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NECC calls on councils to sign Concordat
Thu 22nd Jan 2009, 10:21am
A campaign calling on North East councils to work more closely with local businesses has taken its message to the doors of local authority chief executives across the region.
The North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC) has written to every council in the region calling on them to sign up to the Government’s Small Business Friendly Concordat which will make it easier for local firms to pitch for business from the public sector.
The call was echoed by a senior politician, Liberal Democrat Shadow Small Business spokesperson Lorely Burt, who challenged councils to sign up the initiative in a bid to help smaller businesses to grow.
NECC’s direct appeal to the council heads is part of the ongoing Buy North East campaign launched last month by NECC and The Northern Echo in an effort to grow the regional economy by £1.35bn and 6,000 jobs by 2016. To date, 11 of the 25 councils have yet to sign the pledge.
James Ramsbotham, NECC chief executive, said: “Some forward-thinking councils in the North East have signed up to the Concordat but we need every local authority in the region to embrace the benefits that this will bring both to them and businesses in the area.
“The North East has set ambitious targets to create businesses and jobs over the next decade that will enable it to compete with other regions in the UK. Buy North East will go a long way to making these targets achievable but we need local authorities to get on board to make this a reality.”
The Buy North East campaign gained backing from Ms Burt on a visit she made last week to the region. Following a meeting of council representatives and business leaders in Newcastle, she said: “I would urge all local authorities to sign up to the Small Business-Friendly Concordat because it enables small businesses to compete on a more level playing field with bigger competitors for local authority contracts."
The Concordat is a set of best practice guidelines aimed at levelling the playing field for small businesses competing with larger concerns for public sector contracts.