No need for new “branding exercise” for North West growth, says Clarke Willmott
The latest co-ordinated attempt to boost economic growth in the North of England is to be welcomed – but it doesn’t require “another branding exercise”, according to a leading business figure.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, recently met with officials at the Treasury in London to set out his vision for a so-called “Northern Arc” economic corridor from the Mersey to the Pennines and beyond, linking the North West with West and South Yorkshire.
The project would also include a new improved rail link from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Piccadilly, with stops at a new Liverpool Gateway station, Warrington Bank Quay and Manchester Airport.
According to research carried out by Metro Dynamics, creating a more joined-up economic area in the North would boost the UK economy by £90 billion by 2040.
Ed Foulkes, head of the Manchester office of national law firm Clarke Willmott, says the idea reflects the recent success of Greater Manchester and the North West as the engine of economic growth in the North – but that it isn’t the first airing this idea has had.
“Greater Manchester has enjoyed the fastest growth and the fastest increase in productivity of any UK region in recent years but like other northern cities, its potential is being hampered by its outdated infrastructure, in particular its rail links,” he says.
“The development of the Bee Network in the city has gone part-way towards building a first-class integrated transport system in the city but we need go much further and faster.
“We are, generally speaking, in a good place in the North West and in Greater Manchester in particular, and our growth in recent years has been impressive. Nonetheless looking wider, building better transport links between the big northern cities, all the way from Liverpool to Hull via Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds, would change everything.
“The problem of poor connectivity was identified by Governments from both main parties some time ago. John Prescott’s Northern Way was followed by George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse.
“No-one disputes that we need to keep banging this drum in our region but we shouldn’t get too hung up on new names.”
Ed Foulkes says that Government backing for projects such as a third runway at Heathrow, further investment in the Oxford-Cambridge axis and the construction of the £9 billion Lower Thames Crossing, illustrate the continued imbalance in the UK economy.
“Other developed nations outside the UK do not suffer from such a big imbalance between their biggest city and its hinterland and their next biggest cities, and this is not helpful for the creation of a balanced economy.
“There is still a lot of work to be done in this regard and Andy Burnham’s vision for the North can help to redress the balance. While no-one is unaware of the huge pressures on budgets currently, growth is the Government’s stated priority and this should be a comparatively easy win.”
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