Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership is calling on leading local business women to come forward and join its board.
The LEP is looking to recruit excellent female business leaders from Cumbria’s business community to strengthen representation on its Board. Applications are also sought from those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
The Cumbria LEP Board provides an excellent opportunity to be involved in shaping and developing the strategy and plans to take Cumbria’s economy to the next level and to work on behalf of all of Cumbria’s businesses and people. LEPs operate across the breadth of the economic agenda and therefore provide Board members with an excellent opportunity to engage in an agenda that is rewarding, challenging and complex.
Successful candidates will have significant experience and a successful track record in an ownership or senior managerial or executive capacity within a business organisation active in the Cumbria LEP area. They will also demonstrate the necessary leadership and corporate governance skills to operate effectively at Board level.
The LEP is particularly keen to hear from female business leaders operating in construction, logistics, professional services or the rural economy, although applicants from other sectors would be equally welcome.
Cumbria LEP Chair Lord Inglewood says: “The LEP is changing and moving forward with our strengthened Board and governance arrangements. An important requirement of our new structure is to ensure that we reflect the communities that we serve. We are therefore very keen to improve gender equality on our Board, as well as looking to secure representatives from people with protected characteristics.
“All LEPs have a target to achieve at least a third female Board membership by 2020 and equal representation by 2023. This is a target which we are taking very seriously and we hope that our latest recruitment campaign demonstrates this. We want to be open, inclusive and partnership focused, and having balanced representation is an important part of this.”
Cumbria LEP board member Julie Mennell adds: “This is a great time for more local business women to join our board as we take forward the development of the county’s new and ambitious Local Industrial Strategy. I’m very proud to be a member of the Cumbria LEP Board. New Board members will have a chance to make a real difference to Cumbria’s economy and help ensure that we have the right blend of expertise, skills and business and are reflective of our communities.”
The roles are likely to require a time commitment of 1-2 days per month. Board appointments are for a three-year term, with the option for re-appointment for a further three-year period. All Board members sign up to a Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy to demonstrate their commitment to the highest standard of governance and propriety.
Applicants wishing to put themselves forward as a private sector Board member need to provide a current CV with a covering letter setting out what they see as the key challenges and opportunities for Cumbria’s economy, the skills and qualities that they can bring to the LEP, why they are interested in joining the Board and details of their business sector, geographic and business size category. Applicants need to either live or work in Cumbria.
The closing date for applications is 21 December 2018, with interviews taking place in January and new members starting at the LEP’s February Board meeting. Applications, marked ‘Board Confidential’, can be emailed to [email protected] or posted to Jo Lappin, Chief Executive, Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, Redhills, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0DT.
