South East Local Enterprise Partnership

What South East Local Enterprise Partnership does

South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) was a public-private partnership established in 2011 to drive sustainable economic growth and job creation across the South East of England, covering Kent, East Sussex, Essex, Medway, Southend, and Thurrock. As the second-largest Local Enterprise Partnership in England outside London by economic footprint, SELEP coordinated the distribution of nearly £500 million in central government funding across Growth Deals, the Growing Places Fund, the Local Growth Fund, the Getting Building Fund, European Structural Funds, and the Regional Growth Fund, while delivering business support through a network of Growth Hubs in East Sussex, Kent and Medway, and Essex/Southend/Thurrock. Its core service portfolio comprised capital investment programmes, a Sector Support Fund, a Data and Intelligence Centre, a Clean Growth initiative, Skills Development programmes (including T Levels), and a COVID-19 Recovery Funds Programme, with Essex County Council serving as the Accountable Body and hosting the SELEP Secretariat at County Hall, Chelmsford.

SELEP's business model was that of a publicly funded intermediary rather than a commercial enterprise: it did not charge for its services, did not sell software or technology, and derived no fee or margin from the funds it administered. Governance was provided through a Strategic Board, Accountability Board, Investment Panel, and Federated Boards, with Essex County Council acting as the formal Data Controller and accountable body. From 1 April 2024, following a national policy decision on the future of LEPs, all of SELEP's activities were transferred to the constituent local authorities and the organisation ceased to operate in its original form, with the website retained as an archive of its 13-year history.

Name

South East Local Enterprise Partnership

Legal name

South East Local Enterprise Partnership

Website

https://www.southeastlep.com/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SELEP was a publicly funded UK partnership that coordinated economic development, capital investment, and business support across Kent, Essex, East Sussex, Medway, Southend, and Thurrock from 2011 until April 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Economic Development Services

NAICS

Public Finance Activities (92113), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Impact Investment & Social Finance Programs (BPADAOAJ)

Keywords

• Economic development
• Public-private partnership
• Capital investment programmes
• Business support services
• Regional growth funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Chelmsford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: SELEP receives funding from Central Government through various programs including Growth Deals, Local Growth Fund, Growing Places Fund, Enterprise Zone funding, European Structural Funds, and other government initiatives. Essex County Council serves as the Accountable Body for managing these public funds.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SELEP is a public-private partnership that coordinated strategic economic development across the South East of England. It administered government capital investment programmes (Growth Deals totaling nearly £500 million, Growing Places Fund, Local Growth Fund, Getting Building Fund), delivered business support via a network of Growth Hubs, managed sector support and European Structural Funds, and coordinated skills, clean growth, and COVID-19 recovery initiatives.

Product overview

South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) is a public-private partnership that served as the strategic economic development body for the South East of England, covering Kent, Essex, East Sussex, Medway, Southend, and Thurrock. The organization operated from 2011 until April 2024, when its activities transferred to local authorities. SELEP did not offer a software product or technology platform but rather coordinated a portfolio of economic development services including Growth Hubs for business support, Capital Investment programmes for infrastructure funding, Sector Support Fund for business development, European Structural Funds management, Data and Intelligence Centre for research, Clean Growth initiatives for sustainability, and Skills Development programmes. As of April 2024, the organization has ceased operations and this website serves as an archive.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 45,000 new jobs created through Growth Deal (2015-2021)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Essex County CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEssex County Council serves as the Accountable Body for SELEP. The council hosts the SELEP Secretariat at County Hall in Chelmsford and provides administrative infrastructure, governance support, and financial accountability for SELEP operations.
• Growth Hubs (East Sussex, Essex, Kent)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerGrowth Hubs are local and private sector partnerships providing national and local business support across the South East. East Sussex Growth Hub (01273 335 878), Kent & Medway Growth Hub (03333 602 300), and Essex, Southend and Thurrock Growth Hub operate as Data Processors supporting SELEP's business support mission.
• Kent and Medway Economic PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFollowing SELEP's cessation on 1 April 2024, Kent and Medway economic activities are handled by Kent and Medway Economic Partnership (contact: [email protected]).
• East Sussex County CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFollowing SELEP's cessation, East Sussex economic development activities transferred to East Sussex County Council (contact: [email protected]).
• Essex County CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFollowing SELEP's cessation, Essex economic growth activities continue through Essex County Council (contact: [email protected]).
• Southend Borough CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFollowing SELEP's cessation, Southend economic development activities transferred to Southend Borough Council (contact: [email protected]).
• Thurrock CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFollowing SELEP's cessation, Thurrock business support activities transferred to Thurrock Council (contact: [email protected]).

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Essex Chambers of Commerce: Regional business membership organisation providing business support, training, and policy advocacy in Essex — one of SELEP's core geographies. Comparable as a regional business support and economic development intermediary.

Direct peers

• West Midlands Combined Authority: Devolved metro authority delivering economic growth, skills, transport and housing investment across the West Midlands. Directly comparable as a UK public sector regional development body that succeeded former LEPs in its area.
• Greater Manchester Combined Authority: Devolved regional authority in England with similar economic development, skills, and capital investment functions covering a large urban region. Highly comparable as a publicly-funded sub-national economic development body that has absorbed former LEP functions.
• Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership: Former LEP in the South East of England delivering business growth, skills and infrastructure programmes. Operated as a structurally identical public-private partnership to SELEP within the same broad region.
• Kent and Medway Economic Partnership: Direct successor body for SELEP's Kent and Medway economic development activities post-April 2024. Provides the closest 1:1 functional peer comparison as a sub-regional economic partnership in the same geography.
• Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership: Former LEP covering Hertfordshire with skills, business growth and capital investment remits. Directly comparable as a structurally identical English public-private economic development partnership.
• Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership: Former LEP covering coastal West Sussex, Brighton & Hove and parts of Surrey. Closely comparable as a neighbouring South East LEP with similar business support and capital investment programmes and the same cessation timeline.
• Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership: Another English Local Enterprise Partnership with similar remit covering skills, business support, and capital investment programmes. Operated as a comparable public-private economic development vehicle and was also wound down in March/April 2024.

Broad incumbents

• Federation of Small Businesses (FSB): UK-wide small business membership organisation that delivers business support, policy advocacy and local engagement across the South East region. Comparable as a broader organisation supporting SME growth and access to finance.
• London First: Business-led organisation campaigning on economic policy and infrastructure for London. Comparable as a public-private partnership advocating for regional economic growth and private sector investment, though focused solely on London.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/southeastlep
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCkA5bGNj1ss8Xm4OjM1Va6g
• LinkedInuk.linkedin.com/pub/south-east-local-enterprise-partnership/74/36b/97a

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about South East Local Enterprise Partnership