How to build a new northern infrastructure
Barclays – which counts one in four north of England businesses as clients – has partnered with one of the world’s top business schools to produce a series of reports on how to boost the northern economy.
A series of Barclays-backed reports launched today identifies a series of measures aimed at supercharging the Northern Powerhouse.
Amongst a package of measures recommended by the Alliance Manchester Business School, the three reports advocate for a renewed focus on transformative infrastructure projects and the creation of a powerful one-stop body for coordinating, developing and driving them forward.
“For the North to become greater than the sum of its parts in terms of productivity and growth,” conclude the reports, “it must develop a framework of connectivity that enables clusters of knowledge and industry.
“Whilst challenges to accessing finance and relevant skills require additional political support, there are aspects of the existing planning and delivery mechanisms that could be improved by evolving methodologies and broader logistical thinking.”
Small changes such as “encouraging infrastructure owners to work more collaboratively with their suppliers” could have a “huge impact in unlocking the region’s ability to deliver world class infrastructure”, say the reports’ authors.