A message by Eastern Powerhouse Executive Director, Seven Lynch
Dear members, friends, and supporters of the Eastern Powerhouse,
Happy New Year!
2024 – An absolutely critical year for the UK and time for the Eastern Powerhouse to rise above politics and offer a common and unifying vision for the East of England.
All our endeavours revolve around connectivity, insight, and advocacy, the three pillars at the heart of our strategy. James Palmer summarised the incredible programme of events, publications, briefings, and meetings that the Powerhouse delivered in 2023. It is a notable list, and I am grateful to our members and our team for their support, energy, and enthusiasm throughout the year. 2024 brings about political uncertainly due to a general election, but for the Eastern Powerhouse, we are laser-focused on the need for a regional agenda, and dedicated to representing and supporting the entire East of England, delivering another ambitious programme in 2024.
I believe we hold a shared and unifying vision for the East of England, aiming to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth across the whole region. Despite being one of the largest and most productive economies in the UK, the region faces underlying challenges such as high levels of deprivation, poor transportation, low skills and incomes. However, the East is at the vanguard of new sectors like life sciences, advanced engineering, agri-tech, and renewable energy, presenting opportunities for sustained and enhancing development. The Eastern Powerhouse is the vehicle to implement this vision, competing with other regions, attracting government and private sector investments, and advocating for comprehensive investment across all communities in the East of England.
As many of you will know my background is in international trade and relations and I was incredibly honoured to be awarded an MBE for services to the British Business Community in China in His Majesty the King's New Year Honours List.
Therefore, I want to bring my international experience to the East, my personal focus for the coming year will be to further the powerhouse’s core mission; maximize the region's assets and unlock growth opportunities for investment. All of which will help to achieve local, national and global impact. The East of England comprises world leading multinational corporations as well as dynamic startups. The East has an enormous opportunity to attract inbound investment as well as support the Government export aspirations of a ‘Global Britain’. I hope in 2024 the Powerhouse can drive the agenda for the East of England to become a global brand for international trade and investment.
The Eastern Powerhouse will continue to drive economic growth in the region, raise investment in skills, innovation, transport to enhance productivity across the East, and to champion the interests of our members in 2024.
I encourage everyone in the East of England to get involved.
In the next few weeks, we will be launching our ambitious plans for 2024, what events, reports, and activities we have coming up– please feel free to get in contact with me if you would like to get involved.
All the best,
Steven Lynch