Business Matters: Peter Kennan, South Yorkshire LEP | Episode 45

Transport for the North Podcast

Welcome to another episode of the Transport for the North Podcast! Join our new Business Matters series, which looks at transport investment as an enabling force to encourage job creation, economic growth and increased access to opportunity for the 16 million people living here. The first episode features an interview with Peter Kennan, TfN Board Member for South Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Private Sector Co-Chair of the Transport & Environment Board at South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. He highlights the key assets of South Yorkshire and the North of England in attracting businesses to set up shop or expand their operations, noting the impressive talent pool that organisations can tap into, and the attraction of lower cost of living, better quality of life, and strong sense of community for the people who live and work here. The episode also covers Peter’s thoughts on the national policies that will support economic growth in the region, offers his insight on the opportunities for doing business differently through the Covid-19 pandemic, and talks about the role of TfN in bringing the region together to speak with one voice. Speaking to the podcast, Peter said: “Transport is a true facilitator of growth and productivity, and it’s so important that we continue to invest in it for our people and businesses,” “In our Strategic Economic Plan for a fairer, greener South Yorkshire we want to unlock the potential of people, business and places and grow our economy. To make the most of the opportunities ahead of us we need a world-class transport network across all modes.” We also talk about Transport for the North's pan-regional Strategic Transport Plan, which identified the opportunity to create 850,000 new jobs and almost £100Bn added GVA with the right transformational investment. To listen to all previous episodes and see future episodes of the podcast, visit www.transportforthenorth.com/news/podcast/