Published:
6:00 AM December 5, 2021
Norfolk’s food, farming, logistics and healthcare sectors are all suffering from staff shortages worsened by Brexit and Covid, the region’s enterprise chief has warned.
Chris Starkie, chief executive of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said Brexit was only one part of several deep-rooted problems threatening economic growth in Norfolk.
“Fundamentally, our working age population is not enough to sustain the growth of our economy,” said Mr Starkie.
“The demographic reality is that our population is aging – and the incomers to our county, welcome as they are, tend to be older.”
The New Anglia LEP, which works across Norfolk and Suffolk, seeks to secure private and public funds to support local businesses and infrastructure.
Its chief added that the impact of Brexit had “been alleviated a bit by some of the government fixes, but we’re keen that they recognise that actually there is a longer term problem”.
Asked whether Brexit had so far gone better or worse than anticipated for the region’s…
