MIPIM

MIPIM 2017: 'Who will benefit from Brexit?'

 

‘Brexit isn't going to benefit everyone.’ That was the message from city leaders in the UK and Europe during the first breakfast session to kick off MIPIM 2017.

The ‘Brexit, Who Benefits?’ event took place at the Manchester pavilion with panel speakers including Sir Howard Bernstein, CEO, Manchester council, Eric van der Burg, deputy mayor of Amsterdam, Jules Pipe, deputy mayor of London, and Olof Zetterburg, chief executive, Stockholm business region.

 

Asked about who will benefit from Brexit, Pipe, an ardent campaigner for Remain, said while he didn’t see too many opportunities, he was positive that the UK will make it work.

Manchester Evening News, 14th March

Retaining skills 'vital to Northern Powerhouse sucess'

A specific focus on keeping skilled workers in the North will be vital to the success of the Northern Powerhouse following Brexit.

 

The claim comes from Pat Ritchie, chief executive of Newcastle City Council, during Capita's City Visions event at MIPIM on Tuesday (14 March 2017).

 

"The investment in our places needs to be driven by people upskilling and by modern economics. We need a granular approach that stops skills gravitating to London after Brexit," she added.

Insider Media, 14th March

MIPIM | Cheshire rebrands Northern Gateway as Constellation

The Northern Gateway Development Zone, a shared investment campaign for South Cheshire and North Staffordshire, has been renamed the Constellation Partnership, with the new brand unveiled in Cannes today.

 

Jackie Sadek, independent chair of the collaboration of seven local authorities and two local enterprise partnerships, said: “The new brand is fabulous. It represents our ambition and our collective identity. One of the strengths of the partnership is our diversity, we will be the place in the UK where everything connects – people, businesses and ideas.

Place North West, 14th March

IPPR NORTH

Taking back control in the North: A council of the North and other ideas

 

In this new report from IPPR North, Ed Cox, Director, addresses two increasingly pressing questions: Who will drive industrial strategy for the north of England? and How do we find ways for people in the North to ‘take back control’?

 

He outlines short, medium and long-term proposals to develop the kind of institutional capacity that might be required to drive forward this northern super-region. These include: developing and improving the pan-northern institutions that already exist; establishing a formal Council of the North; and finally, breaking the existing pattern of electoral representative democracy and re-establishing the North at the forefront of democratic innovation with the development of a more deliberative Northern Citizens Assembly.

IPPR North, 17th March

Northern England ‘needs regional government’ if its economy is to survive Brexit

Northern England needs to have its own regional assembly so it can act with a single voice and “take back control” of its £300bn economy in the aftermath of Brexit, according to a major report.

 

As Nicola Sturgeon continues to set out her case for another referendum on Scottish independence, a leading Northern think-tank has called for the setting up of a powerful Council of the North.

 

IPPR North says its call for the creation of a Northern “super council” is a bold departure from current thinking about the region, which has a bigger population than Scotland and a bigger economy than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland together.

 

The body would be formed by representatives from the North’s 19 combined authorities and counties, and would give them powers to invest in major infrastructure schemes such as an east-west HS3 line.

iNews, 17th March

POLITICS

The mayoral candidate fighting for women in the northern powerhouse: ‘We need a better deal’

 

Tabitha Morton readily admits she was an armchair activist before the Women’s Equality party (WEP) launched in 2015. The 40-year-old, from a working-class Labour-voting family in Liverpool, had increasingly struggled to find a party that she felt spoke for her interests.

 

“We had a Conservative government, an opposition that just wasn’t credible, and no matter what party I looked at, equality for women just wasn’t on the agenda,” she says. “It just didn’t feel like anyone was talking to me or my friends about the things we cared about.”

 

Two years on and Morton, who is head of integration at the security company Yale UK, is the WEP’s candidate for the Liverpool City region mayoral race. The party, which now has 65,000 members and supporters, hopes her presence will bring some much-needed attention to gender equality in the northern powerhouse.

The Guardian, 13th March

Osborne 'committed to Northern Powerhouse' despite Evening Standard role

Former Chancellor George Osborne has vowed to "continue to promote" the Northern Powerhouse – despite his shock appointment as editor of the London Evening Standard.

 

Osborne, who will succeed Sarah Sands as editor in early May, will remain as a Conservative MP for Tatton in Cheshire. He added that he remains "passionate" about the Northern Powerhouse, an initiative he championed when Chancellor.

Insider Media, 17th March

Box told to resign over attack on minister

West Yorkshire Combined Authority chairman Peter Box faces calls to resign over his devolution attack on Northern Powerhouse Minister Andrew Percy.

Coun Simon Cooke, Conservative group leader on Bradford Council, described Coun Box’s comments as “wholly inappropriate” to make in his role as West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) chairman.

 

In an official combined authority statement last week, Coun Box accused Mr Percy of trying to divide Yorkshire council leaders in their efforts to secure devolution deals moving powers from Whitehall to the region.

Yorkshire Post, 15th March

INFRASTRUCTURE

Ministers put regional infrastructure plans in the spotlight ahead of "largest ever" Qatari business summit

 

Ministers are hoping to secure a cash injection for the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine projects when the UK plays host to the biggest investment and business forum ever held with Qatar later this month.

 

Qatar is the UK's third largest export market in the Middle East, accounting for £35bn of investment into the UK, and Prime Minister Theresa May has made building further ties a priority in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.

 

The joint “Qatar-UK Business and Investment form” will see the likes of the Qatar finance minister Ali Shareef Al-Emadi come to the UK, with international trade secretary Liam Fox also in attendance.

City AM, 13th March

Transport For The North Welcomes Secretary Of State’s Response To Statutory Body Proposal

Transport for the North has welcomed the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt. Hon Chris Grayling MP’s, positive response to its proposal to become England’s first Sub-national Transport Body.

 

In his formal response, the Secretary of State commented favourably about Transport for the North’s proposal, and the organisation’s ambitious plans to transform the North’s transport infrastructure, boost the region’s economy and create up to 850,000 jobs by 2050.

 

The response is a positive step in strengthening Transport for the North’s role to speak with one voice for the region. The organisation will work with the Department for Transport to ensure that the North’s transport priorities are clearly understood by Government.

Manchester Gazette, 16th March 

Northern Powerhouse Maritime Agenda Gets Coast-To-Coast Boost

Two leading maritime organisations have joined forces to stimulate growth in marine, ports and energy business in the North.

Mersey Maritime and Team Humber Marine Alliance, representative bodies for the maritime sector, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at collaborating and presenting a united front in the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

Hellenic Shipping News, 16th March

INVESTMENT

£400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund opens for business in Penrith

 

Business leaders from across Cumbria have welcomed the £400m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) as a new source of regional economic development funding to boost the local economy.

 

Over 100 delegates gathered at an event at Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership’s Penrith headquarters on 14 March to hear about the new funding opportunities available and how these can be accessed.

Cumbria Crack, 14th March

Leeds continues to attract ‘strong interest’ from investors

With high demand from tenants continuing to place upward pressure on rents, a growing number of national and international investors are now targeting the office market in Leeds, according to Knight Frank.

 

The property consultancy forecasts that office rents in prime areas of the city could rise from around £27.50 per sq ft today to an all-time high of £30 per sq ft by the end of year, as the local economy continues to go from strength to strength.

Property Investor Today, 16th March

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

Transformation of Leeds city centre’s Majestic Building unveiled

 

Rushbond PLC, the property investment company, has unveiled plans for the transformation of the Majestic Building in Leeds city centre.

 

With work on the new 65,000 sq ft development due to start this summer, the Majestic will be transformed into new Grade A office floorspace.

 

This development, which secured planning permission at the turn of the year, will see a new office environment, over six floors, being created right in the centre of Leeds.

 

An additional three storeys are also set to be added to the building, whilst a three-storey height foyer will be built to welcome employees and visitors.

Bdaily, 15th March

Balance of power: What's happening in the Northern Powerhouse?

The RTPI is working with the Institute for Public Policy Research North on a Great North Plan. Moreover, an analysis by the British Property Federation (BPF) and GL Hearn in the autumn found planning authorities in the Northern Powerhouse decided 22 per cent more major applications per resident than their Greater London counterparts last year.

BPF chief executive Melanie Leech says it is “encouraging to see the North live up to its ‘powerhouse’ moniker, and to be powering ahead with its development pipeline”.

The Planner, 16th March

SPORT & CULTURE

Sport Influencers aims to impact Northern Powerhouse debate

 

A former Manchester United director and the ex head of British fencing have set up a not-for-profit intended to put sport at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse debate.

Sports Influencers – or SP.IN – aims to ‘define and drive sport and policy in the North of England’.

 

Former United relationship director Luisa d’Aprano and Piers Martin, a Manchester Metropolitan University lecturer, want to bring sports influencers together during a number of events featuring big name panellists.

 

Their aim is to ensure that sport – which according to Manchester City Council brought an estimated economic impact of £92m to Manchester alone between 2002 and 2013 – becomes a credible and meaningful element of the Northern Powerhouse debate.

Prolific North, 15th March

The creative team to deliver the Great Exhibition of the North has been announced

he creative team that will deliver the Great Exhibition of the North has been announced with Maria Bota recruited as creative producer.

 

Ms Bota, who has previously been director of the Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival and creative producer of the Milton Keynes International Festival, is joined in the creative team by two familiar North East figures.

 

Carol Bell, director of culture and major events at destination marketing agency NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI), has been appointed executive director of the Great Exhibition and Sarah Munro, director of Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art , is to be creative spokesperson.

Chronicle Live, 14th March