Paul Smith is the former Managing Director of Business West.
Stepping down after 30 years helping shape and support the South West regional economy, I am going to miss many of the external roles that comes with being Business West MD, but none more so than my role with the South West Infrastructure Partnership (SWIP). Whereas much of my work, in both public and private sectors, has been funnelled into specific sectors, places projects or themes, SWIP stands as a very rare South West organisation that, yes focuses on infrastructure, but in doing so it embraces the whole business spectrum of SW civil engineering projects, sectors and geographies as well as the region’s environment and nature. Such across the board perspective remains SWIP’s Superpower.