On the Couch with Jane Lamer

In this episode of On the Couch with Biscoes, Alison is joined by Jane Lamer, Head of Economic Development and Skills at Portsmouth City Council, to explore how the city supports businesses, skills, and economic growth.

Jane shares insight into Portsmouth’s thriving entrepreneurial scene, the support available to startups and SMEs, and how initiatives like enterprise centers and business helplines help companies grow and succeed.

They also discuss apprenticeships, youth employment, and the importance of collaboration across organisations like Shaping Portsmouth to create opportunities for local people and businesses.

The conversation celebrates Portsmouth’s vibrant community, including its centenary year, the Lion Trail, and the City of Culture 2029 bid.

A positive and insightful episode for business owners and anyone interested in Portsmouth’s future.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:29

If you're looking for hardest legal content, this isn't a podcast for you. This is a hosting comfortable space for local people and our best collaborators to have a voice. So grab a couple and come and join us on the couch. Hi, I'm Alison and on the couch today I have the lovely Jane LeMaire. Hello, Jane. Good morning. So Jane, tell us what your uh what your title is, your grand title, my title.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Well, I mean the official title is Head of Economic Development and Skills at Portsmouth City Council.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Great. Um so uh tell us a little bit about what your role and your office um colleagues do for the city.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Um uh lots of things. So for us, economic development is a really broad um brush, so that covers everything from great things like our business helpline and the work we do to support businesses, our place and markets team, which deliver not just the normal markets in commercial road and cosham, but also um work with places like Love Sousie for our commissioned markets, Christmas markets, and of course the multi-award-winning Sous Food Festival. Um, but also we have things like our enterprise centres where we're supporting. I think the report we did this week was something like 134 businesses across the city in five different locations on short-term bases, which is really important part of our business support work, as well as things like our skills strategy, our adult and community learning, um, our supported employment, so helping adults into work through things like Connect to Work and programs uh like our iPads Grow, things that are about getting people um off of long-term um benefits into sustained employment. Um and I know I've gotten something in really good trouble.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

I think that was probably enough.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

All things that are about helping residents into work, moving people closer towards employment, and obviously supporting the businesses that then employ them and ensuring the pros you know the economic prosperity of the region.

SPEAKER_00 2:54

Yeah, that's brilliant. So I'm I'm particularly interested in um the business support because that there are obviously there are a huge number of businesses, and you probably know off the top of your head how many there are in Portsmouth. We normally claim about 7,846, but it does change, yeah. And a lot of those are small businesses, aren't they? So we have we have a number of um you know world-renowned businesses like Airbus and various other things we were talking about yesterday. Um, but we also have a lot of very small businesses, or either sole business owners, uh business owners employing one or two people. Uh a lot of start-ups happen in the city.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah, we were we were at the most entrepreneurial city in the UK in 2020, which I know sounds a little bit of a long time away, but we always sit right at the top. It was that was the first time that we reached the the sort of top slot for that, but we do get a lot of startups, a lot related to the University of Portsmouth. We're really lucky at some of the amazing stuff that comes out of there, but we are a very entrepreneurial city and we do have some amazing individuals who are doing things that are really special, either on a small scale or with immense growth potential, so small businesses and helping people to start up.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Yeah, and it's a known fact that um lots of startups um fail um within the first two years. Yeah, but often that's about being on a growth traject trajectory and not having the right support or the right information in order to excuse me, to um to grow. Um, and that's where your office comes in quite a lot of the time, isn't it? You know there are things that you can marry up, things that you can get them to try, and I think Cascades is an op uh somewhere where you've kind of put bit small businesses in a pop-up basis where they're not signing leases, that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Yeah, completely. So various things we mentioned the enterprise centres earlier, and obviously um they offer short-term leases, so particularly for businesses that are trying to take their first step, those short-term leases that don't commit them to um a long-term staying there, but allow people to have some stability.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

So that's maybe from a business who's who's started at home, you know, maybe from the kitchen table, has grown to a point where actually we need to take some premises on here because either need to employ somebody or uh stocks getting out of control and I'm now living in a warehouse. Um so they that those enterprise centres would give somebody an opportunity to do an easy in, easy out if it doesn't work, or be the step to um taking on some premises on a more um legally binding basis where where they might sign a lease, for example, have repair and covenants, all that sort of stuff. Um, that that's a bridging opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Absolutely, and and although the centres are designed to take people for shorter periods, the reality is some of our businesses stay really long term and grow internally. We have a lot of businesses that start off in small units and move to larger units around the different centres because they've grown, but actually they like the protected environment, and it is that short-term lease which does give takes a bit of the risk out for a lot of businesses, but it also allows the flexibility. So we do see some businesses grow, and if they need to contract within that space, but stay in the environment where they also get quick access to business support. The lovely Joe who runs the helpline and does a lot of the business clean active regularly and on in all of our enterprise centres. Um, you've only got to go down to reception, ask one of the colleagues, and they can get Joe to pop in. So it's about having as much support as you can um to help your business you know sustain. And it's tough at the moment, particularly at the moment, and I think any support you can get, not because we have the answers, sadly, we don't have buckets of money, but because you need all the support and intelligence that you can get around you to run a business at the moment.

SPEAKER_00 6:53

Yeah, and and sometimes for you it will be about signposting people to other organisations that can help them, um where they they you know, or pointing out where they perhaps need to take some advice, taking on premises being being a prime example. Lots of people take on premises, uh and we have experience of this, and and they don't understand what they've taken on, uh they don't understand rent reviews, they don't understand repairing covenants. Um certainly our lawyers in our commercial property department um are very um keen to make sure that when people are taking on a lease that they understand the obligations that they're that that it means for their business can be so those are the sort of things where the the your office would uh the lovely people that work there who I love, all of them, um, would point people in the right direction, say, look, you just need a bit more advice about this, or I can put you in touch with somebody.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Um particularly Jo and Kim spend a lot of time talking one-to-one with businesses, and we aren't qualified, we don't give business advice, but we do tell you when perhaps it's the time to speak to a lawyer, um, to get a pattern or an accountant, yeah, or or whatever, to make sure that they're protected because our job is to help businesses survive and thrive, and by doing that, sometimes it's about recognising when you need the official support or when actually, you know, chat GB is fine, but actually it's not the answer to everything.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Well yeah, no, you don't take your advice from a large language AI model.

SPEAKER_01 8:23

Exactly, but a lot of people do, and it you know, it it's great to sense check your thought process, but it's it's not a business advice then. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Um, and you have another role in the city. I do.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Tell me a little bit about that. Well, I'm also a non-exec uh executive director of uh Shaping Portsmouth, with you in fact you are, yes. Which is why you know I do.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Because you're there every meeting I go to. What's she doing here?

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Um you can't get rid of it.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

I'm everywhere. Um, and um so Shaping Portsmouth for anybody that doesn't know is a uh community interest company that works across across the city in three pillars of community education and business. So you kind of uh work within the business pillar um of uh and uh the programmes that we run for um various businesses through through Shaping Portsmouth. So what's what what's a little bit about what uh what shaping offers to businesses?

SPEAKER_01 9:21

So again, it it's fantastic to work with so many businesses across the city, and obviously we have the shaping patrons that that their membership creates, this organisation, and various partners. We do some really um incredible events that are about updating. Only um for us yesterday. We had the business leaders group where we get some great updates, some highlighting of some of the amazing businesses that we have in the city, um, updates on what's going on, the sort of business support and stuff that we're going on.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

And as I said, I I'm born and bred in Portsmouth, and we were just having a conversation that Air Buff had come along as a patron of um of Shape in Portsmouth, and we had uh the lovely Sam there yesterday who um was just very funny because um he he his video wasn't working, so he was trying to explain that they build satellites by pretending to be a satellite, which was very amusing.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

Um but I I I didn't know the the extent to which that um that business uh provides the number of the world satellites, the testing incredibles that we have in the city, the incredible facility is it it's really really breathtaking, and I am lucky enough to have been round on a couple of the tours and um it's around the next one. Definitely have a word with Sam because literally it is the most amazing thing, and you get to see some of the clearing stuff and some of the technology that is just used. Just just sitting on the Eastern Road there. Yeah, in a more casual way, and of course they now um co-host um Space Cell Central on site. They do an incredible amount um with our local communities. They've got an amazing project starting up and thanks to John Chinner and their team looking at apprenticeships, they're working service.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Yeah, and that was something I was going to come on to. Um one of the things that that um Sam's talking about was uh the fact that they they um have this very strong apprenticeship program there, um, but they also help place apprentices that have maybe not then um moving on within their business. Um and alongside that SLR recruitment yesterday, and Sarah Rhodes was talking about her new initiative um to actually help young people. We we were having that's been a discussion in the city, I think, that's been um been going on for some time around how many young people we've got who are who are not in any kind of form of education, training, um, and how we all of us of a certain age in the room were able to put our hands up and said, Yeah, we had our first job at 15, 16, 17, that was probably in hospitality or retail, and that's where we've learnt our skills from.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

I I genuinely, I genuinely love being in Portsmouth. I get so excited about the way that we collaborate and come together. So to kind of go through those in order. Solent Growth Partnership, which is a business support um piece that deliver growth hubs and boot camps and various other projects, including like the AI Region of Excellence work, um, is is another part of my um responsibility, but obviously led by the amazing Jodie and her team. They're working with Airbus who get high volumes of really great applicants, but they can only take so many because they only take what they're going to employ, which is completely reasonable and ethical of them, but they want to help those young people and older people that have applied through that. They want to find find other businesses because the supply chain within Airbus is enormous across the whole of Hampshire and the Soviet, and their impact economically is spectacular, and they're really keen to try and support that and work with other businesses to recruit those amazing um individuals so that they still get to go down that route and they still get to stay in the industry, um, whether that's specific to space or a slightly broader advanced manufacturing. So that's a really, really exciting project, and we're talking at a national level working with the different apprenticeship hubs across the country, but really, really leading the way because of the passion that we've got in Airbus, which is amazing. The wonderful Sarah SLR recruitment, NEAT is a massive issue for us, so NEAT is not in education, employment or training. As young people, 16 to 18, but under the new government stuff, very much 16 to 24. It is tough out there. We know we are seeing rising um unemployment, but NEAT is more concerning and keeping keeping a grip on where we are, which is something Portsmouth colleagues in education are outstanding at, is getting more and more difficult because work is becoming more transient and more difficult for those that are in the lower skills and starting points. So the fact that Sarah is exploring how she can take a recruitment agency approach, very specifically with young people to get first steps in, is really exciting, and I'm I'm really looking forward to finding out more about that and how we can do that. And I know Salent Growth Partnership are making their CEDAL, which is free training available to our businesses. So that's already accessible for everyone now. Um, anyway to access some great online free training um or funded training because it's not free but funded training, so no cost to the businesses, and their Salent Growth Partnership are going to open that up to the young people to help Sarah get them ready and address it. We have uh my whole career, I've had conversations with employers that are like, Wow, young people aren't ready for the workplace. Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I didn't appear I mean for me I did A levels, I didn't appear at 18 fully formed with everything cracked.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

I you know, I didn't know. Absolutely not, and I and and I think the discussions that have gone on in various rooms that I've been in recently is is how we do learn those skills of dealing with people and um you know turning up on time and being reliable and all those things that we want in employees from those first few jobs that I did during the holidays or whatever from from uni and um you know just hard work and learning what hard work is.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

We all have responsibility, and I know you know we're we're both lucky enough to have our own children. I like to think that they've got some stuff from me as a parent. Not everyone has that if that opportunity and that example, and some people can't learn from their parents, um, not necessarily because the parents aren't giving a good example, that doesn't work. So when we have young people come into the workplace, it's about setting boundaries and helping them to understand where what things are really important. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

And as a as an employer who has um a number of apprentices at all sorts of levels in our in our business, you know, I can vouch personally for the fact that that actually we grow people through apprenticeships, that they they offer an opportunity to to mould somebody um into your business and the way that you do things and um teach them skills in a way that you you want them then to present those skills and behaviours towards your clients. So yes, they are apprentices can be a bit of work, um, but actually the product that you get at the end in terms of an a fully rounded employee with that qualification is really valuable to lots of businesses. So we've we've gone from having people who've started at a customer services level who've been on our receptions, who are now fully fledged paralegals in our business, we now do solicitor apprenticeships, albeit that the funding for that's become a little bit difficult because you have to be 22 to start it, you can't be any older, which I think is a unfortunate decision. Um I myself did an apprenticeship um at level seven um a few years back. Um so yeah, I think that they're a great opportunity for people to gain skills or upskill and businesses really benefit from that.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Yeah, completely. And I'm really I know we've had some changes um to funding recently, which means some of those level seven, which actually I think are really important and allow people to access education at that higher strategic level in a really impactful way for businesses. So I think it's a shame that that currently isn't funded, but there are incredible opportunities through apprenticeships. I have done apprenticeships myself, I'm really passionate about training, and I think when you have learning that is directly related to the workplace, it doesn't just benefit the business but it helps people to profession.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

I fully agree, and one of our core values at Risco is lifelong learning. You know, we we want people to continue to develop and learn skills within their jobs or um you know, so not just technical things but soft skills.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

Yeah, as well. It's not, I mean, I love an apprenticeship, but but not everyone wants to sign up for a two-year programme or a three-year programme, and that's fine if that's your your choice choices, but that constant looking at learning is really important, which which is why I was in your offices this week, indeed, on our uh employment update.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Yeah. Big changes coming in employment law, which um again you and I have had a discussion today around the fact that there's probably a lot of businesses, particularly smaller businesses, that aren't aware of changing obligations and probably need to take some advice about that.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Um completely, and I'm not attending things like that. I mean, sadly, I'm attending that out of my own personal interest, which I think introduces a whole that's a whole nother podcast, I think, really. Um strange and disturbed mind. But it is about us understanding what's going on so that we can make sure people are advised to take advice when they need to. And there are a lot of changes at the moment where some fairly simple, proactive things around your contracts can protect you for the future. And I think it's really important that companies don't, especially the really small companies, don't look at their existing workforce and go, we haven't got any problems now, so it will be fine. It's about protecting yourself for that situation that you don't see coming.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Absolutely, yeah. So Shepherd and Portsmouth we're both huge fans of, of course. Uh, but Portsmouth generally this year has got such a brilliant vibe going on. It's obviously our centenary year, so that's very exciting. I spent the council, I mean, probably you're all absolutely exhausted because I think there's been so much gone on already. Um, I was at the the launch at Southeast Castle, which was phenomenal, although extremely freezing cold, really cold. But it was amazing. But it was amazing, and so many people turned up on the on the common there to to watch the fireworks, and um that of itself was was brilliant. Um but lots of events going on. We've got the lion trail starting. We we have, and thank goodness.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

Thank goodness.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

So um this goes as sponsoring a lion, we have Leonardo de Pompey, who was the original lion, and um certain members of my team were literally going to throw themselves on the guild hall steps and cry for a month if we didn't end up with Leonardo, which thankfully we did.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

I I I I think everyone is very pleased, probably Louise Braithwaite most. I don't know if she knows how how at risk she was, but I'm sure as an artist she's delighted to have the level of enthusiasm that was to ensure that Leonardo was a bisco.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

So Leonardo is one of forty five, forty-five forty-six sort of numbers. Um lions, big large lines that are going to be beautifully decorated, seen all the designs, and I have to say I thought the artists that that had um come up with the designs were just so imaginative in in capturing aspects of Portsmouth life.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

That I mean, we there was uh an exhibition that I hope people didn't miss it, but if you did, I went twice. Have a look at the website um because it showed all of the different designs that were out there, and I remember coming into that exhibition um and there was a there was an event, and one of the employers had come in and looked at the wall and went, Oh, I've chosen my three, and I'm like, Okay, you you You've looked at about a sixth of the options. And he was almost crying by the time he went out because I think he could have chosen sort of.

SPEAKER_00 22:09

I I really struggled with the whole, you know, which ones represent. I wanted something that for for our business that represented us as a business. Um and there were several in that kit, but but I was I was battered down by my two fellow directors who basically said, just put Leonardo, we want Leonardo. I was gonna say we love Leonardo or buffed.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

I love that you love loads of um love loads of them and other people were you know obsessed in a slightly sinister way with Leonardo, but it's I and I did a LinkedIn post about this.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

For me, Leonardo represented a lot of what our firms do. It's also we've been in the city for 172 years this year, I think it is. Um, and you know, we're strong proponents of the armed forces community, we're armed forces covenant signatories, we're gold ERS holders, so having the victory on on the front of Leonardo's chest, you know, there really boldly representing naval history. Um, had the the ferry and the hovercraft because we had two offices on the island, so that kind of represented and kind of that community spirit is all represented on his all over him. He's just beautiful. Um, to me, just summed us up. I said it's it's just Bisco's in a lion form. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Louise is really talented, hasn't she? She really she captured it all.

SPEAKER_00 23:29

But it uh I do love Leonardo, it was he's absolutely breathtaking and we're we're she I I'm sure that that that my my fellow director who's fallen in love with him will be visiting him every day to make sure he's nice and polished it clean once he's been positioned, so that's brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

I worry for afterwards when when we have to find the new home for Leonardo.

SPEAKER_00 23:50

Oh, he's going home with her, I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

I I think he may well be in her lounge. Um I do fear for anyone that attempts to buy the lion outside of that. Absolutely. Fantastic opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

Again, lots of lovely creative stuff that so then what I was coming to is that that those lines are going to form a trail that people can walk, uh not necessarily all in one go, because it's gonna be quite a long trail. Uh and each of the lines will will hopefully have something that the sponsor of that lion uh will be promoting. Um, we have a little campaign that we're going to be running, RAW for more, um, which you can learn a little bit more about by uh you know visiting our lion and finding out um when it when it's uh in place. So um as well as that um we've got the actual centenary event coming out.

SPEAKER_01 24:41

The centenary event coming up, so that's a formal um event in Portsmouth Guildhall.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Yeah, so that that's marking the actual day in which the city was granted city status a hundred years ago.

SPEAKER_01 24:53

Yeah, yeah. So we have that, and that's just part of many, many events because the vast majority are are designed that everyone can access. Yeah, so kind of community-led events, really, aren't they? Yeah, absolutely, and opportunities for events that are put on by communities. So there was a whole bunch of grants that went out at the beginning of the year so that people can do things that meet their particular needs. It's all about everyone coming together, and of course, because it's Portsmouth, that's what we're getting. Lots and lots of enthusiasm from everyone, lots of celebrating so many of our community, our charitable organisations and our businesses in a way that is, you know, properly pompey proud, I guess. You know, from the football club to to the university to the small businesses, everybody is getting involved, and of course, that is being an absolutely magnificent um driver for our City of Culture bid. Yes, I was gonna come on to that.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

I know I got in there got in there first, didn't you? You were looking at me thinking she's gonna say that in a minute. Um, yeah, so that's the other uh amazing thing that's going on. So we we found out that we've been long listed.

SPEAKER_01 26:10

They were kind enough to do that on my birthday, which I thought was really sweet of them.

SPEAKER_00 26:13

I I think they timed it, especially. They did. Um and the lovely Demma and uh the people at Portsmouth Creates have have just done a fantastic job of pulling together all the strands of of what um what Portsmouth is about, you know, the kind of core. And I have to say the film, if you've if you've not seen it, go onto the website We Are Pompey 2029 um and have a look at the little film that's been produced. It's it's quite short, but I have to say it brings a tear to my eye every time I watch it. I haven't stopped, you know, what I've watched it about 20 times now, but every single time I I well up a little bit. Um and I think they've really captured you know the the we are pumpy um vibe.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Yeah, no, completely, and every aspect of our extremely diverse communities, and every time there's a uh a shot that goes across the screen, you can spot people that you know or places that are part of your favourite spaces in the city, you know, it's right the way across that it captures the whole of Portsmouth. I mean, as a as a Pompey girl, I I love it when Mixed Burgers comes in from the top of the hill. It's like because everyone's been to Mixed Burgers and to that. And if you haven't, you clearly need to because you are missing out.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Never lived. Um, yeah, and I think I think that whole community spirit that we have here is actually quite unique. And probably lots of people are proud of where they come from. But I've had lots of people visit here who didn't really know a lot about Portsmouth, you know, they're from outside the area, who visit and go, this is it's just amazing, you know, the way that um you know there's so much going on, there's so much innovation, there's so much creative create creativity. Um the lookup Portsmouth um auras on the walls are are just phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 28:03

So um what we could do if we had the opportunity of the City of Culture, because of course City of Culture isn't judged on just what you've achieved, it's about potential. Yeah, and I think Portsmouth has bags of potential, and I think it's really exciting what we could achieve if we were lucky enough to get that, but also what we're achieving through the process, and I think yes, the last couple of days I have seen Gemma do her um City of Culture speech first of all at Maritime Solent Summit, um, which is across the the Solent region, and then at Shaping Portsmouth um business leaders, and both times the buzz in the room and the enthusiasm from people because it is about Portsmouth, but it is more than that, it is about our region, and the benefits of having a city of culture to everyone is enormous because of the potentially increased tourism, because of the money that comes in, because of the potential about highlighting us for inward investment. I am really lucky because I do talk to people from across the country and even internationally about the opportunities that are in the city, and I'm not gonna lie, I get to be really smug when I talk about our community, when I talk about the way that businesses come together, when I talk about the way that we do supply chain through things like shaping Portsmouth, through things like Portsmouth Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Cluster, how we work together. It's we are incredibly fortunate and incredibly well connected, but we have challenges, and anything that is going to bring more money into the city and bring more focus to allow us to explore the potential is just amazing, and this feels like a whole year of that vibrancy. Absolutely, it's a joy.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Yeah, I I totally agree. So if you haven't um haven't had a look at the We Are Pompey 2029 website, I I strongly advise that you do. And uh subscribe, follow, follow, back the bid. Hashtag everything back the bids. Jane, thank you so much. It's been lovely having a chat with you. Um if anybody wanted to get in touch uh with your office, if they've listened to this and they've thought, oh actually I could I could do some help here, um that that sounds like they might have something that would help me. How would they get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_01 30:25

Uh well on the Portsmouth City Council website you can look up business and that gives you all of our contact details. I think it's business at portsmithcc.gov.uk. Um, I'm on LinkedIn, I will always welcome connections. We're at lots of events, we do Third Thursday networking, we try and get out there to everything, but come and see us, find us on the website, find us when we're out and about. We are quite a friendly lot, and you know, our job is to help. Brilliant. Thank you so much. Thank you.