A new group, tasked with driving the growth of the marine and maritime sector in the UK’s Solent, is to be set up and backed with £75,000 of Solent LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership) funding in the first year.

The Solent LEP announced on Tuesday it will establish an accountable group, made up of public and private sector experts, to drive the long-term sustainable growth of the sector.

It follows the publication of a report by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) in April to identify the steps that should be taken to secure the future of the marine and maritime industries across the Solent.

Yesterday the Solent LEP published its official response to the report and its commitment to back the ‘Marine and Maritime Working Group’ with £75,000 in the first year forms part of the document.

The response also endorses the Ben Ainslie Racing Team proposal and plans for a feasibility study into the creation of a Large Structures Composites Centre in the Solent. It has urged central government to fund these projects at the earliest opportunity.

“The marine and maritime sectors have always been, and will continue to be, vital to the Solent’s economy so it is important that public and private sectors work together and seize every opportunity for their growth,” says Gary Jeffries, chairman of the Solent LEP.

“We fully endorse BIS’s proposal of a group whose primary function is to drive the long-term, sustainable growth of these sectors,” he adds. “So much so, that we are willing to back it with our support and funding.”

The Marine and Maritime Working Group will fall under the Solent LEP and be chaired by an independent marine expert from the private sector. An LEP director will sit on the group, which will be bolstered by other senior figures from the Solent’s public and private sector.

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