The Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership was this week announced as a retail pathfinder by Business Minister Mark Prisk. The LEP will pilot recommendations made by the Portas Review and emerging from Government's Retail Growth Strategy, and will make recommendations to businesses and government on the retail sector. The LEP was heralded a "flagship trailblazer for retail" in the press release by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
The Gloucestershire LEP is made up of a mix of public and private
sector bodies. It is one of 39 LEPs, and is the only one to focus
on the retail sector.
The Portas Review made 28 separate recommendations designed to
boost the health of the high street. The Government's Retail
Growth Strategy is emerging following the Treasury's Growth
Review, which was published alongside the Budget in 2011. The
Growth Review set out eight ways that Government intended to make
life easier for retailers. It is not clear which of the
recommendations will be piloted by GFirst, the company that runs
the LEP.
The latest announcement repeats the Government's earlier
commitment to supporting the UK's retail sector by cutting red
tape and by helping the UK's high streets to compete.
You can read our report on the Portas Review recommendations
here.
The Press Release from the Department for Business Innovation &
Skills can be found here.
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The original publication date for this article was 16/03/2012.