Midlands Low Carbon Sector Study – Stakeholder Engagement Focus Groups

Date of presentations

13 – 21 January 2021

Purpose of the presentations

SWM and kMatrix Data Services have been commissioned by the Midlands Energy Hub to provide an evidence-based study to understand the current state of the Low Carbon Environmental Goods & Services (LCEGS) Sector in the Midlands, where support is needed to help grow this sector, and the role the sector can play in driving a low-carbon recovery from Covid-19. The outputs include information at local authority and LEP level, along with a Midlands wide report.

The study is being delivered between November 2020 and March 2021 and the views of a full range of regional stakeholders were sought to complement the quantitative data analysis.

Nine focus groups (one for each LEP area) were held in January 2021 to discuss the quantitative data with discussions focusing on the following points:

How can we support continued growth of the LCEGS Sector, in light of Covid-19?
How can we tailor support to our strongest and most scalable sectors?
How can available funding strengthen the sector, and how can these findings be used to attract more funding?
What are the skills challenges and how can they be addressed?

Over 130 cross-sector delegates attended our focus groups and shared their valuable insight with us. This will be fed into the final recommendations report expected by March 2021.