OxLEP CEO joins our 'Science Cities' forum this January

Image of Nigel Tipple courtesy of OxLEP

Future Cities Forum is welcoming back the CEO of Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP), Nigel Tipple to our 'Science Cities' discussion event this January at Said Business School, University of Oxford.

Nigel joined OxLEP in June 2013 and continues to make his mark with energetic and inspirational leadership. He is a passionate and committed champion of Oxfordshire businesses, promoting and attracting the county’s key sectors and transformative technologies and driving inward investment. 

To date, Nigel and the team have helped secure over £1bn of direct investment into Oxfordshire over this period.

Having spearheaded the bid for the Oxford and Oxfordshire City Deal, the EU Structural and Investment Fund and Strategic Economic Plan submissions, Nigel helped lay the foundations for a period of exceptional growth overseeing the development of the Local Industrial Strategy and Economic Recovery Plan in 2019/20, which will see Oxfordshire realise its potential to become a powerhouse of innovation and wealth creation for the benefit of its local communities, the region and nationally.

With an ambition to position Oxfordshire as a top-three global innovation ecosystem by 2040, Nigel is focused on building upon the region’s unique strengths to deliver economic success and foster resilience amongst key sectors through the commercialisation of innovation. Nigel has over 25 years’ experience in the formation, development, operation and management of public/private sector organisations.

Last June, at our forum held at Jesus College, Oxford, Nigel spoke about the importance of Brand Oxford on the world stage:

'We spend too much time talking about what isn't working and not enough time celebrating what is going well. We have an incredibly strong brand which is globally significant and which is working for us, but it could do better. Our brand allows us to have conversations globally, and to start those conversations much earlier than some can. We are not competing with Cambridge, but the pan-regional geography is important as well to elevate that conversation about brand to attract investment, but also to land investment in an adjacent place but not see it as a loss. My view is that we do as much work in fusion technology with colleagues in Sheffield because of the relationships with their capability and our R&D, and on space technology with scientists at Goonhilly space station in Cornwall with Brand Oxford visible. We do spend too much time worrying about what we can't agree on (locally). We have a statutory planning process with a set of rules which we have to work within.

Nigel was asked about the potential for new mechanisms for the cross-boundary strategic plan:

'How do you look at place in the context of boundaries and connections, as Martin has been saying? People don't live on a boundary, they live in a place. If they live adjacent to two district councils and a city council, it does not matter to them. It's about the place and the functionality of that. However we need to make our boundaries more fuzzy because there are some challenges politically. Growth is not a bad thing but we need to make a case for the positive difference it makes to people's lives.

'The green-belt is not the issue, the question is where are we going to create spaces and places for people to live and work and how do we connect them whether they are on the edge of a city or within a new development, or whether we have a new town or village. It's back to the phrase 'green belt' which makes people recoil. Take Eynsham, to the north of Oxford, for instance and the Salt Cross development which has had its share of challenges. However look at the employment prospects there and the chance to create wealth - it's not all about (people with) double PhDs. There are lots there working in the foundation economy without which the 'shiny' projects would not happen, as you need supply chains and you needs skills. You need people who invest in their own community, and an infrastructure that enables that.

'For housing, if you take the ambition of what was the joint 2050 plan (the Joint Statutory Spatial Plan) I was personally very supportive of that because it allowed us to have a conversation for the first time across the geography to help colleagues in the County Council, the Environment Agency and Homes England, to look at Oxfordshire as a place and consider the investment needed to create the right levels of connectivity and infrastructure, and also place curation at scale. That allows you to move people between where they live and where they work efficiently and more effectively. That process almost got there, and there was value in that because we are still having conversations on planning connectivity between authorities. We have a county wide economic plan and transport plan, but we don't have plan about place curation at county level.'