Regional Development Agencies

The Regional Development Agencies were set up to execute their role as strategic drivers of regional economic development in their areas. The English regions were formally launched in April 1999 and the last, London in July 2000. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have their own equivalents.

By – DeskDemon.com

So what's the idea behind RDAs? What's their purpose?
Each Agency has five statutory objectives, and they are:

  1. To further economic development and regeneration
  2. To promote business efficiency, investment and competitiveness.
  3. To promote employment
  4. To enhance the development and application of skill relevant to employment
  5. To contribute to sustainable development

You can see that each one of these objectives will have an impact on you, the employment, education and training opportunities in your region and your quality of life. Each RDA has a strategic vision for their region outlining their priorities and objectives designed to improve the region's economic performance. You can read your local RDA's vision on their web site.

What are the regions? How can you find out what's happening in yours?
The agencies are as follows and we're covering them in this order:

MonthRegion and Agency NameWebsite
NovemberSouth East of England Development Agencywww.seeda.co.uk
JanuaryNorthwest Development Agencywww.nwda.co.uk
MarchLondon Development Agencywww.lda.gov.uk
AprilEast Midlands Development Agencywww.emda.org.uk
MaySouth West of England Development Agencywww.southwestrda.org.uk
JuneScottish Enterprisewww.scottish-enterprise.com
JulyOne North Eastwww.onenortheast.co.uk
AugustWelsh Development Agencywww.wda.co.uk
SeptemberAdvantage West Midlandswww.advantagewm.co.uk/
OctoberDept of Enterprise, Trade & Investment - Northern Irelandwww.investni.com
NovemberEast of England Development Agencywww.eeda.org.uk/
DecemberYorkshire Forwardwww.yorkshire-forward.com/

We'll be focusing on each region in turn over the next 12 months.

Further information
  • www.dti.gov.uk/rda/
    The web site for the Department of Trade and Industry is a mine of info on RDAs and business generally.
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