As the newly-appointed champion of Cumbria's economy, Chris Collier is under no illusions about the size and scale of the task she is taking on.

The Cumbria Tourist Board chief executive will officially take on her new role as head of Cumbria Vision in three months' time.

A key part of her brief will be to maximise and manage the millions of pounds of public money coming into the county each year to fund economic growth efforts vital at a time when Cumbria is one of the six worst performing economies in the UK.

That will involve working closely with the myriad of agencies operating in this field throughout the county, and making potentially tough decisions about how and where the cash will be best spent.

"I don't expect to be the most popular person in the county," Ms Collier told Business Gazette, referring to the choices that will lie ahead.

"There will be people wanting something to happen on their patch and, at times, Cumbria Vision will be saying the priority is over there at the moment. They will just have to wait until more resources are available. That's not a very palatable message."

Fortunately, Ms Collier will not need the wisdom of Solomon to make those decisions, as she will be working from an action plan drawn up by Cumbria Vision, based on the findings of a 118-page document, Sustainable Cumbria 2004 to 2024, compiled by the Cumbria Strategic Partnership, comprising more than 50 public, private and voluntary sector organisations.

As Cumbria Vision's chief executive - a post advertised with an £80,000-a-year salary - part of her role will be to ensure the various agencies and partnerships across the county operate more effectively, and pull together behind a common purpose.

Critics have long questioned why Cumbria has so many organisations all striving to boost the county's economy (see separate panel, left).

Questioned about a call from some quarters to radically cut the number of agencies, Ms Collier said such an idea sounded fine on paper, but in reality it would be much harder to achieve, partly because each organisation had separate funding streams and different accountabilities.

Clearly, she will need all her powers of diplomacy to keep the county's various organisations in harmony.

But on a much smaller scale, that is what she strived to achieve during her eight-and-a-half years at the helm of Cumbria Tourist Board.

Cumbria Vision's action plan, once agreed, will clearly set the agenda for future economic development efforts in the county, and Ms Collier already has a clear idea of its likely contents.

"To try to turn the Cumbrian economy around, we need to focus on some big priorities that genuinely will make a difference.

"One example is the Government's new nuclear decommissioning agency based in West Cumbria. We need to champion that. We don't want agency contracts going to businesses outside Cumbria, if at all possible.

"We also need to persuade BAE Systems that shipbuilding in Barrow is not dead. We need to look at other opportunities for them and possibly influence government thinking."

Tapping into the full potential of Carlisle Airport is also likely to figure high on Cumbria Vision's priorities, which Ms Collier stressed would be based on hard evidence. "We need to do things that will have the biggest impact. It's much harder to argue against well-researched evidence in favour of something that's a whim or something someone would like to do."

She expects Cumbria Vision to bat for the county on the national stage, especially in areas where nationally-set performance make it harder for an organisation to fully meet Cumbria's specific needs.

One example she cited was the county's further education colleges, whose ability to run tailor-made courses was hamstrung by demands placed on them nationally.

"Setting up a brand new course with exactly what industry needs, and making it fit and adapt to government targets, is a very difficult process. It's complex and not helpful," she explained.

Chris Collier is relishing the prospect of starting her new job, which she admits she only applied for after hearing Cumbria Vision chairman David Brockbank set out his own vision for the county's future prosperity.

"It's a real privilege to think that I have an opportunity of making a difference. I will do my damnest to ensure that we succeed. I can't do it alone. It has to be in partnership with organisations like economic development and regeneration agencies and local authorities."

l ABOVE: Chris Collier.

WHAT will Cumbria Vision do?

It's been set up by the North West Development Agency to ensure Cumbria makes the best possible use of the millions of pounds of public money that comes into the county annually to support economic growth.

How will it achieve that?

The board of Cumbria Vision will agree an action plan setting priorities for how and where the money should be spent in the future. It will then co-ordinate the work of all the county's economic development agencies, which will be expected to follow Cumbria Vision's lead.

Who will make these decisions?

The Cumbria Vision board will be 12-strong, with two county council representatives; two from Cumbria's six district councils; and eight private sector representatives, including Staveley businessman David Brockbank, chairman, and Bill Lowther, Cumbria Strategic Partnership chairman. The six other directors will be recruited shortly.

How much will Cumbria Vision cost?

It will have a £500,000 annual budget and will comprise a chief executive and an assistant, likely to be based in Penrith.