Powering up business: Five years of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership

1DET-E01-S4DET
Powering up business
Working for a more prosperous,
better connected and increasingly
resilient and competitive economy
2010
Five years of the D2N2
Local Enterprise Partnership
2015

Five years of planning
and action to boost
our economy
D2N2 – the Local Enterprise
Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire,
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire –
was approved by Government in
October 2010. Its first board
meeting was held on December 17,
2010 – making 2015 its fifth year of
operation.
It is the fifth largest of England’s
39 LEPs. D2N2’s area has a
population of more than two
million people and an economic
output of around £41.2 billion a
year.
D2N2 is a private sector-led
partnership of business, local
authorities, skills and training
providers and community
organisations. It helps set priorities
for its area’s economy, driving
economic growth and jobs creation.
This supplement examines
D2N2’s impact to date, working to
five strategic priorities in its
Strategic Economic Plan: Business
support and access to finance,
Innovation, Employment and
Skills, Infrastructure for economic
growth, and Housing and
Regeneration.
The LEP’s over-arching goal –
which it is delivering on – is
helping to create 55,000 private-
sector jobs by 2023. D2N2’s vision
is of a more prosperous, better
connected, increasingly resilient
and competitive economy.
D2N2 is a partnership led by a
board of experienced business
people, local authority leaders and
higher and further education, and
voluntary, sector representatives.
For more information on the
D2N2 Local Enterprise
Partnership see its website,
www.d2n2lep.org
2 Wednesday, November 11, 2015 nottinghampost.com @NottinghamPost TheNottinghamPost
Bank of England Governor
Mark Carney, left, with D2N2
Chairman Peter Richardson.
Mr Carney chose
Nottingham’s East Midlands
Conference Centre for his
first on-the-record speech as
Governor, in August 2013,
telling his audience the region
was a “bellwether” for the
UK’s economy.
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Blazing a trail for business:
How the D2N2 Growth Hub
supports the ‘Business support
and finance’ strategic priority.
CONTENTS
4&5
Time to innovate: Working
with university and business
partners to support the
‘Innovation’ priority.
6&7
Skills for productivity: Better
matching of skills training and
employers’ needs
8&9
Five years of the D2N2 LEP:
A timeline.
10-11
Building an economy: How
Local Growth Fund fuels
‘Infrastructure for economic
growth’.
12&13
Next steps for the LEP, With
D2N2 Chief Executive David
Ralph.
14&15
Homes and foundations: The
drive for better ‘Housing and
regeneration’, within D2N2’s
strategic priorities
16
18&19
How D2N2 is taking action to
crack the productivity puzzle.
We have achieved so much
...and there’s more to come
grow their business, promoting
closer bonds between skills and
training providers and employers,
and developing the D2N2 area’s
advantage in what we’ve identified
as its eight key economic sectors.
It is in our nature to look to the
future but as Chairman of D2N2 – the
fifth largest of England’s 39 LEPs –
I’ve always felt the strength of this
LEP is that it has never forgotten
how it began and the priorities it put
in place back then to help the
communities in its area.
Our Strategic Economic Plan is
the 95-page road map for growth, on
the basis of which we were granted a
staggering £192.2 million from the
Government’s Local Growth Fund
with which to lever further private
sector investment and realise our
ambitions. It contains a lot of
technical information but has, at its
core, a simple pledge.
That D2N2’s vision is to create a
more prosperous, better connected,
increasingly resilient and
competitive economy. That it will do
this by championing and developing
its five strategic priorities of
business support and access to
finance, innovation, employment
and skills, infrastructure for
economic growth, and housing and
regeneration.
Finally, that by 2023 this approach
will have enabled it to have helped
create 55,000 extra private sector
jobs in its area of Derby, Derbyshire,
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
In this special publication you will
read about the many ways in which we
are living up to that pledge, and the
early successes we have gained for our
business and wider communities.
For example, D2N2’s investment in
innovation – and the key sector of
Life Sciences – through a £6.5 million
grant towards the new BioCity
extension; the programmes it has
Chairman of the D2N2
Local Enterprise
Partnership, Peter
Richardson, talks about its
five-year journey.
Can it really be five years since the
D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership
came into being?
A lot has changed since
Government approval of the LEP in
October 2010, its first Board meeting
the following December, my taking
over as Chair in November 2012 and
our Chief Executive, David Ralph,
joining us four months later, in
March 2013.
So far this year, D2N2 has
campaigned alongside its local
authority partners and business to
(successfully) deliver its proposed
Devolution Deal to Government;
worked with East Midlands
Chamber, councillors and the local
media to (again successfully) lobby
for the “unpausing” of the Midland
Main Line electrification project,
and held its well-received Annual
Conference and AGM (which
featured Lloyds Bank Commercial
Banking’s Chief Economist as a
guest speaker).
All of this while keeping up with
the “day job” of promoting economic
growth and creating jobs – through
assisting companies (large and
small) with vital bridge funding to
“D2N2’s vision is to create a
more prosperous, better
connected, increasingly
resilient and competitive
economy.”
Powering up business: Five
years of the D2N2 Local
Enterprise Partnership
Editor: Communications
Manager Sean Kirby
Editorial Support: Social
Media and Marketing
Officer Sam Burbage
TheNottinghamPost @NottinghamPost nottinghampost.com Wednesday, November 11, 2015 3
Partnership for future enterprise
FOLLOWING the demise of the
local development agencies the
task of co-ordinating bids for
financial assistance and plan-
ning for growth on a regional
basis moved to the Local En-
terprise Partnership (LEP),
usually within a much smaller
territorial area than the under
the previous agency.
Nottingham, Derby, Notts
and Derbyshire have combined
into a LEP and have such a
remit. Formed on a bi-partisan
basis, the local LEP – named
D2N2 – has already been
chosen by Government to over-
see a Local Enterprise Zone
(LEZ) based on part of the
Boots complex in Broxtowe
borough.
It was suggested by Govern-
Business News
VIP visit:
Deputy Prime
Minister Nick
Clegg and Prime
Minister David
Cameron touring
the Boots
factory in
Nottingham,
where plans for
Research has shown
that employment
Visit our website www.thisisnottingham.co.uk NEP-E01-S2 EP01
Money up for grabs
to kick-start drive
forgrowth and jobs
MORE money will be available
to kick-start the NottinghamEnterprise Zone.
Initial work on creating thezone on the Boots site in Bee-ston is due to start later thisyear.
A total of £25 million will bespent on infrastructure im-provements designed to openup areas of disused land so thathundreds of new homes can bebuilt and thousands of new jobscreated.
Communities Secretary EricPickles announced yesterday
“Linking the enterprise zonewith the existing road networkis one area we might look at touse such funding.”
Steve Barber, Broxtowe bor-ough councillor for BeestonRylands, which is home to partof the Nottingham EnterpriseZone site, said: “There’s a fairamount of infrastructure workneeded to get the jobs in there,in terms of access and road
By Bryan Henesey
bryan.henesey@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk Boots, the Government, theD2N2 local enterprise partner-ship and the city council.
Work will be completed at theend of 2014 and will includestrengthening flood defences,
cleaning the site and putting innew roads, telecommunica-tions and IT infrastructure.
Enterprise zones offer taxbreaks on disused sites to en-courage firms to move in andcreate jobs.
Mr Pickles said: “Economicgrowth is this Government’sbiggest priority and Enter-prise Zones are the engineroom of that strategy.
Linking the enterprise
zone with the existing
road network is one
‘‘
Friday November 30, 2012
Visit our website www.thisisnottingham.co.uk NEP-E01-S2 EP01 NEP-E01-S2 EP01 Visit our website www.thisisnottingham.co.uk
Friday November 30, 2012 Nottingham Post 7
£25 million cash injection
FIFTEEN years ago, the bleak
windswept site was home to a
pharmaceutical factory mak-
ing Ibuprofen, tonnes of it.
Today, the land is at the
centre of 100 idle, unproductive
acres on the Boots site at Bee-
ston.
But the open space may soon
be home to a thriving new in-
dustry, creating with it new
jobs.
It was confirmed yesterday
that £25 million is to be spent
on the first steps towards the
creation of the Nottingham En-
terprise Zone on the site.
Boots revealed that the
multi-million-pound scheme,
due to start next year, will
kick-start development, jobs
and, hopefully, a cluster of
healthcare businesses.
The money comes from a
partnership between Alliance
Boots, the Government, the
D2N2 local enterprise partner-
ship and Nottingham City
Council.
Work will be completed at the
end 2014 and will include
strengthening flood defences,
cleaning the site and putting in
new roads, telecommunica-
tions and IT infrastructure.
Stefano Pessina, executive
£25 million is to be
spent on redeveloping
derelict land at Boots’
Beeston site, as the
first step towards the
creation of the new
Nottingham Enterprise
Zone. Richard
Tresidder reports
Team effort: From left,
Mark Chilvers, Steve
Barber, Kay Cutts, Jon
Collins and Peter
Richardson on the site of
the new Nottingham
Enterprise Zone.
PICTURE: DAN MATTHAMS
NODA20121129C-001_C
to kick-start jobs zone
Chief executive’s relief as
plan starts to take shapeALEX Gourlay looked re-
lieved and pleased that, at
long last, a start on bringing
large swathes of unused land
back into use was in sight.
Previous chief executives
of Boots had struggled to get a
proper hold on what to do
with the site, part of a huge
swathe of land created for the
business by Jesse Boot.
A busted economic climate
in the wake of the financial
crisis of 2008 was never going
to see the site take off.
Alliance Boots chairman
Stefano Pessina and the
Prime Minister get on well.
They have shared overseas
trade missions to China, so it
was no surprise when David
Cameron paid him back by
launching an Enterprise
Zone on the Boots site
between Beeston and Not-
tingham.
“Putting in the infrastruc-
ture is a good first step,” Mr
Gourlay told the Post.
“The flood defence barriers
will be strengthened and we
have to do that from a com-
mercial point of view.
“Secondly, we are improv-
ing access on to and into the
Planning and development
starts immediately, with bull-
dozers moving on to the site
in the second half of next
year. The vision is to create a
health and wellbeing zone fit-
ting in with the life science
ambitions of the city council
in its economic growth plan.
Firms will be able to take
advantage of its proximity to
the University of Nottingham
and Alliance Boots’ ambi-
tions to become a global
healthcare enterprise.
“The site will be available
to those who want to work in
this environment,” said Mr
Gourlay.
Nottingham,” he said.
One idea yet to be firmed
up is a beauty and healthcare
academy and Alliance Boots
has held talks with a number
of colleges.
“We are keeping all our
options open,” said Mr Gour-
lay. “But part of the ambition
is to create jobs. That is our
ambition, that is the Govern-
ment’s ambition.
“We are doing this so we
can prepare the ground so
that when things are right
and we have the right ideas
and the right partnerships,
and the right companies who
want to come on this site, jobs
will be created. But it is too
early to be specific.”
Mr Gourlay said it was still
unclear what the future
would be for manufacturing
in its grade-I listed D10 build-
ing. It is in talks with English
Heritage over the site.
D6, also grade-I listed, is
now used for logistics follow-
ing the sale of Boots Health-
care International to Reckitts
Benkiser.
Mr Gourlay said it was un-
clear at this stage whether
Priorities: Alex Gourlay
UPSANDDOWNSOFTHRILLRIDES
DERBYSHIRE and Notting-
hamshire Local Enterprise
Partnership has secured
£5 million to help firms
expand and create jobs.
Businesses across the two
counties are being called
upon to apply for the money,
part of the Government’s
Regional Growth Fund.
BY OLIVER ASTLEY
THE first £1.3 million slice of
the £20 million Derby
Enterprise Growth Fund has
been allocated.
principle, is expected to cre
ate more than 140 jobs at a
cost of £9,500 per job.
ing include those in textiles,
engineering, the media and
materials testing.
Launched in December
and delivered by Derby City
Council, the Derby Enter
Investment programme aims to bring
in £20m to help firms create new jobs
The Derbyshire company which makes some of the country’s top theme park attractions, P2&3
Ashley L
Carphone Whse
Dixons Retail
Home Retail
Inchcape
Kingfisher
M & S
Mothercare
Next
WH Smith
HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT &
Smith Nph
he said.
Enterprise Zone a priority for region
THE implementation of the
Notts Enterprise Zone has
been made a priority by the
new Local Enterprise Part-
nership for the area.
D2N2, set up by the gov-
tent of investment needed
to bring the Notts Enter-
prise Zone to market.
If successful, the zone
will provide income for
D2N2 to further boost the
local economy.
ing the surplus land home
to incubator firms in the
healthcare sector and cre-
ating a health and beauty
academy.
Mr Walton added: “Not-
tingham is already
be established as quickly as
possible.”
D2N2 has appointed
property consultants
Gleeds as technical ad-
visers.
The site could be de-
How D2N2 has been making the headlines over the past five years
PETER RICHARDSON
set-up, such as the Provider
Charter, to plug skills gaps in the
local workforce; the millions of
pounds invested by the LEP in
roads and digital broadband
infrastructure; and its work with
national and local politicians to
rebalance and regenerate its
area’s outer city estates.
It is a lot of activity and
responsibility to juggle, and which
I and our CEO could not do
without the experience and
commitment of the private and
public sector members on our
Board, and our small force of
hardworking staff, which daily
pushes forward the LEP’s
objectives.
I hope you enjoy reading about
D2N2’s past history and its future
ambitions. My guess is that most
people will come away from this
supplement surprised to learn just
how much of the area’s business
life the LEP has had, or plans to
have, a hand in.
With the LEP network’s growing
reputation for driving sustainable
growth across England and
knowing how to get things done,
who knows what further successes
the D2N2 of five years from now
will have achieved?
Peter Richardson,
Chairman of the
D2N2 Local
Enterprise
Partnership.
20&21
Changing policy... Devolution
and the next five years for the
LEPs network.

Little would seem to
connect seagoing
supertankers and high-
tech bio-research but
D2N2 is the link –
providing business
support and funding
to make things
happen.
The D2N2 Local Enterprise
Partnership is firmly rooted
in its Derby, Derbyshire,
Nottingham and
Nottinghamshire catchment –
but providing business support and
financing means its influence crops
up far and wide.
This is a result of D2N2’s one-stop
shop approach, developed to provide
a comprehensive, flexible approach
to business needs.
On the Strategic Priority of
“Business support and access to
finance”, its Strategic Economic Plan
identified area “challenges” – the
need for more start-up assistance and
finance access – and “opportunities”
– key economic sectors to capitalise
on – and necessary actions.
These included setting up the D2N2
Growth Hub, backing key sector
development and driving exports (on
which more later).
David Ralph, Chief Executive of
D2N2, explains: “There is a wealth of
information out there for business
people needing help. As a private-
sector led LEP, we recognise this in
itself can cause confusion over which
is the right direction for an enterprise
to go in.
D2N2 has
become
engine
to drive
enterprise
● More than 1,000
companies assisted
by D2N2 Growth Hub
and partners.
● Jobs targets far
exceeded by D2N2
Unlocking
Investment for
Growth grants
programme.
● Over £16m in
Growing Places
Fund loans help
companies realise
their ambitions.
StrategicPriority 1:Businesssupport andaccess tofinance
From left, D2N2 Chairman Peter Richardson,
Commissioning Manager for Skills and Employment
Katrina Woodward, Steve Cressey, Head of Partnerships
and Projects at Vision West Nottinghamshire College and
former Business and Enterprise Minister Matt Hancock,
at the Growth Hub launch in December 2014.
Above, setting up the D2N2 stand
at Venturefest East Midlands
2015. Below, D2N2 Chief
Executive David Ralph runs a
workshop session at the event.

“We designed our services so
whether you’re a company head
with a £100 million-plus turnover
or someone whose business is still
only an idea, whether looking for
growth finance or training help, we
or our partners can help.”
This approach means, though a
regional LEP, D2N2’s influence and
impact extends further and wider
than the two counties it covers.
Below, we take a look at D2N2
main products and services – past
and current – and how their
funding and support have helped
companies achieve reach and
impact.
D2N2 Growth Hub
Entrepreneurs, UK leading
companies, would-be cottage
industries – they’ve all dialled the
D2N2 Growth Hub.
Launched at Nottingham Trent
University in December 2014, the
Growth Hub has worked to “power
up business” with partners such as
the Business Growth Service
(incorporating Growth
Accelerator and the
Manufacturing Advisory Service),
UK Trade and Investment, and
regional agencies to provide help,
training and financing for more
than 1,000 companies.
Growth Hub aids ambitious new
and developing businesses looking
to train, grow, access funding and
expand into fresh markets.
Callers have included:
● QA Associates Ltd of Ripley:
Established in 2006, the
qualifications and training
requirements company contacted
the Growth Hub in January 2015
seeking help to develop the
business’ drive for growth. The
Growth Hub linked QA to its
partner, the Business Growth
Service, helping the company
realise it needed to boost sales
skills and systems, and its
operations structure.
● Helen Cope, Director at events
contractor Trans-Sport Limited of
Treswell, contacted the Growth
Hub for leads on funded training
around leadership and
management, on Institution of
Occupational Health and Safety,
and “rigging”.
“Growth Hub Co-ordinator, Lisa
Hoyland, provided me with a
wealth of information, not only
giving me specific leads but also
links to useful websites,” said
Helen.
Trans-Sport Ltd previously
benefited from a D2N2 Unlocking
Investment for Growth grant (see
below), to expand its business.
Since its launch the Growth Hub
has also:
● Launched its website
www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk . It
offers advice on starting and
growing a business, financing,
training and skills and expanding
markets.
● Attended or arranged dozens
of D2N2 area business-facing
events, including Venturefest East
Midlands 2015, debuting in
Nottingham last April. Growth Hub
team members deliver talks and
provide information.
● Run D2N2’s first Rural Means
Business Conference, at Rural
Community Action
Nottinghamshire, Newstead
Village, in March. Around 100
delegates heard about support for
rural businesses in food
manufacture, tourism and green
energy.
Lindsay Allen, D2N2 Growth Hub
Senior Programme Manager for
Sector Development, added: “The
Growth Hub is there to simplify
business support. We offer a
universal service, with events and
our web and phone service. For
those businesses ambitious to grow
and create jobs, we can offer more
intensive support.
“Among the top enquiries are
people looking for further training
for themselves or their employees,
or wanting to know how to access
funding to expand an existing
business.”
D2N2 Growth Hub information
can be found on its website,
www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk.
Contact the Growth Hub helpline
on 0333 006 9178 or via Twitter at
@D2N2GrowthHub.
Unlocking Investment for Growth
Grants from D2N2’s Unlocking
Investment for Growth (UI4G)
programme have benefited more
than 20 companies.
UI4G, which ran from 2013 to
summer 2015, provided bridge
funding – worth up to £500,000 – for
companies investing to expand but
just short of the total capital
investment they needed. It was
Left, Around 100
delegates attended
D2N2 Growth Hub’s
Rural Means Business
Conference in March
2015.
Above, DSF
Refractories and
Minerals, at
Newhaven, received
£280,000 from D2N2’s
UI4G and GPF
schemes.
Right, Trans-Sport
Limited of Treswell,
contacted the Growth
Hub for help on funded
training around
leadership and
management.
supported by the Government’s
Regional Growth Fund and the
European Regional Development
Fund (ERDF). It was administered
by D2N2’s Investment Panel,
chaired by board member Peter
Gadsby.
UI4G far exceeded its targets.
Total grants of £4.7 million were
requested, leveraging £20 million-
plus investment from companies.
This created 420 jobs – almost three
times the 150 which had been
estimated – and safeguarded 320
existing jobs, four times the target.
Companies operating in D2N2’s
eight key economic sectors of
transport equipment
manufacturing, life sciences, food
and drink manufacturing,
construction, the visitor economy,
low carbon goods and services,
transport and logistics and the
creative and digital industries were
prioritised.
A good example of a beneficiary is
Coldharbour Marine, of Linby,
Nottinghamshire.
The company’s ballast water and
other marine systems are on board
supertankers and vessels around
the world.
In April, Transport Secretary
Patrick McLoughlin opened
Coldharbour’s new Linby premises.
Its £1.5 million move – helped by a
UI4G grant – brought its different
sections under one roof for the first
time. It is now expanding its staff.
Growing Places Fund
Where UI4G grants went up to
£500,000, the Growing Places Fund
offered bridging loans of £500,000 to
£2.5 million to tackle more
substantial, stalled development
projects.
GPF’s £25 million funding was
offered between March 2012 and
October 2013. Applicants included
local authorities seeking assistance
with regeneration or major
business development projects (see
Page 14 for more details) but also
businesses with innovative ideas
but insufficient funds.
For example, DSF Refractories
and Minerals, at Newhaven,
Buxton, a manufacturer of
industrial, refractory (heat
resistant) products, received
£280,000 from D2N2’s UI4G and GPF
schemes. Its £2.8 million project to
install a 12km natural gas pipeline
in its area looked to safeguard 108
jobs and create 15, grow its business
and reduce its carbon footprint.
Commenting when the funding
was announced Philip Bearn, DSF
Funding Director, said: “This is a
game-changing project, allowing us
to compete on a level playing field
against our European competition
in worldwide export markets.
Without the assistance of these two
funds (Regional Growth Fund and
Growing Places Fund) this project
would not have taken place.”
To date, D2N2’s board has in
principle approved 13 GPF loans
worth £16.6 million. More than 300
jobs have been created and 140
safeguarded – though the large scale
of GPF projects means the full
benefits may take years to
materialise.

Innovation
is at the
heart of
the D2N2
area
Innovate, was published in October
2014 following a D2N2 Innovation
Summit the February before.
The report defined innovation as
“commercial exploitation of new
ideas in the form of new products
and processes, new organisational
techniques, new markets and new
sources of supply”, and as important
because it:
● accounted for two-thirds of
developed economies’ growth
● characterised high-growth
businesses, driving more than half
of UK private sector labour
productivity growth
● is a prime driver of supply
chains’ competitiveness
● delivers business
competitiveness.
Barriers to innovation included
lack of time, skills and finance; fear
of risk taking (particularly in
smaller businesses); and firms being
unaware of the help available.
Despite this, a report baseline
analysis gave D2N2 a positive
“innovation profile”.
This is backed in the
Government’s latest (2014) UK
Innovation Survey, a regular review
of UK innovation. Its survey of 14,487
UK enterprises (with ten or more
employees) put the East Midlands
top – ahead of eight regions and
London – for businesses which
considered themselves “innovation
active” (almost half of all EM
businesses surveyed). The region
had been third in the 2011 survey.
WHETHER your business
is fashion, fuels or food
you must innovate. But how
to foster the creativity and
research which powers
innovation? We
examine the LEP’s
approach. Great
inventions and
products DO come
out of nowhere.
In 1902 Nottinghamshire
County surveyor Edgar Hooley
noticed spilt road tar, when covered
by gravel, reduced dust. He patented
tarmac and founded UK brand
Tarmac plc.
But the innovation companies
most rely on to regularly increase
profitability is less about eureka
moments, than applying know-how
and resources towards a set goal.
Developing an innovative
environment, where creativity and
research flourish, makes for a more
regular turnover of new products and
thinking – and is key to the D2N2
Strategic Economic Plan’s (SEP)
approach to its Strategic Priority of
“Innovation”.
The SEP recognised area strengths
– particularly university partners’
research – but wanted a “step
change”, empowering SME
involvement in innovation and
creating “innovation clusters”.
Nottingham Trent, Nottingham
and Derby universities’ D2N2-
commissioned strategic plan, Time to
● University of
Nottingham made
one of UK’s first
University
Enterprise Zones,
with D2N2 backing.
● Key sectors’
innovation efforts
boosted by millions
of pounds in LEP
investment.
● Region top for
‘innovation active’
businesses, in
official Government
survey.
StrategicPriority 2:Innovation
Below and main photo, workers
from construction firm G F
Tomlinson who installed the 18-
metre twisted two-blade sculpture
at Infinity Park, a 250-acre
business park outside Derby city
centre, where around £13.6 million
from D2N2’s Local Growth Fund is
set to be invested.

In January, as part of its Growth
Deal, D2N2 awarded the University of
Nottingham £5 million towards an
8,000 square metre centre for advanced
manufacturing, to be based at the
University’s Innovation Park. It
followed the announcement in July
2014, after successful lobbying by D2N2
that Nottingham would become one of
the UK’s University Enterprise Zones.
Over the last five years the D2N2
LEP has, with partners, used
influence, guidance and financing to
foster innovation; creating networks
to strengthen joint agency and
business working, and building on
individual organisation’s strengths.
This has been particularly true
across the LEP’s eight key economic
sectors:
Transport and logistics
Infinity Park, a 250-acre business
park outside Derby city centre, is part
of the Nottingham and Derby
Enterprise Zone. It is a good example
of the LEP’s co-fostering of
innovation clusters. Around
£13.6 million from D2N2’s Local
Growth Fund is to be invested in the
site.
Infinity’s first building, the
£11.8 million Innovation Centre, due
to open for business early next year,
will house Enscite, a transport and
logistics consultancy co-founded by
D2N2 partner, the University of Derby.
Further sector innovation is
reflected in the D2N2 area Devolution
Prospectus, co-authored by the LEP
and partners. It proposes a “free
trade zone” – a defined location with
special economic status to land,
handle and re-export at favourable
customs rates – to work with East
Midlands Airport.
Creative and digital industries
The University of Nottingham’s
becoming one of the first UK
University Enterprise Zones, was
linked to £2.6 million of
Government funding for a
Technology Entrepreneurship
Centre, to be based at the
University’s Innovation Park from
2016. Ground has just been broken
on site for the development. It will
accommodate early-stage
businesses, including “big data” and
digital innovators.
The £4.8 million invested from
D2N2’s Local Growth Fund into
Better Broadband for
Nottinghamshire and Digital
Derbyshire’s schemes, answers a
need identified in the LEP’s Creative
and Digital Industries (CDI)
Strategic Action Plan (published
April 2015) for better broadband to
grow the CDI sector.
Life sciences
The £30 million BioCity
Nottingham extension, currently
under construction in Nottingham
city centre, received £6.5 million
from D2N2. The major project
recognises life sciences’ growth in
the city. The five-storey building will
give sector start-ups space to grow.
It is due to open in spring 2017,
opening the way to create
hundreds of jobs.
Toby Reid, Operations Director
at BioCity Nottingham, said: “We
have to pay credit to both the City
Council and the Local Enterprise
Partnership for making a bold
statement about their commitment
to investing in the life sciences
sector.”
In Worksop, a £487,500 grant for
heart surgery equipment
specialist Chalice Medical enabled
it to expand into new premises,
employ extra staff and invest in
research.
Low carbon technologies
One of the first ‘calls’ (in March
2015), from the 250 million euro
European Structural and
Investment Funds (ESIF) allocated
to D2N2 to be spent in its area over
the next six years, offered more
than £5 million for low carbon
projects.
Projects, supporting the area’s
drive towards an economy based
on lower carbon emissions and
greater energy efficiency, should
be completed by 2020/21.
On an individual company basis,
a £50,000 D2N2 grant enabled
Chesterfield’s Corrugated Case
Company to invest in a waste ink
system, so packaging can be
manufactured more
environmentally.
Visitor economy
D2N2’s Time to Innovate report
stressed innovation is as much
about new thinking as new
products.
Giving a fresh twist to the 18th
Century aristocratic tradition of
touring European culture spots, in
July The Grand Tour’s first season
launched.
Tourists get to view previously
unseen Old Masters artworks,
alongside contemporary artists.
D2N2 backed the initiative by area
tourism big names, including
Chatsworth House and Experience
Nottinghamshire. The LEP also
invested £35,000 in Seasons One (just
completed) and Two (spring 2016).
A £933,000 European Agricultural
Fund for Rural Development
(EAFRD) pot is currently on offer to
support marketing plans for rural
businesses looking to diversify;
possibly into visitor economy
activities such as cottage lets or
experience holidays. The bids
deadline is November 27.
Transport equipment manufacturing
A typical example of D2N2’s
practical approach to build this
sector was the help given to
Standard Motor Products Europe
(SMP Europe) of Annesley. It
received an £81,000 D2N2 grant
towards the company’s £320,000
investment, enabling it to bring
manufacturing of hi-tech electronic
systems back to the UK from the Far
East. This has already created 11
jobs.
Suky Chahal, SMP Europe’s
Group Finance Director, said at the
time the grant was announced: “The
investment has meant we’ve been
able to develop and produce new
products, such as engine
management sensors, here in the
UK.”
Food and drink manufacturing
It was proost (Dutch for cheers)
when in September Thornbridge
Brewery launched a new venture, a
branded bar in Den Bosch, southern
Holland, with Netherlands bar
operator, Paul Leeyen.
It is now also looking for premises
in Helsinki, Finland’s capital city.
In 2014 the brewery had received
£78,000 from D2N2 to help it expand
premises, and increase production
and employees, with a view to going
after new markets. Its beers can
already be supped in America,
Sweden, Italy, Japan and Australia.
Nottinghamshire-based chilled
and frozen food transporter,
Refrigerated Delivery Services is
expanding its business and
branching into new areas, thanks to
an £81,000 grant from D2N2.
“Increased space and capacity
has made all the difference,” said
Simon Herberts, RDS Operations
Manager.
Construction
D2N2’s two-pronged approach to
promoting Construction
innovation includes:
● Workforce – Its Skills Action
Plan for Construction (published
March 2014) identifies the need for
more apprenticeships, bringing
young people into the sector, and
additional training for current
workers, especially updating skills
such as in low carbon and
sustainability awareness.
● Training facilities – A
proposed £60 million Nottingham
Skills Hub, run by the merged New
College and Central colleges, to be
built in Nottingham city centre, is
set to receive up to half its funding
from D2N2 (subject to business
plan). Construction will be among
the many vocational skills taught
there.
Top, a site visit to the new BioCity Nottingham extension site, in October.
D2N2 Board Member Peter Gadsby is pictured in the centre (black hat).
Above, RDS – Refrigerated Delivery Services – received an £81,000 grant
from D2N2 to innovate and expand its markets.
Picture: Shawn Ryan

As part of its target to
create 55,000 jobs, D2N2
and its key stakeholders
are addressing the skills
mismatch – working with
area employers to
understand what they
need in their workforces
and with training
providers to ensure their
programmes provide
those skills.
Most businesses would class
employment and skills as vital to
business growth, innovation,
competitiveness and staff
development.
Richard Munyard, Managing
Director of hi-tech Nottinghamshire
plastics firm S&S Plastics, was
quoted in D2N2’s Strategic
Economic Plan (SEP) as saying:
“One of the largest challenges
the company faces is
recruiting skilled staff to
work in most
departments.”
The D2N2 Skills for
Growth Strategy
(launched by then
Minister for Skills and
Enterprise, Matthew
Hancock MP, in October
2013) promotes a shared
understanding of local skills and
business needs. The strategy is
overseen by the Skills and
Employment Commission, and the
D2 and N2 Skills and Employment
Boards, and aims to raise the
ambitions and aspirations vital to
economic success.
Consequently, more decisions on
skills in the D2N2 area are now being
made by local businesses and
partners, who understand what is
needed. D2N2 works hard to ensure
stakeholders – employers, local
authorities, schools, colleges,
universities, employment and skills
providers, community groups, the
Government and others – are
engaged in this process.
The LEP has helped design skills
and training programmes and
started joining up services,
provision and funding to meet key
priorities. These actions will see
more young and adult unemployed
in work, and a higher skilled
workforce with real career
opportunities and job progression.
D2N2 has also committed
to supporting
infrastructure for skills
through its capital
investment.
Deals include:
● £30 million towards
the Nottingham Skills
Hub, a further education
centre to be run by the
merged Central College and
New College in Nottingham;
● £2.61 million for the Vision
University Centre at West Notts
College, Mansfield, to support higher
level vocational skills;
£3.48 million for the Chesterfield
higher level skills university centre,
which will concentrate on vocational
higher apprenticeship and higher
level qualifications, for mainly adult
learners.
D2N2 has committed to 12 skills
pledges aimed at growing businesses
through skills and recruitment
development for Derby, Derbyshire,
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
residents:
1) Develop and Implement Sector
Growth Agreements
Discussions with the right
organisations will ensure there’s
appropriate employer ownership and
leadership.
D2N2 will create and support skills
advisory groups for each of its eight
key sectors (see Pages 6 and 7) to
match skills provision to employer
demand. This will be done by
allocating £7million of European
Structural and Investment Funds
money to SKILLS Local to support
workforce development and
business growth; providing
incentives to train, upskill and
create career pathways.
Targets/Key performance indicators
(KPIs): 3,600 employees and 1,500
SMEs (small and medium-sized
enterprises) engaged.
2) Improve Business Leadership and
Management Skills
The D2N2 Growth Hub is a one
stop shop for employers to find out
about business services and about
funding opportunities. It will help
businesses access the £7 million
SKILLS Local funding (mentioned
above); to better understand what
their workforce needs, the positive
impact of skills training on business
growth and how to access support.
Targets/KPIs: 600 employees and 500
SMEs engaged.
3) Develop and Promote
Apprenticeships and Traineeships
An Apprenticeship Growth Plan
Developing
skills is key
to boosting
business and
getting more
into work
● £2.6m agreed for
Vision University
Centre, West Notts
College, and £3.4m
for Chesterfield
higher level skills
university centre.
● £7million for
SKILLS Local, to
support workforce
development
● £6million for
EMPLOY Local, to
incentivise
employers to create
apprenticeships.
Strategic
Priority 3:
Employment
and skills
Richard Munyard, Managing
Director of S&S Plastics, said
one of the largest challenges
the company faced was
recruiting skilled staff.
Apprentice
Chris Makin of
Derry Building
Services,
Newark.

will raise aspirations, reduce the
mismatch of skills and address skills
gaps in workforces. Working with
employers and young people, the
strategy will stimulate interest in
high quality apprentice and trainees
pathways, making it easier for
businesses to recruit and stimulate
demand. This will be done through
the £6 million EMPLOY Local fund,
which will incentivise employers to
create Apprenticeships and Higher
Apprenticeships.
Work with D2N2 area universities,
colleges and FE providers will
develop pathways to Higher and
Degree Apprenticeships, based on
employer needs and growth sectors.
Targets/KPIs: 1,000 Apprenticeships
created and 800 SMEs supported.
4) Foster Enterprise and
Entrepreneurial Behaviour and
5) Implement an Employability
Framework for Young People
Working with partners on
programmes which encourage more
start-ups activity, and focus on
generating ideas and promoting
enterprising thinking across the
workforce, and within education and
training programmes.
At D2N2’s 2015 Annual Conference
and AGM, held in Chesterfield in
July, the LEP launched its
Employability Framework to
encourage entrepreneurial
behaviour in young people and
provide schools, colleges and careers
advisors with the tools to help them
develop employability skills and
learn about the world of work.
Over the next two years the
Employability Framework aims to
ensure that young people and
students leaving school have had at
least six “purposeful and impact
measured” interactions with an
employer, and access to impartial
and personalised careers advice.
For secondary schools/colleges,
the Framework will look to ensure:
● access to a dedicated Employer
Adviser, to work with the school at a
strategic level;
● a governor with oversight for
monitoring the success of measures
to help students with careers,
enterprise and employability;
● access to up-to-date, user-
friendly labour market intelligence
specific to the D2N2 area;
● a commitment to delivering the
principles of the D2N2 Employability
Framework. D2N2’s Framework has
been co-designed with the University
of Derby and the Evolve Trust.
CAREERS Local, a £2 million
programme, will put parts of the
D2N2 Employability Framework
into action and provide support to
young people at risk of becoming
NEETs (Not in Education,
Employment or Training).
Targets/KPIs: 500 SMEs engaged.
6) Increase Access to Career Insights
and Support
D2N2 will promote career insights
by encouraging more employers and
employees to connect with schools,
young people, parents and existing
employees to promote local career
pathways and job opportunities.
Career insights will form part of our
funding programmes, to improve the
alignment between the skills supply
and employer demand across the
D2N2 area, as well as supporting
development of a more highly skilled
and qualified workforce.
Targets/KPIs: Fewer young people
classed as NEETs and reduced skills
shortages.
7) Promote Graduate Recruitment
and Retention
Support development of graduate
internships and placements with
local employers.
The key sectors which will deliver
growth for the area are knowledge
intensive, and it is vital that
technical and higher level skills are
nurtured and developed. We will
enable this through access to the
£7 million SKILLS Local and
£6 million EMPLOY Local funds,
widening graduate access to
graduate level employment across
the D2N2 area and improving
graduate retention.
Targets/KPIs: 300 SME placements
and 500 Higher Apprenticeships
created.
8) Develop a Provider Charter for all
Skills & Training Providers
Launched in April 2015 – through
the D2N2 Provider Advisory Board,
the ‘voice’ of skills and employment
providers to the Skills and
Employment Commission and
businesses – the Provider Charter
makes skills provision in the D2N2
area employer and sector-led.
Providers commit to engage with
employers, find out what skills gaps
they have in their workforces and
the training courses needed to fill
those, and be aware of the key
sectors vital to economic growth.
Providers also agree to track
apprentices and learners’ career
development, to ensure the right
skills and training are being
provided.
Profiles of skills and training
providers, containing much of this
information, can be accessed by
employers looking for a training
establishment to fill the needs of
their apprentices and workforce.
See website www.d2n2skills.co.uk/
home/201/d2n2-provider-charter
Melanie Ulyatt, chair of the D2N2
Skills and Employment
Commission, said: “Employers go
into this process knowing the
provider is keen to work with them
and can provide the training
solutions they need.”
9) Create a Skills Escalator to show
vocational/educational/
employment routes for key
economic sectors.
Working closely with employers
D2N2 has developed a Skills
Escalator a “career pathway” for
each of our key sectors, including
the Higher and Degree
Apprenticeships to be available
from January 2016.
We’re spreading the word about
the value of apprentices through
industry champions such as Mark
Townsend, Apprentice Ambassador
to the Skills & Employment
Commission and Managing
Director of Derry Building
Services of Newark.
“I started my career as an
apprentice, as did over 70% of our
workforce, so I know first-hand the
benefits apprenticeships can bring
to a business,” said Mark.
10) Work with key stakeholders to
develop a Skills to Employment
Devolution Deal for the D2N2 area
As part of current D2N2 area
Devolution negotiations, its
Devolution Prospectus includes
proposals to restructure skills
delivery.
11) Provide clear and transparent
information, which employers can
easily access to make informed
decisions
12) Develop and implement
programmes for Higher Skills
Development, Sector Growth,
Enterprise, Innovation and pathways
In June (2015) project applications
were invited to the £15m Building
Better Opportunities (BBO)
programme.
Jointly funded through D2N2’s
European Social Fund allocation and
the Big Lottery Fund, it will support
projects helping jobless young
people and the long-term
unemployed into work or further
training.
the D2N2LEP, said: “D2N2 is
committed to inclusive economic
growth, which is why we are
investing heavily in creating
sustainable jobs through major
programmes such as Building Better
Opportunities.”
Targets/KPIs: The programme will
help at least 3,996 individuals across
D2N2; half of them women, and high
proportions of over-50s and people
with disabilities.
This year also saw the launch of a
£3.2m ESF fund, through D2N2, to aid
youth employment in Nottingham
City, to create “more inclusive labour
markets”.
The launch of the
Provider Charter,
in April 2015.

JUST as any good manufacturer
knows that building a lasting
product means starting with the
right materials, D2N2 built
“infrastructure for economic
growth” into its main strategy from
the very beginning.
Research conducted ahead of its
Strategic Economic Plan’s
publication identified gaps in the
area’s infrastructure – of road, rail,
cycle and other transport links;
facilities for skills and training,
and to develop key sectors; access
to digital connectivity – which
could constrain growth. As the SEP
put it: “without a step-change in
infrastructure investment across
the D2N2 area, we will face
serious constraints in unlocking
these ambitions.”
D2N2’s Local Growth Fund
(LGF) allocation – part of the
£12 billion in state funding
announced by the Chancellor in
2013, to go to the 39 Local
Enterprise Partnerships – is the
main solution to filling in these
infrastructure gaps.
Currently standing at
£192.2million (it was increased in
January 2015), it is designed to
lever an additional £380 million
through joint projects with and
matched funding from local
authorities, business and other
partners – making an anticipated
combined package of £554.4 million
available to the D2N2 area between
now and 2021.
By 2021 it is anticipated that this
whole LGF “pot” will have, among
other benefits, helped create:
● projects worth a total of
£1.4 billion
● around 20,000 new jobs
● and “unlocked” potential for
12,800 new houses (more on this
below).
Despite the LGF monies being
awarded (relatively) recently,
there’s been a rapid move through
the planning stage, to then put it
to good use.
As with the strategy behind
D2N2’s Unlocking Investment for
Growth and Growing Places Fund
programmes (see Pages 4 and 5 for
more details), which helped
individual businesses, D2N2 uses
the LGF to kick-start stalled
developments and lever in funding
from other agencies – only on a
much larger scale. For example,
projects already approved for
funding so far include:
On transport
● £10.3 million: For
pedestrianisation and related
works in connection with the
£150m transformation of the
Nottingham Intu Broadmarsh
areas, the ‘southern gateway’ to
the city.
● £6.1 million: Nottingham Cycle
City Ambition Programme; a
Nottingham City Council scheme
to provide cycle commuter routes
running North-South and East-
West across the city. Work began
on the Western Corridor cycle path
last month (October).
● £3.14 million: Towards the
Nottingham Ring Road
improvements.
● £6.49 million: Hucknall Town
Centre improvements.
● £7 million: Newark Southern
Link Road, a £28 million single
carriageway between the A1 and
A6, ‘unlocking’ access to 100 acres
for employment and housing use,
creating up to 2,500 jobs.
● £1.1 million: Harworth and
Bircotes Access Road, to facilitate
employment and housing growth
in North Nottinghamshire.
● £2.52 million: Seymour Link
Road, a £7.5 million road to link the
Markham Vale Enterprise Zone (in
which D2N2 and the Sheffield City
LEP are joint investors) to
junction 29 of the M1, helping
unlock access to 81.5 acres of
development land.
On facilities to promote key
sectors
● £6.5 million: D2N2’s investment
towards the £30 million extension
to the BioCity Nottingham site,
currently under construction. It
will provide extra space for the
growing life sciences sector in the
city. It is expected to open in
spring 2017 and to create 700 jobs
over a 30 year span.
On facilities to promote skills and
training
● £2.61million: Vision University
Centre, West Nottinghamshire
College. In September (2015) D2N2
confirmed its part of the funding
for the College’s planned
£6.5 million university centre, a
Growth funding
will help create
projects
worth total
of £1.4bn
state-of-the-art facility teaching
higher and further education
skills. It is due to open in
September 2016.
● £3.48 million: Chesterfield Centre
for Higher Level Skills. The
University of Derby and
Chesterfield College-backed
scheme will see a college teaching
higher vocational skills to mainly
adult learners, from the premises
of the former St Helena’s
Grammar School in Chesterfield.
On digital connectivity
● £4.8 million for digital
connectivity: £2.63 million for
Nottinghamshire’s Better
Broadband for Nottinghamshire
programme and £2.19 million for
Derbyshire’s Digital Derbyshire
scheme, to provide fibre optic
broadband capable of delivering
data transmission speeds faster
than 24mbps (megabits per
second).
Awarded this year:
● £4.8m to widen
digital broadband
access
● £2.5m to co-fund a
link road to link the
Markham Vale
Enterprise Zone site
with the M1
● £3.14m for
Nottingham Ring
Road improvements.
Strategic
Priority 4:
Infrastructure
for economic
growth
D2N2 is set to agree £2 million towards the refurbishment of the Grade I Listed Buxton Crescent and Grade II Listed natural baths and Pump Room to create a
79 bedroom, five-star spa hotel and thermal natural mineral water spa. Right, The former St Helena’s Grammar School, in Chesterfield, which will be turned into a
higher level skills centre, due to open September 2016.

Further projects set to be approved
this financial year (2015/16) are:
On transport
● £12 million: For Derby’s Our City
Our River project, a phased
£90 million flood defence and cycle
connectivity project which will
benefit Derby City and the
neighbouring Pride Park business
park. Planners approved the
scheme in October and contractor,
GBV, is due to begin work on its
Phase One this month (November).
● £6.4 million: Derby’s Connected
Cycle City and Placemaking
Project will develop cycling and
pedestrian connections in the city
centre, and between it and outlying
areas.
● £1 million: Provision of a new
access and link road at Ashbourne
Airfield, Derbyshire, to unlock
development land providing an
additional 300 housing and 500
jobs.
● £4 million: Drakelow Park
development, south of Burton-on-
Trent. Investment in a new
settlement including a 12 Hectare
employment park and more than
2,000 homes.
● £5.8 million: Sustainable
Transport Package.
● £4.86 million: A61 Whittington
Moor Roundabout junction
improvements, Chesterfield (a
Derbyshire County Council
scheme).
On key sectors development –
● £2 million: Buxton Crescent -
Refurbishment of the Grade I
Listed Crescent and Grade II
Listed natural baths and Pump
Room, to create a 79 bedroom 5* spa
hotel, a thermal natural mineral
water spa, a visitor centre, six
shops and environmental
enhancements. This will enhance
the Visitor Economy key sector in
the D2N2 area.
● £13.65 million: For Infinity Park
in Derby. The 250-acre business
park, south of Derby city centre, is
part of the Nottingham and Derby
Enterprise Zone. It is hoped it will
eventually support up to 8,000 hi-
tech and knowledge-based jobs;
supporting a range of D2N2 key
sectors including transport and
logistics, low carbon technologies
development and construction.
On skills and training development
● £30 million: Nottingham Skills
Hub, a £60 million further
education and vocational skills
facility to be built in Nottingham
city-centre, and managed by the
soon to be merged New College
Nottingham and Central College.
● £5 million: Towards the new
Institute for Advanced
Manufacturing at the University of
Nottingham’s Innovation Park
campus.
In addition to driving forward
and funding schemes within its
area of Derby, Derbyshire,
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire,
D2N2 has been working closely
with a range of partners – local
authorities, transport organisations
(including Network Rail and HS2
Ltd) and central Government – to
ensure its catchment benefits from
regional and even national
infrastructure improvements.
This has included in 2015
campaigning successfully to get the
Midland Main Line electrification
scheme ‘unpaused’. D2N2’s push to
get HS2 Ltd to confirm Toton
Sidings in Nottinghamshire as an
East Midlands Hub for the planned
line (Staveley in Derbyshire would
be a maintenance depot for HS2)
has also been favourably received
by Sir David Higgins, Chair of HS2
Ltd, though official confirmation
has yet to be received.
Last month (October) Peter
Richardson, D2N2 Chairman, also
joined others as a speaker and
signatory at the Derby Roundhouse
launch of the Midlands Connect
initiative. The partnership between
Midlands’ Local Enterprise
Partnerships, local authorities,
The planned
£6.5 million
Vision University
Centre at West
Nottinghamshire
College will
receive
£2.6 million from
D2N2’s Local
Growth Fund. It
is due to open in
September 2016.
D2N2 is investing £6.1 million in the Nottingham Cycle City Ambition
Programme. Picture: Nottingham City Council
businesses and transport
organisations will promote
integrated transport to better link
up the region.
“It’s only by developing this kind
of framework that the ‘Midlands
Engine for Growth’ will be able to
drive forward its own and the UK’s
economy in the future,” said Peter
Richardson.

55,000
private sector job
target set by 2023
77,000
home target set by 2023
MILESTONE
MOMENTS
2010
2011March:
Nottingham
Enterprise Zone one
of 11 announced for
UK.
March: First LEP
newsletter to businesses,
detailing its responsibilities and naming
Board.
March: Announced D2N2 to receive £17.8
million for Growing Places Fund loan
scheme, to kick-start stalled developments.
May: Business consultation event at
Alliance Boots on D2N2’s future direction,
hosted by Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
Chamber of Commerce (pictured).
2012January: Ongoing promotion of
Nottingham Enterprise Zone made
New Year priority.
March: Nottingham Enterprise Zone
extended to Nottingham Science Park,
Beeston Business Park and MediPark as well
as original Boots site, including MediCity
(pictured).
March: £17.8 million Growing Places
Fund opens to business applications.
September: D2N2 allocated
£125,000 from Government for
core resources.
October: £5 million from
Government for Unlocking
Investment for Growth
business grants scheme.
November: D2N2
appoints Peter Richardson
(pictured) as Chairman.
2013March: David Ralph takes up role as
Chief Executive.
June: D2N2 to receive 250 million euros in
European Structural and Investment Funds
(ESIF), to be spent 2014- 2020, to fuel
economic growth.
July 9: D2N2 Growth Plan publication launched
at Derby’s Pride Park Stadium (pictured).
July 25: £67.3 million from D2N2 Local
Transport Board to support six major transport
schemes.
August 28: Bank of England Governor, Mark
Carney, calls East Midlands a “bellwether” for
UK economy.
October 11: Derbyshire crane
manufacturer Street Crane (pictured)
receives a £150,000 grant from D2N2’s
Unlocking Investment for Growth (UI4G) to
create 43 new jobs and expand.
October 30: Minister of State for
Skills and Enterprise, Matthew
Hancock, launches D2N2 Skills for
Growth Strategy at Chesterfield
College.
November 6: D2N2 Low-
Carbon Sector Strategy Plan
draft consultation
launched.
June: Coalition
Government invites areas
to set up Local Enterprise
Partnerships (LEPs).
October: Government
approves formation of D2N2
LEP.
December: First D2N2 Board
Meeting. Bombardier’s Colin
Walton (pictured) made
Chairman.
Januar
innovation
at University
attended by 12
March 13: Invi
Strategic Action P
Manufacturing.
April 4: Final bu
£2.4 billion inves
Strategic Econom
April 22: Ministe
Zone for work sta
June 6: Rebalan
July 3: University
July 7: £554.4 m
July 18: 2014 D2
October 14: Cre
Development Plan
October 23: DS
£280,000 D2N2 in
safeguarding 108
October 24: LEP
November 17: M
and 80-p
Nov
la

2015January 6: £2.5 million from D2N2 and from Government for
Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire.
January 29: Growth Deal extended to £192.2 million from
Local Growth Fund.
March 11: Work begins on first building at Infinity Park,
Derby, part of Enterprise Zone.
March 17: Peter Richardson, D2N2 Chairman, and
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire delegates lobbying
national politicians on area’s Devolution.
March: Power of 3 launched at MIPIM, Cannes, by
D2N2 delegation (pictured).
March 23: D2N2 area publishes Devolution
Prospectus.
March 23: First calls for projects to bid from D2N2
250 million euros in ESIF funding to tackle business,
innovation, low-carbon technology, digital
connectivity, skills and employment.
March 27: First D2N2 Rural Means Business
Conference.
April 22: £3.2 million from European Social
Fund for Nottingham youth employment
initiatives.
April 28: D2N2 launches Provider Charter, to
strengthen employers/skills provider links.
June 1: Chancellor George Osborne calls Midlands a
UK “engine for growth” at Derby event.
June 18: £6.5 million D2N2 grant for £30million BioCity
Nottingham extension (pictured).
June 23: Project bids open for D2N2/ Big Lottery Fund £15 million
Building Better Opportunities fund, tackling poverty and social exclusion.
June 24: 2014/15 D2N2 Annual Review published.
July 1: CA Blackwell named contractor for Nottingham Enterprise
Zone Boots site.
July 3: £35,000 from D2N2 launches Visitor Economy-boosting Grand
Tour Season One.
July 16: Procurement Charter launched. Firms on D2N2-funded
projects committed to developing jobs, training and SME supply chains.
July 14: 2015 D2N2 Annual Conference and AGM at Chesterfield
FC’s Proact Stadium.
July 14: Employability Framework launch, helping young people
develop employment skills.
July 14: HS2 Chairman, Sir David Higgins, backs Toton as a hub
station for HS2 line.
July: D2N2 Boosting Productivity workshops supporting key
sectors.
July 28: Castleward Derby housing/commercial development
opens Phase One. Project backed by £850,000 from D2N2.
September 4: D2N2 and partners submit area’s Devolution
Deal to Government
September 8: Proposed £6.5 million West Notts College HE
centre to get £2.6 million from D2N2.
October: Growth Hub has now assisted more than 1,000
businesses.
nuary 30: Time to Innovate
tion summit, organised by D2N2,
sity of Derby Enterprise Centre,
y 120 delegates.
Invitation to tender to produce
ion Plan for Transport Equipment
g.
l business case for area’s
vestment programme, submitted in
nomic Plan.
nister Eric Pickles at Markham Vale Enterprise
k starting onsite.
alancing the Outer City Estates business plan launched in Nottingham.
rsity of Nottingham becomes one of UK’s first University Enterprise Zones.
.4 million D2N2 Growth Deal investment package announced.
4 D2N2 Annual Conference and AGM at BioCity Nottingham.
: Creative and Digital Industries survey, to shape sector’s
Plan.
DSF Refractories and Minerals of Newhaven receives
2 investment for its £2.8 million gas pipeline project,
108 jobs and creating further 15.
LEP publishes Construction Sector Action Plan.
17: MediCity EZ site’s first anniversary – 31 companies
80-plus staff on site.
November 18: Life Sciences Strategy & Action Plan
launched, BioCity Nottingham.
November 19: Food and Drink Manufacturing
Strategy and Action Plan launched.
December 5: D2N2 Growth Hub launched
by Business Minister Matthew Hancock.
January 6: Launch of Strategic Plan for
Transport and Logistics launch, at AIM
in Ripley.
2014

THE value of homes and activity of
the construction sector building
them have become a bellwether for
judging the health of both
individual and state finances.
But housing is about more than
money. Affordable homes
regenerate an area and create
social stability, in turn making an
area attractive for businesses to
move to, while building activity
provides employment and training
for construction apprentices.
This wider importance is
recognised in D2N2 making
Housing and Regeneration
one of its Strategic Economic
Plan’s (SEP) five Strategic
Priorities.
The SEP quoted a 2012 UK
Contractors Group report, stating
every £1 invested in housebuilding
generated an estimated £2.84 in
economic activity, through
contractor profits and wages,
benefit to construction supply
chains and associated spending in
the wider economy.
D2N2 committed itself to:
● Using LEP funding (such as
the Local Growth Fund) to
encourage new housing on mixed
use sites. Sites which mix
residential, retail outlet and
business opportunities are more
attractive to developers, create a
stronger sense of community and
promote more sustainable travel
(including pedestrian and cycle
routes).
● Working with local authority
partners and housebuilders to
accelerate completion of
sustainable new housing, including
by developing sites which didn’t
require residents to heavily rely on
car transport.
● Supporting proposals to
“rebalance” the outer city estates in
the D2N2 catchment (see panel, right).
Examples of mixed use
developments backed by D2N2
include:
Enterprise Zones
Housing is part of the mix planned
for Nottingham and Derby
Enterprise Zone sites, which D2N2
supports, including the Alliance
Boots site (up to 675 new homes)
and Beeston Business Park (up to
285).
Business Growth at all EZ sites –
including the Markham Vale
Enterprise Zone, off junction 29a of
the M1, which D2N2 invests in
alongside the Sheffield City Region
LEP – is expected to unlock
opportunities for additional
housing development nearby, to
serve the hundreds of people
employed on sites. For example, the
unlocked capacity for around 1,600
homes at the Infinity Park
Enterprise Zone site, Derby.
Local Growth Fund
D2N2’s allocation of £192.2 million
from the Government’s Local
Growth Fund (LGF) will finance the
objectives in its Strategic Economic
Plan, its growth deal, over six years
(to 2020). The LGF is to co-fund, with
local authority and business
partners, both development of
project sites with residential
accommodation and road
improvements aimed at again
unlocking areas for housing.
Examples include:
● £5.5 million to promote A46
Rushcliffe corridor development
sites – at RAF Newton, Cotgrave
(including town centre
regeneration) and Bingham –
creating an anticipated 1,600 houses
● £5.8 million for land adjacent to
the Rolls Royce Hucknall plant, to
create 800 homes;
● £1.1 million on Harworth Access
Road junction improvements;
enabling employment and housing
development at three locations,
opening the way for 855 homes;
● £12.8 million for the
A61Chesterfield corridor, providing
additional capacity to enable
development, including 3,500 homes
along the corridor;
● £7 million for the Newark
Southern Link road, a new single
carriageway with roundabout
junctions, to unlock an urban
extension on Newark’s south side
and create 3,200 houses;
● £8.6 million for the Drakelow
Park project, south Derbyshire;
with D2N2 funding a bridge across
the River Trent and bypass around
Walton, to unlock 2,100 dwellings.
Growing Places Fund
Created to kick-start stalled multi-
million pound development projects
across the D2N2 patch, with
bridging loans of £500,000 to
£2.5 million, the £25 million
Growing Places Fund was open to
applications between March 2012
and October 2013.
● Boots site in
Nottingham
Enterprise Zone gets
main contractor.
● £850,000 from
D2N2 Growing
Places Fund for
£100m Castleward
development,
Derby. Phase One
well under way.
● Slice of £3.2m
Youth Employment
Initiative fund, via
D2N2, to help reduce
Nottingham North
unemployment and
‘rebalance’ outer
estates
Strategic
Priority 5:
Housing andregeneration
The sheer scale of projects which
successfully bid, means their
completion – and the final tally of
economic benefits – may be years
off. GPF schemes helping
accelerate housing development
include:
● £850,000 for the £100 million
Castleward Derby development, on
a 30 acre brownfield site near
Derby Midland Station. In addition
to commercial space it will
eventually include 800 homes.
Phase One (164 homes) is well
underway.
In addition, D2N2 is investing in
the future technology of how
houses are built. It has given
£238,000 towards the experimental
LIME (Living In a Modular
Environment) house project, to
create a green three-bedroom home
in Lime Street, Bulwell. The
modular building, including pre-
manufactured wall panels
assembled on-site for quicker
construction, would be a prototype,
which company SASIE Ltd of
Nottingham wants to put into mass
production.
Providing a
foundation
for new
homes and
regeneration

The Castleward development in Derby, where buildings have been completed on its first boulevard. D2N2 has invested
£850,000 in the project. Left, the site from the air. Top right, the Rolls-Royce Hucknall site and, above right, the former
RAF Newton, where hundreds of new homes are planned.
ECONOMIC GROWTH SHOULD BENEFIT ALL COMMUNITIES
“BIG beasts” from different UK
political wings have taken an
interest in work being done within
the D2N2 catchment to rebalance
and regenerate its communities.
To address issues faced by outer
city estates – currently focusing on
Nottingham North’s Aspley,
Basford, Bestwood, Bilborough,
Bulwell and Bulwell Forest areas,
which despite their city centre
proximity experience higher
unemployment, low prospects and
social exclusion – D2N2 teamed up
with Nottingham North MP Graham
Allen (MP for those estates) to
seek solutions.
The LEP used its contacts to
bring together influential people,
regionally and nationally, to form a
long term action plan, to help the
estates’ address problems.
Part of D2N2’s vision is that
economic growth should benefit all
communities. It is hoped the
Nottingham North model can be
used to tackle similar problems on
other UK estates.
In June 2014 Lord Michael
Heseltine, and the then Secretary
of State for Business Vince Cable
and Chair of Labour’s Policy
Review, John Cruddas MP, were
among national speakers at a
conference held at New College
Nottingham. Topics included the
“Challenge of our Outer Cities”,
“Enabling the Community to Drive
Change” and “How Devolving Real
Power Can Change Communities”.
This resulted in a business plan
for the six Nottingham North
estates and the formation in 2014
of the charity, the Rebalancing the
Outer Estates Foundation, to take
action to help the six estates
around skills and employment,
health and leisure opportunities.
Graham Allen is Foundation
Chairman and D2N2 Chief
Executive David Ralph one of its
four Directors.
The Foundation’s first annual
report, published in October, can
be read on its website at http://
rebalancingouterestates.com/
index.html. It records successes
including:
On skills and jobs –
● The first annual Nottingham
North Jobs and Apprenticeship
Fair in March 2015 attracted
almost 1,000 people, and 23
employers and 12 training and
apprenticeship providers. It
resulted in 145 attendees securing
jobs. A second event is planned.
Part of the Youth Employment
Initiative (YEI) funding available
through D2N2’s 250 million euro
European Structural and
Investment Funds (ESIF)
allocation, was secured to help
reduce Nottingham North youth
unemployment.
On health –
● Plans for a GP delivered
‘health MOT’ for those aged 60
and above, particularly looking at
early identification of lung disease.
● Working towards free dental
checks for three-year-olds. The
NHS ‘Mobile Smiles’ dental unit is
now regularly visiting Nottingham
North primary schools.
● Building young mums’
awareness of the possible dangers
of drinking while pregnant, and the
Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
which can affect children’s mental
and physical development.
Employment, skills and
enterprise in Nottingham North –
● The Rebalancing the Outer
Estates Foundation wants to work
with local authorities and
businesses to set-up an
Employment, Skills and Enterprise
Hub in Bulwell town centre, to
encourage drop-ins by
jobseekers.
D2N2, said: “The rebalancing of
the outer city estates is a good
example of how the LEP is looking
to ensure the benefits of growth
can be felt by all communities
across our area.”
ESIF funding is also tackling
social inclusion and regeneration
via its calls for project bids. Part
of a £15 million ‘pot’, announced
in June (2015), is to help jobless
young people and the
unemployed. Around £3 million of
this was earmarked for “financial
inclusion”, funding projects
helping those with money
problems, due to unemployment,
budget plan better; addressing a
contributing factor to social
exclusion and poverty.
Nottingham North MP Graham Allen, D2N2 Chairman Peter Richardson and
Lord Michael Heseltine at the Rebalancing the Outer Estates Conference,
held at New College Nottingham in April 2014
The Markham Vale Enterprise
Zone, which both the D2N2 and
Sheffield City Region LEPs invest
in to promote business growth.

(including Infinity Park in Derby,
which joined the EZ in 2013).
● Growing Places Fund, the
highly successful scheme providing
“bridging” loans of £500,000 to
£2.5 million to kick-start major,
stalled development projects. To
date, D2N2’s Board has approved, in
principle, 13 GPF loans worth
£16.6 million; creating more than 300
jobs and safeguarding 140 (more
information on Pages 4 to 5).
● Backing for the D2N2 Growth
Hub, which powers up business by
providing free help and advice,
networking and financial support, to
new and established businesses. It
has aided more than 1,000 of them
since its launch in December 2014.
And for news on Devolution. You
can read full details in this
supplement (at Pages 20 and 21)
about D2N2’s energetic lobbying,
alongside partner local authorities
and business, for devolved powers
for its catchment.
We are now anticipating the
final announcement from
Government, granting permission
to form a single Combined Authority
(a precursor to being granted
devolved powers) to cover the whole
of the D2N2 area, which will then
help drive forward economic growth
for the rest of the life of this
Parliament and beyond.
Devolution will transfer some
central powers to local control –
giving the D2N2 area greater say in
shaping its own economic destiny
and governance – but, just as
importantly, it will further embed
the process of partnership
working across our Derby,
Derbyshire, Nottingham and
Nottinghamshire area, which
began five years ago with the
formation of the D2N2 LEP.
Yes, there are some risks. The new
Combined Authority could add to
rather than reduce bureaucracy and,
if we have an elected Mayor with
D2N2 will continue to
be fundamental
to the area’s
growth
executive powers, he/ she will have
to build trust and support.
Moreover, the Combined
Authority will be local government-
led and may choose to listen less to
the voice of business – the wealth
creators across the D2N2 area – and
to the higher and further education,
and voluntary community sector
representation which make up our
current LEP Board.
Over the past five, and
particularly the last two to three
years, the “business voice” has had
an unprecedented opportunity to
make itself heard and drive
forward economic strategies
and priorities across the D2N2
area. We have achieved good
results; ahead of our trajectory
on jobs targets and, in the East
Midlands generally, ahead of
the curve on economic
performance and in raising
the region’s reputation with
Government.
Soon after this month’s
Spending Review, the East
and West Midlands will be
coming together to launch
its own prospectus for the
future – for the Midlands
Engine for Growth, a key
brand to attract attention
and investment.
The D2N2 LEP has been
and will continue to be
fundamental to economic
growth across the whole
area. Things are
changing but by
modelling what we do on
our core values – basing
actions on evidence,
adding value and aspiring
to do better – and
continuing to ensure the
voice of business is at the
forefront, we will achieve
our vision for a more
prosperous better connected,
increasingly resilient and
competitive economy.
D2N2 Chief Executive
David Ralph looks ahead
to this month’s
Government Spending
Review, and how it might
shape the LEP and the
region’s future economic
ambitions.
The Chancellor’s 2015 Spending
Review, to be delivered in two weeks’
time (November 25), will set the tone
and workload for the Government –
and ultimately the expectations on
agencies charged with growing the
economy, such as D2N2 and its fellow
LEPs – for the life of this Parliament.
George Osborne said in July the
Review would outline how the
Government intended to “fix the
public finances” and eliminate
Britain’s deficit by 2019/20.
As always, it is the ‘how’ behind
that broad and ambitious statement
which will receive the most
attention.
The Review should also identify
whether D2N2 (and other LEP areas)
have their much-lobbied-for
Devolution deals and whether this
area will receive further Local
Growth Funding (for capital
projects), new sites added to the
Nottingham and Derby Enterprise
Zone, funding for business support
and therefore our D2N2 Growth Hub,
and operational funding for LEPs.
I would hope the Government will
also use this big announcement to
move beyond considering itself as
“new”, to an extent still in the
strategy stage, and towards a more
delivery-focused approach.
This would give us greater
certainty around major projects
such as the planned HS2 line, with
the related benefits for this area
through the proposed Toton East
Midlands Hub and maintenance
depot at Staveley.
From the perspective of the D2N2
Local Enterprise Partnership, we
will be listening closely to the details
of the Spending Review for two key
‘D’ words – delivery and Devolution.
Delivery of additional:
● Local Growth Fund monies, to
further fuel investment we are
already making in the
infrastructure vital for economic
growth, such as in transport
networks, facilities for business and
education, and expanding digital
broadband.
● European Structural and
Investment Funds (ESIF), adding to
the 250 million euro programme for
2014-2020 D2N2 has been allocated, to
fund projects addressing business,
skills, employment, environmental,
social exclusion and other issues
across Derby, Derbyshire,
Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
● Enterprise Zone sites; adding to
the existing ones in the Nottingham
and Derby Enterprise Zone
Above, David Ralph,
D2N2 Chief
Executive. Right,
Chancellor George
Osborne. Left, an
impression of
£30 million
extension to BioCity
Nottingham site.
D2N2’s Local Growth
Fund has invested
£6.5 million in the
building.

The “productivity puzzle” isn’t the
latest trendy toy but a serious
question – why, despite economic
growth, UK productivity lags
behind other countries?
It is lower than all G7 countries –
the industrialised democracies of
America, UK, France, Germany,
Italy, Canada and Japan – except
the latter, according to the report
International Comparisons of
Productivity (Office for National
Statistics, February 2015).
On GDP per hour worked (see
panel, right) UK productivity was
below G7 average every year, from
1990 to 2013. America’s was above
average each year.
Productivity even varies between
UK regions.
Using a different measure – GVA
(gross value added) per head of
population (see panel) – another
ONS report assessed productivity
by England’s 39 Local Enterprise
Partnership areas. D2N2 – covering
Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and
Nottinghamshire – was mid-
ranking (24th out of 39). Between
2010, when D2N2 was established,
and 2013 (latest figure) its area’s
GVA rose £1,517 per person, to
£19,329.
But, outside of economic
forecasts, does productivity matter?
National wage levels show what
people earn, not what that buys.
Living standards measures say
more about how far personal
income stretches.
The Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development – its
34 national members work to
improve economic and social well-
being – links productivity directly
to living standards. It is argued that
raising productivity provides more
and better goods to greater
numbers at a cheaper rate (if cost
savings are passed to customers),
so raising living standards.
Pressure to crack productivity is
building, said D2N2 LEP Chief
Executive David Ralph.
He said: “Our over-arching target
is to create 55,000 jobs in the area.
We’ve made good progress through
D2N2 programmes such as
Unlocking Investment for Growth.
“As the economy grows, shifting
towards increased jobs and falling
unemployment, focus will move to
boosting productivity through
investment and improved skills.
We’re active in those areas but in
future our Strategic Economic Plan
will have to adapt to focus more on
productivity, not just jobs creation.”
The Government launched its
“Fixing the Foundations: Boosting
Britain’s Productivity” manifesto
in the Midlands, in July.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid
said then: “Productivity isn’t just
some obscure measure, of interest
only to economists. It matters to
each and every one of us.
“If we could match the USA for
productivity it would boost our
GDP by 31%. That’s equivalent to
£21,000 a year for every household
in the UK.”
Current D2N2 strategies mirror
many of the manifesto’s 15 points,
including:
Better investment needed in
transport/roads network
D2N2 invests in transport
networks:
● £2.5 million for the £7.5 million
Seymour Link Road, linking the
Markham Vale Enterprise Zone to
M1 junction 29a, near Chesterfield,
unlocking land for business and
more than 1,000 jobs;
● jointly investing in a £2 million
package to improve services on
East Midlands Trains’ Castle Line;
Nottingham to Lincoln;
● £6.1 million for Nottingham
City’s improved cycle network.
Work started in October (2015).
Highly skilled workforce, with
employers in the driving seat
D2N2 builds closer links between
employers, and skills and training
providers, promoting higher level
skills. Further information is in
this supplement – Pages 8 and 9 –
but this year launched:
● Provider Charter – Skills and
training providers signing it
commit to work with employers, to
better fill skills gaps.
● Employability Framework –
Helping develop employability
skills in those aged 16 and over.
Companies work directly with
schools.
● And D2N2 is set to be a major
investor in a proposed £60 million
Nottingham Skills Hub for further
education (subject to business
plan).
Reliable and low-carbon energy, at
a price we can afford
Low carbon goods and services
development is one of D2N2’s eight
key economic sectors. A sector
strategy plan was produced in
November 2013. Investment has
included:
● In March (2015), bids were
invited for a £10 million D2N2 low
carbon projects fund, moving the
economy towards lower carbon
emissions, more renewables and
better energy use;
● £280,000 from D2N2’s Growing
Places and Unlocking Investment
for Growth funds to help DSF
Refractories and Minerals,
Newhaven, to lay a natural gas
pipeline, reducing costs and
emissions.
World-class digital infrastructure in
every part of the UK
D2N2 has agreed £2.6 million for
Better Broadband for
Nottinghamshire and £2.1 million
for Digital Derbyshire, both part of
Broadband Delivery UK, which
aims to make fibre optic broadband
– with download speeds of at least
24 megabits per second – available
to 95% of properties by 2017.
High-quality science and innovation,
spreading fast
D2N2’s partners include
Nottingham, Nottingham Trent and
Derby universities. The Local
Why boosting
productivity
matters... and
what D2N2 is
doing about it
D2N2 jointly invested in a £2 million package to improve services on East
Midlands Trains’ Castle Line.

WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY?
Enterprise Partnership:
● Backed the University of
Nottingham becoming a University
Enterprise Zone (UEZ), to attract
high-tech businesses. UEZ status
includes £2.6m towards a
Technology Entrepreneurship
Centre, opening 2016;
● Businesses, entrepreneurs and
university representatives attended
D2N2’s Innovation Summit, held
January 2014, resulting in the Time
to Innovate report (more details,
Pages 6 and 7).
More people with a chance to work
and progress
Projects helping young and/or
long-term unemployed people could
apply to a £15 million Building
Better Opportunities fund from
June 2015, funded by D2N2 and the
Big Lottery Fund (more details,
Pages 8 and 9).
Open and competitive markets with
the minimum of regulation
D2N2’s Better Business Regulation
service builds links between
companies and food, health, fire
safety, environmental protection,
waste, and trading standards
regulators. In June (2015)
representatives of 30 black and
ethnic minority businesses
attended free BBR lunchtime
sessions, held (with
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue
Service) to raise awareness of
regulations.
A trading nation, open to
international investment
● D2N2 and UK Trade &
Investment published an Export for
Growth business guide;
● Companies the LEP has helped
expand into new foreign markets
include Thornbridge Brewery,
Bakewell. A £78,000 grant helped it
increase production and sell to
more countries;
● The D2N2 Devolution
Prospectus (see below) proposes a
Free Trade Zone to promote the
area’s global market presence.
Resurgent cities, a rebalanced
economy
With local authority partners D2N2
is pushing for regional devolution,
believing greater self-governance
will give more control over the
area’s economic destiny.
In March (2015) D2N2 Chairman
Peter Richardson joined a
delegation taking the Devolution
Prospectus proposals to
Government ministers. D2N2 was a
full partner in forming the
Devolution proposal submitted to
Government on September 4.
PRODUCTIVITY assesses the
worth of what goes into making a
product or service – labour,
materials, energy, transport –
against the value of what’s
produced.
Increasing productivity is about
more outputs with the same or
fewer inputs.
A factory making 100 lightbulbs
with what it made 90 last year,
seems to have raised productivity.
But how isn’t so simple.
Productivity is often expressed
in terms of labour, how efficiently
staff work. But that’s not the
whole picture.
Our lightbulb manufacturer’s
productivity might rise because
the are using
● raw materials more efficiently
● cheaper transport
● less energy.
To assess increased
productivity in companies,
sectors, regions or national
economies, all potential inputs –
not just labour – must be
considered.
Productivity can also be
expressed in different ways:
● Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) – Value of goods and
services produced per hour
worked.
● GVA (Gross Value Added) –
The difference between the value
of goods and services produced,
and the cost of materials and
inputs for production.
Raising productivity remains
something of a puzzle. Despite
being home to highly successful
businesses and economic growth,
a recent East Midlands Chamber
report highlighted that the region’s
productivity sat “well below the
national average and has done so
since at least 2004”, when the
region’s GVA per hour was 88.6. In
2013 it was 87.5, below the English
average of 101.6.
Commenting on the report Chris
Hobson, Chamber Director of
Policy, said low productivity did
not mean low growth but warned
that “limited changes in
productivity, especially among the
manufacturing base, has the
potential to weaken our regional
competitiveness and needs to be
addressed.”
Responding to this challenge, in
July D2N2 ran free productivity
workshops for key economic
sector businesses; with guest
speakers revealing how they had
raised productivity.
D2N2 held Better Business
Regulation lunchtime sessions
(jointly with Nottinghamshire Fire and
Rescue Service) in June 2015, in
Nottingham, to raise awareness of
business regulations among black
and ethnic minority companies.
Better Broadband For Nottinghamshire
(BBFN) installed its 250th superfast
broadband “cabinet” in Blyth this
summer (2015). D2N2 has invested
£2.6 million in BBFN and £2.1 million in
Digital Derbyshire.
Picture: Nottinghamshire County Council
D2N2 helped Thornbridge
Brewery, Bakewell, to expand
into new foreign markets with
a £78,000 grant.
D2N2 builds closer links between employers,
and skills and training providers, promoting
higher level skills.

What would Devolution
mean for the D2N2 area?
As the Government
considers Devolution
deals from across the UK,
and the Cities and Local
Government Devolution
Bill approaches a final
vote, we look at the
shifting of powers from
Whitehall to the regions.
IF you live or work in the D2N2 area
and plan to use transport (public or
private), buy a house, change jobs,
learn new skills, access public
services or set up a business any
time within the next few years, then
Devolution will affect you.
Far from being a paper exercise –
where the same budgets and powers
will simply pass from the hands of a
London bureaucrat to one in
Nottingham or Derby – Devolution
represents a major shift of power
from central to regional and county
government.
Credit (or blame, depending on
your viewpoint) Scotland.
September 2014’s Scottish
independence vote may have
delivered a “no” but it boosted some
English regions’ long-held belief that
London’s hold needed loosening
Greater Manchester’s leaders
asked why, if their economy was
larger than that of Wales, they didn’t
also have a Parliament with its own
powers? Other regions pointed out
Whitehall departments had
influence over how more than half of
the monies in local government
budgets was raised or spent.
In the run up to 2015’s General
Election, all the main political
parties promised to address the
issue.
This resulted in the Government’s
Cities and Local Government
Devolution Bill 2015-16, which began
life in the House of Lords. Now in the
Commons, it passed its second
reading last month (October), and
goes to committee and report stage,
before a third (final) reading and
vote. Royal Assent, bringing it into
law, would happen in 2016.
In parallel with the national
picture, D2N2 area political and
business leaders – including the
LEP’s Chairman and Chief
Executive – are in final stage
negotiations with Government
Ministers and senior civil servants
over its Devolution Deal.
The current shape of D2N2’s deal
would see a Combined Authority – a
statutory body able to take collective
decisions on behalf of all member
local authorities in its catchment –
for the whole D2N2 area, as a
precursor to it being granted
devolved powers, potentially with an
elected Mayor/Commissioner,
wielding executive powers, like
London’s, rather than being
ceremonial.
Under Sheffield City Region’s
already disclosed Devolution Deal,
its Mayor will chair its Combined
Authority, with members serving as
his/her Cabinet. An Overview and
Scrutiny Committee would hold
them to account. The Mayor and
Combined Authority will exercise
powers in relation to its constituent
councils but spending on activities
or projects outside that boundary
would have to benefit a specific area.
However, Devolution is likely to
look different for each area, fitting to
its unique “asks” and needs.
Similar models have been
announced for the North-East
Combined Authority and the Tees
Valley Combined Authority.
An announcement on the D2N2
Devo deal could be made as early as
this month, even ahead of the
Government’s annual Autumn
Statement, scheduled for November
25.
But, whatever its eventual shape,
the suite of new powers for a
devolved D2N2 area could be
considerable, including all or some
control over:
● road building and public
transport;
● financial systems (including,
possibly setting up a regional
business bank);
● deciding where houses get built
and of what type;
● levying additional business
charges (such as deciding to create
new Business Improvement
Districts and imposing a levy to
finance this);
● deciding policing matters (the
Bill allows for an elected Mayor to
take over the powers of the area’s
Police and Crime Commissioner);
● education matters (including
post-16 vocational skills and
training, or retraining provision,
shaping future careers);
● even deciding on health and
social care priorities in an area.
Some of this is already happening,
even before the Cities and Local
Government Devolution Bill has
faced a final vote. In his July Budget
the Chancellor promised Greater
Manchester powers over its fire
service and public sector land,
among other things, and an elected
Executive Mayor by 2017, and said
further devolution talks would be
started with areas including
Liverpool and Cornwall.
For its part, the D2N2 area was
among the first to produce a detailed
Devolution Prospectus, in March
2015, which formed the basis of its
formal application to Government
in September. Recognising a
Changing policy...
Devolution
and the next
five years
for the LEP
network
Cities minister Greg Clark, right, signing the
D2N2 Growth Deal with LEP Chairman Peter
Richardson at Nottingham University last
year. It was a step towards handing over of
powers for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
The D2N2 area is in final-stage negotiations
with Government Ministers and senior civil
servants over its Devolution Deal, which could
come into action next year.
Councillor Jon
Collins
speaking at a
“Devo Day”, on
what Devolution
will mean for
business.

THE LEP NETWORK, THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
THIS supplement has looked
mainly at how the D2N2 Local
Enterprise Partnership has lived
up to its early promises;
particularly around those five
Strategic Priorities of: Business
support and access to finance,
Innovation, Employment and
skills, Infrastructure for economic
growth, and Housing and
regeneration.
But the LEP Network, business
organisations including the
Federation for Small Businesses;
and think tanks such as The Smith
Institute and Localis, have looked
at what D2N2 and its fellow LEPs
might look like and be doing in
2020 and beyond:
GREATER POWERS?
Anybody concerned about an
undemocratic grab for power by
unelected LEPs in the future
should take solace from The
Smith Institute’s report –
Delivering Growth. Where Next for
Local Enterprise Partnerships? –
which found little appetite from
LEPs to become mini-local
authorities. Whilst more influence
and involvement in the economic
life of their areas, and its levers,
was welcomed there was a desire
not to be bogged down in
bureaucracy and to be allowed to
“just get on with it”.
LEPs were keen to extend their
reach in the areas where they had
already showed they could have a
practical impact, such as roads
and sustainable transport (D2N2 is
pouring millions of pounds into
roads improvement and cycle
network schemes).
SKILLS AND TRAINING
Most future gazing reports on the
LEPs found they already had good
ties to their local universities.
In attempting to draw closer
links between skills and training
providers and employers, through
initiatives such as its Provider
Charter launched last April (2015),
D2N2 is typical of its fellow LEPs
in recognising the importance of
higher and further education,
vocational and other skills
programmes as a driver of
economic growth.
Skills should be a “fundamental
element of the devolutionary
push” for the LEPs, said the report
The Next LEPs: Unlocking growth
across our localities; sponsored
by Lloyds Banking Group and
written by Localis, an independent
think-tank focusing on local
government and localism.
It suggested Skills Funding
Agency money should be
transferred to the LEPs level,
enabling skills programmes to be
“tailored to help local supply best
meet local demand”.
FUNDING CONTROL
Greater control over their own
funding, currently funnelled
through Government or local
authorities (acting as accountable
bodies), was a recurring theme
for the LEPs spoken to in most
reports.
Whilst keen to work even more
closely with local authority and
other partners in their areas, LEPs
suggested they could do more
with even a slight shift in their
funding mechanism.
Possible options suggested
were that the LEPs of 2020 might
up their spending power by
pooling resources cross-border
with neighbours or press for
multi-year rather than annual
budgets, so they could better plan
long term.
Again the Localis report went
further, suggesting a significant
increase in core funding for LEPs
(although this is unlikely given
current Government funding cuts).
Whatever the shape of the LEP
network in 2020, there seems
plenty of appetite to see what
D2N2 and its fellow LEPs might be
capable of over the next five
years.
significant opportunity to improve
the efficiency of governance in the
area, the D2N2 deal includes some
ambitious ideas:
● On transport – A combined
transport authority and integrated
ticketing to improve links for
citizens, for work and leisure.
● Business – A £1 billion regional
investment organisation, set up to
help businesses access finance
more easily.
● Exports – A Free Trade Zone
allied to East Midlands Airport, the
second busiest freight terminal in
the country after Heathrow, to
increase international trade and
passenger transport.
● Housing – A housing
investment fund to jump-start
stalled housing projects,
particularly around affordable
housing.
● Skills and employment – More
and better quality apprenticeships,
tackling the root causes of long-
term unemployment, and further
reducing rates of young people not
in education or employment.
D2N2 Chairman Peter
Richardson said: “Our area took an
early lead on Devolution and we
have remained one of the front
runners.
“All the partners in D2N2’s deal
are committed to getting the right
deal for our area. Devolution must
be something which everyone feels
will benefit them and deliver on that
promise. When it comes I am
convinced it will be a game changer
for the area.”
D2N2 Chair Peter Richardson with Eric Pickles, then Secretary of State for
the Department for Communities and Local Government, which is
overseeing the Devolution process, at D2N2’s offices earlier this year.
Former cabinet
minister Eric
Pickles with a
copy of the
D2N2 area
Devolution
Prospectus.
Nottingham City Council
Leader Jon Collins and its
Chief Executive, Ian Curryer,
boarding the London train in
March to deliver the D2N2 area
Devolution Prospectus.
Chief Executive David Ralph at a
D2N2 Business Breakfast in
Derby in September. Devolution
was a hot topic at this year’s
Breakfasts series.
An event held at Nottingham
Conference Centre last year to
discuss the topic of Devolution.

the first five years
D2N2 Chief Executive
David Ralph, left, and
Chairman Peter
Richardson.
Derby Innovation
Centre (shown here
when work began) will
open soon, the first
building on Infinity
Park, part of the
Nottingham and Derby
Enterprise Zone
backed by D2N2
Richard Munyard of S & S
Plastics, of Sutton-in-Ashfield,
which received a £56,000 grant
from D2N2’s Unlocking
Investment for Growth fund.
David Ralph, right,
and Karl Hilton,
Managing Director
of computer
gaming company
Crytek, at the
firm’s Nottingham
base.
Michelle Gair
testing naan bread
at Butt Foods in
Nottingham, which
was involved in a
D2N2 consultation
to tackle the area’s
skills shortages.
Leading shelving logistics
supplier QTS used a D2N2 grant
to help move manufacturing from
China to UK, acquiring premises
in Pinxton. Pictured are QTS
Managing Director Shaun
Ingram, left, and James
Bosworth, Business Growth
Manager from the Manufacturing
Advisory Service.
D2N2 Senior Programme Manager
(Sector Development), Lindsay Allen,
(centre) addresses delegates at first
D2N2 Rural Means Business
Conference, held in April (2015).
Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking’s Chief Economist,
Trevor Williams, (seated, far right) joined fellow guest
speakers, futurologist Chris Barnatt and Creative
Quarter CEO Kathy McArdle, at D2N2’s 2015 Annual
Conference, held at Chesterfield FC’s stadium.

Alliance Boots teamed up with D2N2
for the first major project within the
Nottingham Enterprise Zone.
Nottingham company SASIE
Limited received £180,000 from
the D2N2 Growing Places Loan to
build the city’s first sustainable
modular assisted house.
Lord Heseltine, left, and Peter Richardson
at Basford Hall College for a business Q&A.
FC Laser, of Draycott, Derbyshire, successfully applied for a
£66,000 grant from D2N2’s Unlocking Investment for
Growth programme to install a new £320,000 laser cutting
machine. Peter Richardson and David Ralph are pictured
with the firm’s Business Development Manager, Darren
Johnson, right.
D2N2’s Creative
and Digital
Strategic Action
plan, launched
this year (2015),
included radical
ideas to support
the key sector;
such as micro-
financing
schemes for
creative
businesses,
represented by
Nottingham’s
Bafta award
winning
Television
Workshop.
West Notts College hosts delegation from
Guangdong, China. The college is to receive
millions in D2N2 funding to support its higher
learning centre, due to open next year.

Powering up business: Five years of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership

Powering up business: Five years of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership

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