12/06/12

Green manifesto launches decades of growth

Decades of economic growth for East Anglia and the UK are planned in a manifesto launched yesterday

Businesses will need to be more cost effective and efficient as energy bills rise.   With the UK environmental goods and services market worth £112bn and due to grow by 45%, there is great potential to grow 4,000 new jobs to the UK.

Yesterday over 100 people attended a reception in the Palace of Westminster at the launch of ‘Leading the Way’, New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership’s green economy pathfinder manifesto.

Hosted by Lord Deben, the former Suffolk Coastal MP, John Gummer, guests included business leaders, MPs, and environmental and local authority leaders.

Welcoming guests, Lord Deben said:

“Sustainability is about doing more with less, which is exactly the way business works.  There is no company I know which gives a better example to the rest of industry than Adnams, the Suffolk-based brewer.  It is imaginative, innovative, prescient and profitable.”

Business Minister, Norman Lamb, whose ministerial duties include developing the green economy said:

“Going green is something that can be of real benefit for business.  If you adopt an environmentally-friendly approach you are likely to save money and what impresses me about the manifesto is its practicality.

“It’s so good to see a business-led organisation taking the lead and creating a genuine partnership.”

Last year the government invited New Anglia to take the lead on the development of the green economy.  New Anglia brought together a group of senior figures from industry, academia, the public sector and third sector to develop its manifesto. 

Now New Anglia is calling for a range of measures to help the UK grow its share of the global market and maintain its competitive edge.

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk said:

“The Green Manifesto is a clear example of how local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are bringing partners together to deliver real and sustainable growth in our local economies.

“It is fantastic to see the New Anglia LEP playing an active role in identifying barriers to growth and taking action to boost the green economy in the region. We now have 39 LEPs across the country that are actively identifying growth issues in their area and this is a real example of how LEPs are moving forward and getting things done.”

Andy Wood, Chairman of New Anglia highlighted the importance of a new cleaner, greener, future and spoke of a new industrial revolution:

“Our manifesto is packed full of opportunities for businesses and job creation.  The plan will deliver decades of growth for Norfolk and Suffolk and jobs for children that aren’t even born yet.”

The Green Economy Pathfinder Group is chaired by Mark Pendlington, Director of Anglian Water.  Mr Pendlington said:

“The manifesto is about innovation, talent and entrepreneurship and has something for every business in Suffolk, Norfolk and beyond. 

It is a routemap for transition.  Let’s work together as UK plc to make it happen.  Let the great work start now.”

To download the manifesto visit: 

http://www.newanglia.co.uk/Assets/Files/Content/2012-06-01%20Final%20New_Anglia_Manifesto_2.pdf


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