​Business leaders have stressed the need for them to have a voice in the new organisation likely to be set up to drive forward the Bath area’s economic development.

A local enterprise partnership for the former Avon is expected to be established when the South West Regional Development Agency is abolished in two years’ time.

Bath and North East Somerset Council has linked up with the other three local authorities in the sub-region to express interest in creating a partnership to establish investment priorities.

Earlier this week, a regional business group brought together representatives from the commercial and education sectors to discuss the future.

Among those at the meeting hosted by GWE Business West was Bath Chamber of Commerce and Initiative executive director Ian Bell.

The meeting agreed that all new LEPs - with others likely to be set up across the south west - must be business-led, and should not necessarily be based on local authority boundaries.

Among other calls from the meeting were that there should be at least a 50/50 public/private sector split on the board and that each partnership should be chaired by a business figure.

Those at the meeting said LEPs should start with a narrow focus on a small number of key objectives to overcome barriers to economic growth such as skills, planning, employment and housing land.

Nigel Hutchings, director of GWE Business West Chambers of Commerce - a network uniting chambers in the west - said: “We encourage the business community to make its voice heard, to speak to local politicians and other businesses to ensure the business voice is loud and clear on our areas of common purpose.

“Without business there is nothing – let’s make sure business is at the forefront of the development of these LEPs.”