John Lewis boss Andy Street has quit his role as the chairman of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership to seek election as the first West Midlands mayor.
Street has applied to be the Conservative candidate for the West Midlands myoral elections in May 2017 and as a result, has decided to step down as chair of the GBSLEP with immediate effect.
Steve Hollis, deputy chair of GBSLEP, said: “As the founding chair of the GBSLEP, Andy has overseen a transformational change in the GBS economy. We are now a top-performing region for the rate of private sector job creation and have seen the number of people claiming unemployment benefit halve from its high in February 2012. Last year was another impressive year for attracting overseas investors, with 81 projects in the area, while the level of exports has also continued to grow. Andy has used his John Lewis experience to drive this transformation.”
Hollis said the LEP owed a “huge debt of gratitude” to Street for his leadership. He added: “It has been a privilege to work with Andy and witness the Greater Birmingham Solihull economy move from being the laggard in the UK five years ago to now being the leader across many measures.
“Andy’s passion for his home region is infectious as is the way he has brought partners together to realise our shared goals for the area. We are witnessing an economic renaissance and new era of optimism. We are the outperforming region in the UK and we are positioned to be one of the global leaders.”
Street has been chair of the GBSLEP since its inception in 2011 and managing director of John Lewis since 2007.
Siôn Simon, MEP for the West Midlands and a former Birmingham MP has already been selected to represent Labour as its West Midlands mayoral candidate.
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