As we settle into the start of a new year, it is important to celebrate our achievements. Looking back on my time so far at Coast to Capital, I am extremely proud to lead an organisation where people are so expert, passionate and fully engaged on making our region a place where everybody can achieve their ambitions. I have always been a big believer in making your own luck, and I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the significant work we have done in the last 12 months.
In 2019, we continued to push for greater recognition of what we are trying to achieve and what we offer to central government and the local economy. We changed our brand and moved to new offices, to clearly show our professionalism and ambition in everything that we do. The boundaries of the LEP changed, and the Board changed too - we have used that opportunity to upgrade our relationship with other regions and to bring new business skills onto the Board.
We got to grips with the wider changes in the economy around us, including Brexit and the climate challenge and we will continue to consider these issues and opportunities through the development of our Local Industrial Strategy. We were, and continue to be, optimistic about the Government's commitment to regional growth and to the importance of strong regional leadership in getting political focus on the challenges that we face.
Last year we collaborated with partners on our Local Industrial Strategy, engaging with more than 300 individuals across 80 separate engagements, in addition to a six week consultation on our draft economic profile. We also spent lots of time and resource working with Local Authorities - for example in Transport for the South East, supporting strategies at County or Greater Brighton level, or lobbying on specific funding opportunities. The same is true with the private sector - working closely with Gatwick Airport and building stronger relationships with close partners such as the Manor Royal BID, identifying strategic opportunities for growth. This collaboration leads to an increasingly confident assertion of our region as a dynamic and exciting partner for any Government to work with as they develop future plans for UK economic growth.
In the summer, government asked us to play a role in gathering business intelligence and providing bespoke business support for the EU exit. To achieve this, we collaborated with a South East LEP cluster, led by Enterprise M3 and undertook initiatives to survey businesses. We will continue to deliver this work in alignment with government priorities, and will be sharing insights on the key arising themes such as importing and exporting in the coming months.
In October, the Board approved 11 exciting new projects which align our economic priorities such as Skills provision, Digital Connectivity and Sustainable growth. We will be sharing more detail on these shortly.
Our Growth Hub also continued to deliver a number of ground-breaking services. We celebrated the completion of our Escalator Programme in the autumn, which was recognised by the Scale Up institute. We also refined our business support function by offering diagnostic tools and will continue to provide these in 2020.
A successful company also needs to engage effectively with communities around it. We have significantly upped our game in our charitable and community work. By the end of the year, we had reached our target of raising £750 for the Marine Conservation Society, including a variety of fund-raising exercises. We are also challenging ourselves to be the best possible type of employer, with an overt commitment to diversity, well-being at work and supporting each other. I'm learning so many new things after 25 years in the workplace. In 2020 our Mental Health First-Aiders will continue to break down the barriers of discussing mental health at work and aid ways of boosting a stress free lifestyle. The senior team has been fully trained in issues around autism, so that we can ensure that our approach to diversity embraces neurodiversity. I would encourage your organisation to develop similar initiatives.
Going forward, we all know how much importance is put on our official assessment of performance. Coast to Capital was rated as good on every performance measure last year - making us one of the top 10 LEPs. Our Board has asked me to aim for at least one Exceptional in our assessment early this year.
Our Local Industrial Strategy is earmarked for completion in March, and we will be delighted to celebrate the launch with partners. We will continue to solidify our position as a trusted partner, by delivering fantastic projects to a high standard, and delivering exceptional business support. Diversity will continue to be part of our core values as we plan to recruit a new Chair in the summer.
Our team continues to work relentlessly to deliver our vision of creating fantastic places to live, grow and succeed and I look forward to working with colleagues and partners to deliver this during 2020.
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