As the Western Gateway Partnership enters its second year of operation, there is a new face at the helm of the organisation that represents Western England and South Wales-stretching from Swindon to Swansea.
John Wilkinson, 48, who has been appointed as Director of the Partnership, lives in Keynsham and is a highly respected former civil servant in the Department of Levelling Up.
Ian Mean, former editor of the Western Daily Press and now Gloucestershire director for Business West, interviewed him exclusively as the Partnership prepares to deliver its 2023 programme.
What is the story of Western Gateway and what is your vision for it?
“I think the history of the Western Gateway is very important to our current situation. We started because the cities of Bristol, Cardiff and Newport recognised there was a common economic geography between them and that it was important that they collaborated and worked in partnership together.
“It started from the Leaders themselves recognising the economic opportunity and has really grown from there. That reflects my own experience with my children where we go to Cardiff for sport and music-making that trip across the M4 bridge on a regular basis.
“That history is really important. Our independent economic review showed that we are an economic geography with those cities at its core, but one that also stretches into surrounding rural communities with clear, shared economic strengths.
On the back of that, the partnership grew into what we have today.
“The partnership now has a really clear purpose and vision which I can summarise by saying that we want to deliver sustainable economic growth from the drive to Net Zero and create economic opportunities for all our communities from that.
“We have the five missions set out last year in our prospectus:
*Contributing an extra £34 billion to the UK’s economy
*Attracting investment and Increasing exports
*Decarbonising our economy
*Better transport connectivity
*Unleashing innovation
“Springing from that overall economic vision to drive sustainable economic growth from Net Zero , we have those missions now in place which are directing our projects and programmes.”
Do you see Western Gateway as a powerhouse for the South West?
“I do-one of two obviously. We work already closely with the Great South West which is the pan-regional partnership for Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.
“ We work with businesses, universities, the UK and Welsh governments, and local authorities across our patch.
“Our geography has 55 per cent of the world’s mobile phone compound semi-conductors manufactured here.
“We have 14 of the 15 largest aerospace engineering firms and two out of ten of the UK’s Fintech clusters. So, we are a powerhouse. We have obvious economic strengths contributing to the UK’s economy.”
Who is listening to Western Gateway? As a journalist, I often think you are not visible enough?
“ We have got more to do on that front. But what I have been most impressed by in the two months I have been doing this job is that everybody without exception is positive about the opportunity and sees the vital role for us in delivering Net Zero and driving forward sustainable economic growth.
“I think this year is going to be the year where we really put ourselves on the map. We have got some really exciting programmes that are going to be launching and people across the UK are going to take notice of”.
*We now also have the Great South West partnership. Surely, don’t we just need one organisation shouting for the South West?
“I think we probably are all a part of the South West but the economic evidence shows that our geography is a consistent economic geography in its own right.
“Our partnership has particular strengths in this part of the South West that we share with communities in South Wales which are different to the rest of the region.
“Two feels to me like it represents the economic geography effectively, and we are already working closely with the Great South West. Where there are sectors of our economy that it makes sense to collaborate on, of course, we will.”
It seems to me one of your biggest challenges is how are you going to deal with all these different councils. Surely this a tough ask to get them all working together isn’t it?
“I think we have got a common vision and a common purpose. The local authorities in England and Wales are extremely positive because they see the opportunity.
“They recognise that there are some of the really significant issues we face as a country , and as an economy, that they can’t tackle on their own. They therefore see the benefits and opportunities of collaborating to deliver the outcomes that they want-particularly around Net Zero and the opportunities arising from that.
“So, I have found it relatively straightforward working with them so far and have been really impressed by the political maturity on show”
How are you working day to day with government?
“I have got two governments I am working with—the UK and the Welsh governments.
“I have spent quite a lot of time over the last month or so with senior officials within both governments, and I have got a really positive feeling around the programme going forward.
“We are funded by the Department of Levelling Up, so our three year financial settlement is through them. They recognise the programme we have got
and are investing in us in order to deliver that alongside the other pan-regional Partnerships like the Northern Powerhouse, the Midlands Engine and the Great South West.
“We meet officials from the department on a bi-weekly basis to appraise them of progress and we have our all-party parliamentary group which is very well supported by our local MPs.”
What is your management style and what does good mean to you?
“A great question. For me personally the first thing is to recognise is that I am an incomplete leader.
“None of us know everything about everything. I think understanding ourselves, our strengths and areas where we are not so strong is really important. We can then build teams around us that compensate for our incompleteness.
“It’s also very important to have a strong vision and purpose. We must all believe in what we are doing. I am somebody
who likes to take a more coaching and empowering approach to my teams.
“So, I think good means delivering our vision and purpose-in other words, making sure we deliver what we are here to do and resource ourselves to do that. To measure our progress openly and transparently, learning as we go and then celebrating our success.
“I think if we can do all those things we will be on a pretty good pathway to good. Maybe even better than that”.
What are Western Gateway’s current strategic priorities?
“We have got a whole series of programmes we are working on at the moment.
“My first strategic priority is to set ourselves up for success.
We must then cement our vision and purpose and make sure our partners are
comfortable that we are talking the right approach to our work.
“On the back of those two things, I want to make 2023 a year of real delivery. We have our strategic rail vision for 2050 which we will be launching shortly in Parliament.
“We have a huge amount going on around energy supply whether that is hydrogen or new nuclear.
“And we’ll be holding a national conference on this in June to showcase the innovation and opportunity in this area and show how we can become the UK’s Green Energy Super Cluster.
“And we also have exciting plans to launch our independent commission on harnessing energy from the Seven Estuary which I am very excited about and will make us a UK leader in this technology.
“We are also going to launch our super cluster around cyber security with the CBI, and developing our digital, creative and tech super cluster work.
“Alongside this, we will work on how we finance the great ideas that are emerging from our area.
“And of course, continuing to show the Government at every opportunity what an amazing area this is.
“So, I think 2023 really makes that the year of the Western Gateway!”.
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