In his final blog post Pat Doody looks back on his tenure as Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire LEP.

After eight and a half years on the Greater Lincolnshire LEP Board and three years as its Chair, Pat Doody will step down from his current role this month. In his final blog post he looks back on his tenure as Chair before the announcement of the new incumbent. 

As I reflect on my eight years with the LEP, especially the last three as Chair, I am proud of the collective efforts of a first-class board full of individuals who give so much time, voluntarily and with real purpose and enthusiasm. 

The board is backed by the LEP team, so ably led by Ruth Carver, which has taken hold of economic development for Greater Lincolnshire and worked so collaboratively with our key partners, the councils, universities, colleges and many business organisations including the Chamber of Commerce, FSB, IOD and CBI. 

The tone was set for our board by the previous incumbent Ursula Lidbetter, who led the LEP brilliantly from its inception, and my role was made so much easier by the platform she created and the continuity Ruth provided.  

Our key collective achievements have been refining our strategy with our 'game changers' which are now a recognised part of the area’s economic focus and language. The growth in those four areas – food, defence, energy and the freeport – has been exceptional, and there’s much more to come in terms of job creation and investment in key assets. They will provide Greater Lincolnshire with the means to lead the country's efforts to be innovative and self-sufficient in those critical areas. 

Thinking back to those difficult times with Covid, we took a very proactive role, along with council leaders, not just to ensure that businesses received the financial help they needed but also to escalate issues to Government and liaise with business, Government departments and our MPs to join up the necessary dots. 

Our investment in key infrastructure and skills has carried on unabated and the area is equipping itself to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. I hope that we can continue to build for that bright future, supporting the Greater Lincolnshire bid for devolution with the increased powers that would bring, and I will support the new Chair in whatever way I can to ease them in. 

Above all else I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a board member. To work voluntarily, driven only by the motive shared by all board directors to support and promote Greater Lincolnshire, has been a privilege and one I would commend to anyone.