News from Sajeimpact and partners
Thanks to Chris Shaw and Positive Communities Partnership for the invitation to listen, learn and set out the work of the Leicester and Leicestershire Business and Skills Partnership.
I have taken away a strong reminder of the area of work I used to do in the 1990's in employment initiatives to tackle inequalities and help those further from the Labour Market and why these groups are still so important.
The Leicester and Leicestershire Business and Skills Partnership came together again this week to plan its future direction whilst the sub-region waits for its Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation outcomes over the next two years.
✔️ I am happy to accept the invitation from the Leicester City Council City Mayor and the Leader of Leicestershire County Council to continue to Chair the Board through to 2028 and hopefully the next phase of our devolution journey.
An interesting evening with colleagues from Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in the House of Lords to hear about the latest plans and updates from Great Central Railway for their Reunification project. Thanks to Baroness Morgan for hosting us all.
📈 The Reunification project has been making steady progress in the background for years, but it is now reaching a critical point.
Each week I am highlighting good people I meet along the way and some of the great things they are doing to make the world a better place.
🏉 Initially it has been about young entrepreneurs, and community leaders. But this week I want to celebrate the long contribution my friend and colleague John Byrne has played over the last 20 years with the (now) Active Together here in Leicestershire.
👊 Thanks to Tim Garfield John took a risk on the local MP joining the old County Sports Partnership Board as its Chair in the mid 2000's and neither of us would guess that in 2026 it would be John retiring first!
Thanks to Scott Knowles and the team of the East Midlands Combined County Authority for the invite to this years Business Awards in Leicester.
Obviously I am there to observe - I never quite had an Award Winning Business!! I’ll come back to the purpose of Saje Impact some time…
Time to tackle the under representation of girls entering some of our growing economic sectors in Leicestershire.🙏Thanks for the invite to Charnwood Campus Science Innovation and Technology Park as part of hashtag#nationalcareers week to see the launch of our Leicester and Leicestershire Business and Skills Partnership “We Discover Industry”
Thirty years ago I helped win regeneration funding for Loughborough. Yesterday I saw the results of the latest £50m investment.
My first experience of Loughborough Town Regeneration was as Chair of the Economic Development Committee in 1995 with Charnwood Borough Council. That is when we won the Single Regeneration Budget, where Martin Traynor OBE, FIH, MIoD and I first joined up on a Committee! Thirty years later we are still going in our new capacity with the Loughborough Town Deal Board as Chair and Vice Chair again!
Yesterday, as Chair of the Leicester and Leicestershire Business and Skills Partnership I had the pleasure of chairing a roundtable focused on a vital question: how do our universities step up as the primary engines of our local economy? A great setting at Space Park Leicester for the discussions.
🎓 In Leicester and Leicestershire, we have incredible assets—from space tech and advanced manufacturing to health sciences. But as the national policy shifts toward "place-based" investment, the role of the university is changing. We are very lucky to have three amazing Universities in our County University of Leicester De Montfort University and Loughborough University.. all vital parts of our eco system for innovation research employment, skills and much more !
Just to confirm my retirement from full contact rugby is nearly complete. Whilst I still ran out for the House of Commons rugby team against the Welsh Senedd at The Lensbury at the weekend it was 90% running touch and 10 minutes to be on the pitch to be at the end of the game for the photos!!
A wet and windy but brilliant evening at Welford Road on Friday supporting Active Together as Chair — celebrating the incredible work of our Let’s Get Moving Champions and Advocates, and enjoying a Leicester Tigers win to top it off! 🏉
