Our COVID-19 response
How HL supported the economic recovery of the West of England
As a key member of the community, we were keen to play our part to help drive economic recovery in the region in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We talked to lots of organisations to find out how we could help best. We decided that five HL colleagues would spend a year with the Local Enterprise Partnership. Working with the West of England Recovery Taskforce, the team supported the development of a recovery plan in response to the Covid-19 crisis. This plan aimed to create more than 1,800 new jobs and provide more than 22,000 training and skills placements each year.
Heather Cooper, Chief People Officer at HL and board member of the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, spoke about her work with the LEP: “My involvement in the Local Enterprise Partnership and the recovery plan for the region has given me the opportunity to work alongside people in business, education and the public and third sector to make sure that the recovery plan is inclusive and will benefit people across the region. I’ve been delighted that Hargreaves Lansdown has been able to second some of our staff to help support this work over the past few months to be able to drive forward this really important work that will help our region recover more quickly.”
What have our colleagues been up to
The HL team were also able to bring a different perspective to the initiative. This is what our colleagues did:
Dave Henderson was Head of the HL Regional Recovery team, helping to shape and develop the Covid-19 recovery plan. Initially, this involved pulling the project together and managing regional stakeholders. Later, he was able to focus on making sure that the Recovery Fund delivered and remained on track.
Edward Micklem was involved in gathering the feedback that supported the creation of the recovery plan. When that was published, he worked on delivering the Climate Emergency Action Plan, which will lead the way towards the target of a net zero carbon future by 2030.
Edie Bond worked to communicate the work the Taskforce was doing to both immediate stakeholders and the wider public.
As an Economic Technical Analyst, Harrison Bullock was well-placed to bring together data on Covid-19 in the West of England and the economic situation. He also provided support on wider tasks, including analysing internal data on local businesses’ feelings around Brexit.
Holly Weare was working as a project manager and then took over a full-time role at the West of England Combined Authority.
Despite the restrictions that Covid-19 imposed, the team flourished in their new environment, enjoying their new challenge. They were grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to the region’s economic recovery.
Chief Executive of the West of England Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership Patricia Greer, said: “The additional support from members of the Hargreaves Lansdown team has made a difference to the speed at which we have been able to carry out our urgent and important recovery work.”