Page 64 • The HERALD • 25th January 2024 v THE HERALD - Proud to be part of your community v ASK A PROFESSIONAL Solent Partners Celebrate Successes Boosting Regional Solent Partners of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) are celebrating their achievements of 2023. Committed to building on these to promote the collective prosperity and sustainability of the region’s economy in coming years, Solent Partners will ensure the progress made to secure recognition of, and a platform for, the region’s coastal economy is retained. Rachael Randall said: “Solent Partners will develop the innovative work established by the Solent LEP with partners across all sectors to support businesses, develop talent, promote Net Zero, encourage inward investment, and grow the Solent’s sector strengths. We have worked closely with partners to deliver initiatives which champion economic prosperity across our region, and these extend far beyond the core LEP activities. This includes work to support sectoral strengths through the establishment of business-led organisations such as Maritime UK Solent and The Solent Cluster, and other programmes such as Skills Bootcamps, tailored business support, and our work to promote the digital, creative and cultural economy. We have listened to business and recognise the strong desire to retain a focus on the Solent economy to ensure that the distinctiveness of our great coastal economy receives the spotlight it deserves in a competitive investment environment. We recognise the important role the Solent economy performs in the Central South region.” Solent Partners has evolved from the LEP as a • e impactful Enterprise Advisers (EA) programme which links local businesses with education in the region to support young people with their skills development. • A ground-breaking new programme from the Solent Partners Careers Hub designed to encourage more children to ‘dream big’ about their future careers. e free Start Small, Dream Big webinars were held in primary schools in September as part of a Department for Education (DfE) Primary Fund initiative. • e new TechSolent partnership to promote business support within the technology sector of the region and developing tech skills among businesses, schools and the community. • Business clinics, growth programmes and mentoring opportunities have also been available to support those running a local start-up or SME businesses. • e launch of a series of Solent Skills Bootcamps with £1.2M funding from the Department for Education (DfE), giving employers and the selfemployed the opportunity to retrain, upskill, and ll vacancies. e training programmes are o ered to adults aged over 19 to help develop their career. • More than 4,630 students from local schools signed up for Solent Coding Day at the start of December, aimed at inspiring young minds to discover computer programming and follow Solent Partners Chair Rachael Randall looks to future economic success for the Solent region collaborative force incorporating services and initiatives which will continue to facilitate strong, targeted collaboration resulting in partnerships that bring synergy, creativity and invention to the Solent region. 2023 saw a number of high pro le and innovative projects and initiatives ranging from skills and careers to business support and partnership working opportunities, including: Continued on page 65
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