by business editor Trevor Sturgess

The first chairman of "son of SEEDA" admits to "de-Essexing" himself for the role - and welcomed some early wins.

John Spence, a man from North of the Thames, has guided the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) through its early stages.

He accepts that it was greeted with cynicism and suspicion in some quarters but can already point to early achievements.

It's not strictly true to call it an offspring of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) which was scrapped by the coalition government.

It covers a smaller area - Kent, Greater Essex and East Sussex - and its budget is tiny by comparison. But its overall ambitions are similar - promoting the region for economic growth investment and prosperity.

What it lacks in cash it makes up for in political and business muscle that appear to punch with some effect in Westminster.

Spence, a former senior Lloyds TSB banker, took on the role to "see this thing work. I want to see businesses staying at the table and driving with the councils the enterprise and growth agenda rather than leaving it all to other people. That's what I'm dedicated to."

The LEP has 48 board members, which sounds unwieldy but, he insists, works. "We achieved unanimity across those 48 people as to which two enterprise zones [Pfizer in East Kent, and Harlow in Essex] we should recommend to government." Both were agreed - the only LEP to achieve a brace of zones.

The region generates 17% of England's GDP and has undoubted scale, but much of that value is switched to other parts of the UK.

Spence is reluctant to speak of "us and them" but lets the government know in no uncertain terms that the region should not be viewed merely as a cash cow for others.

"It has its own resource needs that should not be ignored.

"We have to educate government on just how important this region is to the whole economy," he says.

Spence dismisses any suggestion that his organisation is a mere talking shop. "We will focus all the time and be relentless about enterprise, growth, prosperity. I'm not going to stay around if I'm not adding value."

The Third Thames Crossing is high up the LEP's agenda, and Spence is committed to understanding where the "blockers" to growth, enterprise and investment are.

Spence has to ensure even-handedness across the patch. "I have been busy de-Essexing myself," he says, and has warm words for Kent. "They are market leaders, among the top echelons in England for the quality of the dialogue between business and local authorities. Kent best practice can be cascaded to other parts of the LEP.

"Kent and the other councils are doing some super stuff and we're not going to compete. We will only supplement."

He adds: "Don't think of it as a universal panacea but we will try and come up with some specific solutions."

He says SELEP's success should be judged against three tests:

n Did we only do the things we should have done?

n Did we add value?

n Did it retain the engagement of business and councils round the table so the partnership was truly effective?