University of Leicester has joined forces with the East Midlands Chamber to develop new insights and ideas on the region’s economy.
The strategic partnership will focus on economic thought leadership via research, skills data visualisation, business support and an annual State of the Economy Conference.
The university will be a headline partner of the Quarterly Economic Survey produced by the chamber of commerce for Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which gauges the health of the region’s economy across various indicators such as recruitment, investment intentions and cashflow.
Data visualisation experts at the university will also help to further develop a collective intelligence skills observatory model that has been created by the Chamber as part of a trailblazer pilot for the Government’s Local Skills Improvement Plan, which aims to put employers at the centre of the skills system.
The work of the partnership will be headlined by an annual State of the Economy Conference held at a university venue.
Professor Dan Ladley, dean of the University of Leicester School of Business, said: “We are pleased to announce that the University of Leicester and East Midlands Chamber are working together as strategic partners.
“The School and I are looking forward to working more closely with the Chamber through our partnership, on influencing policy and increasing developments in the region to benefit both businesses and local communities.
“I am proud to see the School of Business increasing our involvement with the local area, the business community and the Leicester Innovation Hub to make a positive impact. I look forward to sharing more details at our launch event in October 2022.”
East Midlands Chamber Chief Executive Scott Knowles said: “We have made great progress in establishing the Chamber as a credible authority on economic intelligence in our region, and it’s hugely exciting to take this a step forward by partnering with a university that is also doing some brilliant work in this area.
“By creating new data-driven insights on topics such as skills, we can continue to address the biggest issues affecting businesses, while a State of the Economy Conference presents a great opportunity to bring together a range of thought leaders, who can inject new ideas into making the small gains at organisational level that will take our region forward.”
