companies in the area on how they can best maximise the opportunities arising from the Hinkley Point C development.

The advice and registration sessions will be hosted by East Devon District Council and organised in partnership with the Heart of the South West (HotSW) LEP and the Somerset Chamber's Hinkley Supply Chain Team

The one-to-one sessions will take place every other month at the East Devon business Centre in Honition, with the first session beginning on February 4.

HotSW LEP Chair Steve Hindley said: "I urge East Devon businesses to come along to these sessions to find out how they can harness the immense opportunities presented by Hinkley Point C. This is the first of the UK's new nuclear programme and will generate a raft of opportunities for businesses of all sectors, types and sizes. I am delighted that Somerset Chamber, who are delivering this important contract for us, are promoting these opportunities to businesses across the HotSW area."


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