Liverpool City Region Professional & Business Services Board - Recruiting Now

Date posted:
Thu 30 July 2020

Make a difference to our City Region

Background

Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (CA) work together to deliver inclusive growth for the Liverpool City Region.

The LEP provides strategic advice and guidance on economic development priorities, while the CA brings democratic accountability and oversight for the City Region. Working together in this way gives us the insights and benefits of both public and private sectors.

The LEP manages and supports a range of advisory boards in the growth sectors and disciplines that are pivotal to delivering inclusive growth in our City Region.

These boards, made up of leaders from the private and public sectors, provide strategic insight, intelligence and guidance to the LEP board, the CA and the LEP Executive in the fulfilment of their strategic activities for the City Region. Their importance and strength are in their detailed technical and specialist expertise, based on practical business experience, their networks, providing a wealth of information and intelligence to inform economic strategy and effective delivery.

The membership of sub-boards is open to any interested and suitably experienced individuals from business, higher and further education, third sector and any interested party and member of the public who can provide valuable insight into the sector / focus of the board. These sub-boards are strategic advisory groups and do not have any financial decision-making authority, nor do they have operating budgets.

Refreshing LEP Boards

The LEP is strengthening its network of sub-boards and after three years the Professional and Business Services (PBS) advisory board is refreshing to reflect the challenges and opportunities facing the City Region.

The PBS board works in collaboration with Professional Liverpool, the private sector membership organisation promoting, supporting and representing the interests of its professional and financial services members. The board acts as the voice of the sector to help inform strategy.

We are actively inviting Expressions of Interest from people who wish to offer their expertise join the advisory board.

Professional and Business Services Board

Be a Voice for Professional and Business Services: Prior to the economic fallout from the pandemic, Liverpool City Region (LCR) had a growing economy, well above the national average of 3.5%; at 5%. Professional and Business Services (PBS) is a key enabler to this success and generates more than £4.3billion per annum in gross value added. With over 12,000 businesses employing 93,000 people; PBS constitutes 14.4% of all jobs in LCR.

The board informs and guides activity to support a cohesive business ecosystem and recognising the co-dependencies between the constituent parts towards a productive, competitive and sustainable economy. Professional and Business Services enables and benefits from the growth and development of the wider LCR economy including clusters in Clean Growth, Health and Life Sciences, Digital and Creative, Maritime and Logistics, Visitor Economy and Advanced Manufacturing.

We are keen to hear from individuals with an active engagement, insight and expertise within Professional and Business Services, from micro businesses to multi-nationals and from those active in national membership organisations to those active in LCR sector specialisms.

Key Attributes Sought

  • Understanding of Professional and Business Services and its enabling role locally, nationally and internationally
  • Extensive experience in Professional and Business Services, ideally within a LCR sector cluster (Clean Growth, Health and Life Sciences, Digital and Creative, Maritime and Logistics, Visitor Economy, Built Environment and Advanced Manufacturing) and interest in strengthening the LCR business ecosystem
  • Have strong, professional networks within the Professional and Business Services sector regionally and nationally
  • Excellent communication skills, systems thinking and willingness to share ideas and experiences, becoming a champion of collaboration
  • Passion, vision and commitment to developing Professional and Business Services within the LCR economy
  • Ability to balance existing commitments with active board participation, including attending meetings.

Diversity

It has been widely demonstrated that boards are much more effective if they represent the diversity of the customers, companies and communities they serve. Liverpool City Region LEP is committed to ensuring all its boards are diverse and actively welcomes and supports applications from all our community with the expertise and ambition to inform each of our sub-boards (read our Equality and Diversity Statement here).

Please note it is NOT a requirement that applicants have previously served at board level. We strongly welcome new and fresh thinking from those who have not been actively represented before.

How our LEP Boards Work

  • Our Boards typically comprise of 12-18 members of the business community, including leaders from large and small scale businesses, colleges, universities and schools, institutions and third sector, alongside public sector colleagues.
  • The Boards typically meet quarterly, for up to 2 hours, to an agenda agreed in advance through the Board Chair. They are supported by executives from the Growth Platform – the City Region’s Growth Company, established by the LEP and CA.
  • They are relaxed in style and involve a strategic and practical dialogue on the key issues facing sector areas, working to determine priorities and suggestions for delivery to provide insight to inform the LEP and the Combined Authority in the development of strategy and its implementation.
  • The boards draw strength from their members’ technical expertise, practical business experience. Board members typically serve 3 years, though this may be extended, by agreement to a maximum of 6 years.
  • The individuals appointed will be expected to apply themselves to developing or challenging strategies designed to deliver growth in each of these areas.
  • LEP Chair and Board positions are not financially remunerated, but reward comes in being engaged in driving forward important agenda for the benefit of current and future generations.

How to Apply

For an informal discussion about joining the Professional and Business Services Board speak to Claire Delahunty (Professional and Business Services Lead for the LCR LEP) on 07817 848074.

To apply, please send (a) an up-to-date CV; and (b) a covering letter detailing your suitability for the PBS board role in line with the specifications above, to info@liverpoollep.org.

The closing date for Expressions of Interest is Monday 17th August 2020 at 12 noon.

We look forward to working with you.


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