Economic Development Strategy Consultant

Tender description

The Economic Development Strategy (EDS) is an opportunity to present a snapshot of the borough's economy, with an analysis of how this could look in the future and what the borough can do to maximise benefits for its residents and businesses, demonstrating the borough's key assets and its unique selling points. The strategy should sit within the wider London strategic landscape (Mayoral, sub-regional) and be consistent within this context, whilst at the same time providing a Greenwich specific perspective which will articulate the borough's position and plans and be used to influence policy (for example, lobbying for metropolitan town centre status for Woolwich). The analysis should be finessed in setting out the different economic functions of different parts of the borough (for example, Greenwich, Eltham and Woolwich town centres, Charlton Riverside). It is intended that the EDS will inform the activity of different functions within the Council such as Employment and Skills, Regeneration, and Planning, deliver additional value (e.g. to the forthcoming Employment Land Review being commissioned by Planning), and provide an action plan for the borough against which Council Members and local residents can monitor future progress. The EDS will set out key spatial, business investment and skills implications, to show how the Royal Borough of Greenwich can: • improve its economic performance, including retaining and developing higher quality jobs • ensure residents maximise access to jobs • capture its share of growth and/or emerging high value sectors • encourage start ups and business growth • maximise income from business rates • retain sufficient land for employment uses and jobs The key audiences for the strategy will be: • Members and officers within the Council to inform the strategic direction of travel; the strategy will primarily be 'owned' by the Council, and a delivery action plan will support implementation of the Strategy by the Council. (It is anticipated that engagement with Council members through a minimum of one or two workshop sessions should take place after the stage of baseline analysis). • Royal Borough of Greenwich stakeholders and partners to enable their engagement with the Strategy; these stakeholders include those in the private, public and voluntary sector (possibly through a small number of one to one consultations or a workshop session). • As a means of communicating the Council's plan for economic development to residents and businesses in the Royal Borough: the document will be available on the Council's website.