Why uniting the region can increase opportunity

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine we meet the first-ever East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward.

Back in May, Claire was elected to lead the newly formed East Midlands Combined County Authority, known as EMCCA.

Since then, she has appointed a deputy – Derby City Council leader Councillor Nadine Peatfield – and overseen the appointment of a number of portfolio leads and deputies to help support her plan for inclusive growth for the region.

She has also been a visible and supportive presence at key events across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – backing the region at key events such as UKREiiF.

Under her leadership, EMCCA’s strategic priorities are to grow the East Midlands economy, improve transport links, develop workforce skills, build new homes, drive environmental improvements and increase healthy life expectancy.

The new authority has so far been given a £1.14 billion investment budget, a transport fund of £1.5 billion, £160 million to establish investment zones where businesses will be incentivised to locate, and £16.8 million to create housing on brownfield sites – although part of the mayor’s job will be to leverage further public and private investment to help realise the region’s ambitions.

Speaking about the challenges ahead, Claire, who is a qualified solicitor and a former MP, told Innovate: “I know there is a sense of frustration, which is shared by many people across the region, that we don’t make enough of this place.

“It’s a great place to live. It has huge opportunities. It’s the reason why I moved to live in this region 12 years ago, because I thought it had a huge amount to offer my family.

“But I don’t think that we’re making the most of that potential. And this is the chance to do that – to be able to do that for future generations and to say that for young people, for kids living across our communities, they can have it all here.

“They can have great homes, they can have good jobs, they can have the skills that allow them to get those jobs. They don’t have to move out or settle for second best.”

Claire’s aim is to unite the region, forge close links with local authorities and the business community, and ultimately deliver on those strategic priorities for the East Midlands.

She told Innovate: “There is a real opportunity here to lift people out of poverty, to provide skills, jobs, homes and better transport.

“And when you connect those things across the region, that’s when opportunities really can magnify.”

To read the feature in full visit https://heyzine.com/flip-book/4814dbb8ca.html#page/21 .