The Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership – covering Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay – is one of the 38 LEPs in England. We are a business-led partnership between the private sector, local authorities, universities and colleges.

David Ralph

David Ralph, CEO of HotSW LEP

Please take a look at the Introduction to the HotSW LEP presentation from David Ralph, CEO for more of an insight into the HotSW LEP.

What we do

  • Identify common priorities
  • Attract resources and investment
  • Make a difference to productivity and  prosperity

A thorough analysis of the opportunities for economic prosperity in the Heart of the South West  were presented in the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) published in 2014 which set out the rationale to generate growth and attract inward investment from business and UK and EU government.   Building upon the SEP; the LEP and the Heart of the South West Joint Committee published the Productivity Strategy in 2018, and in 2019 the LEP worked on its Local Industrial Strategy which aligned with the Government’s National Industrial Strategy.

The Heart of the SW LEP area

The LEP’s business-led partnership comprises 4 County and Unitary Authorities, 12 District Authorities, 4 Universities and 10 FE colleges across Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay.

We are set up to ensure involvement from a wide base, involving leaders and specialists from the public, private, education and third sectors. We use stringent processes around our decision making to ensure the impartiality and transparency expected when using public money. We also have a lean target operating model to ensure we can deliver this with a minimal level of bureaucracy.

See our Policies page for details of how we demonstrate our accountability in line with the high standards required of a not-for-profit organisation managing public funds.

That we are business-led, means that our Board is made up private sector leaders alongside those from the public and social enterprise sectors. Together these provide an essential steer to ensuring our strategies aim for what the business community needs to increase prosperity and productivity.