The incoming Conservative Prime Minister must better support small businesses through Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) if the UK is to ride the forthcoming recession, leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have been warned.

In a thinly-veiled critique of outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and sacked levelling up secretary Michael Gove, LEP Network chair Mark Bretton said the new Cabinet must make ‘resetting the relationship between Government and local business a priority’.

It comes after the Bank of England last week issued a gloomy prediction that the UK will enter a deep recession by the final quarter of 2022, expected to last at least 15 months.

Mr Bretton said: ‘It’s no secret that local business leaders have felt frustrated over the past two years which saw a very mixed approach to engaging with local businesses and supporting SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises], compounded by a 50% funding reduction to LEP growth hubs, the business support network that’s helped 2.3m entrepreneurs and businesses in a single year.

‘It’s local business that will be the engine of growth on the ground. Harnessing the power of the private sector through LEPs will help reset and strengthen a more positive relationship with business.

'Amid the latest Bank of England outlook – it would be foolhardy to ignore or lose such an asset and opportunity at this time.’

The LEP Network’s five-point plan for future growth included Government allocating a multi-year funding settlement for LEPs so they can plan ahead.