Steer Economic Development

Today’s conversation focussed on economic policy, with our central question being: what needs to happen to meet our growth targets in the North, and what part does this play in fuelling national growth? Our key takeaways were: - Four clear priorities for sustainable, healthy and inclusive growth in the North: 1) trade and investment; 2) the net zero agenda; 3) transport and connectivity; 4) people and place - Trade and inward investment: Reducing bureaucracy, raising the profile of the UK in the global marketplace, with a focus on long-term stability and attractiveness and clearer propositions at a local and regional level - Net zero agenda: has the power to provide a strong catalyst for growth; capacity at grid level is holding us back and will be key to unlocking long-term productivity - Transport and connectivity: it’s not necessarily about speed, but capacity, which will play a huge role in reducing the cost of transport to, from and around the North - People and place: a strong industrial strategy focussing on diversity of voices, including those from business, is needed; simplifying access to funding, particularly for SMEs; and upskilling our workforce Thank you to everyone who participated online, and a special thanks to our guest Clare Hayward MBE DL, Chair of NP11, and host Josh Stott, Director at Steer Economic Development. 🔗 Missed the event or want to join future discussions? Watch the recording and register for upcoming events via the link in the comments.   Stay connected! Follow Steer, Clare, and Josh on LinkedIn. #economicpolicy #regionalgrowth #nationalgrowth #wearesteer

Join me this morning. ⏰ Economic policy in 30 Join me, live in conversation with Clare Hayward MBE DL, Chair of NP11 and Cheshire & Warrington LEP, at our ‘Economic policy in 30: Priorities for regional and national growth event’ on Tues 30th Jul at 11.30am. In just 30 minutes, you will learn more about: 🌹 Labour’s investment priorities for the North of England 📈 How these are set to drive all-important regional and national economic growth ⬆ How greater devolved powers will further support the growth agenda across the North Register here 👉: https://lnkd.in/dMWUPZQ2 Let me know if you have any questions for Clare or specific topics you'd like us to address 👇. Steer Economic Development #WeAreSteer #LabourGovernment #EconomicPolicy #in30

We’re excited to continue our Election Reflections series with 'Economic Policy in 30: Priorities for Regional and National Growth'. 🗓 Date & Time: Tuesday, 30th July, 11:30am What to expect: - In-depth discussion on economic policy and its impact on regional and national growth - Expert insights from our guest speaker, Clare Hayward MBE DL, Chair of NP11 and Cheshire & Warrington LEP - Hosted by Josh Stott, Director, Steer Economic Development Key topics: - The role of regional economic strategies in driving national growth - The interplay between local initiatives and national economic policies - Identifying priorities for economic development and investment at both regional and national levels Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into the future of economic policies and strategies for regional and national growth. 📺 Watch live online today at 11:30 am via the link in the comments below. #economicpolicy #regionalgrowth #nationalgrowth #wearesteer

Join me a week today ⏰ Economic policy in 30 Join me, live in conversation with Clare Hayward MBE DL, Chair of NP11 and Cheshire & Warrington LEP, at our ‘Economic policy in 30: Priorities for regional and national growth event’ on Tues 30th Jul at 11.30am. In just 30 minutes, you will learn more about: 🌹 Labour’s investment priorities for the North of England 📈 How these are set to drive all-important regional and national economic growth ⬆ How greater devolved powers will further support the growth agenda across the North Register here 👉: https://lnkd.in/dMWUPZQ2 Let me know if you have any questions for Clare or specific topics you'd like us to address 👇. Steer Economic Development #WeAreSteer #LabourGovernment #EconomicPolicy #in30

Devolved Funding: Insights from the Past Shaping Future Strategies A big thank you to Jonathan Gibson & the team at the West Midlands Combined Authority for the opportunity to share our findings from evaluating multiple devolved funding programs, including the #LocalGrowthFund, #GetBuildingFund, #Earnbackmodels, & #Gateway reviews earlier this week. Our goal was to inform the design, implementation, & governance of its innovative ‘#SingleSettlement’ process. We covered a lot of ground, but some key areas of interest included: ⏩ Effective Strategy Development: Managing the politics; moving beyond the evidence-base & strategic objectives; avoiding the risk of 'motherhood & apple pie' to establish consensus around a clear route forward in delivering a distinctive, well defined & measurable package of outcomes. ⏩ Investable Project Pipeline: Developing genuinely investable propositions & not a political wish list; balancing short-term wins & longer-term strategic interventions; effective prioritisation & sequencing of projects - recognising that whilst some projects may not be the top priority, they can be sequenced later in the pipeline (whilst others may need to drop out altogether!). ⏩ Integrating Policy Interventions: Overcoming the barriers to joining up policy interventions - #economicdevelopment, #skills, #transport, & #energy - to achieve synergies & desired outcomes at both a sub-regional level & within specifically targeted local areas. ⏩ Evaluation & Monitoring: Promoting a cultural shift towards embracing the value of evaluation to incorporate best practice into programme design; developing & operationalising robust evaluation frameworks & comprehensive data capture processes from programme initiation. If you’re interested in how Steer Steer Economic Development can assist with your devolved funding negotiations, strategy development, implementation, or evaluation, we’d be delighted to conduct an in-person workshop. Feel free to DM me or leave a comment 👇. #DevolvedFunding #EconomicStrategy #EconomicDevelopment #GrowthStrategy #InclusiveGrowth #DataCapture #LocalGrowth

⏰ Economic policy in 30 Join me, live in conversation with Clare Hayward MBE DL, Chair of NP11 and Cheshire & Warrington LEP, at our ‘Economic policy in 30: Priorities for regional and national growth event’ on Tues 30th Jul at 11.30am. In just 30 minutes, you will learn more about: 🌹 Labour’s investment priorities for the North of England 📈 How these are set to drive all-important regional and national economic growth ⬆ How greater devolved powers will further support the growth agenda across the North Register here 👉: https://lnkd.in/dMWUPZQ2 Let me know if you have any questions for Clare or specific topics you'd like us to address 👇. Steer Economic Development #WeAreSteer #LabourGovernment #EconomicPolicy #in30

🌹 Holding the new Labour government to account on #economicgrowth & #productivity. The new govt promises to do away with "sticking plaster politics" & to deliver long-term solutions for #economic #growth & productivity. Applaudable, yet I’ll be watching the following policy areas carefully… 🏙 A New Industrial Strategy Will Labour be able to end short-term economic policy making with the establishment of an Industrial Strategy Council? Setting out plans for key sectors including research institutions, professional services, advanced manufacturing, creative sectors, automative & life sciences, will they be able to secure & SUSTAIN the right blend of private & public leadership over the course of Parliament & beyond? 🚆 10-year Infrastructure Strategy Aligned with the Industrial Strategy & #regionaldevelopment priorities, Labour is setting out to improve #rail #connectivity in the North of England. But will the new national policy statements, aiming to deliver major projects faster & cheaper by slashing red tape, work? 💷 A National Wealth Fund Capitalised with £7.3bn over the course of the next Parliament, the fund has the target of attracting £3 of private investment for every £1 of public into strategic #economicinfrastructure. Post-election, is Labour going to be bolder in increasing the scale of the fund proportionate to its ambitions? 🏡 Housing Aiming to “build a new generation of new towns” & “fast track housing approval” on urban brownfield sites, giving Combined Authorities new planning powers along with new freedoms & flexibilities to make better use of grant funding. How will this be materially different than previous policies & incentives to deliver the required step change in #housing delivery? 💻 AI & Innovation Setting out to develop the AI sector through the #IndustrialStrategy & removing planning barriers to new #datacentres, the 10-year budgets for key research institutions to allow meaningful partnerships with industry to keep the UK at the forefront of global #innovation. But can the govt work with universities to support spinouts, and industry to ensure start-up finance is available? 🗺 Devolution Aiming to deepen #devolution settlements with existing CAs & widen it to more places. Local areas will be able to gain powers in relation to #transport, #adulteducation & #skills, housing & #planning, & #employment support. But how can they ensure that ALL local areas have sufficient capacity & capability in place to design & deliver locally tailored programmes? 🌾 Local Growth Plans With a new statutory requirement for #LocalGrowthPlans that cover towns & cities across the country to be introduced – will local areas be provided with adequate resources & sensible timelines to develop genuinely new, creative & evidence-based strategies that provide the blueprint for more ambitious, resilient & #sustainable #localeconomies? What are your🤔 👇. Steer Steer Economic Development #EconomicDevelopment

3 big-ticket events boosting UK #economicgrowth 🎪 Glastonbury 2024 The weekend just gone, 210,000 revellers partied hard at the legendary Glastonbury festival in Somerset… but what impact did it have on the #localeconomy? 2023, the festival commissioned a report measuring its economic impact on the local town of Pilton & beyond. Carried out by Fourth Street, it found the iconic event generated about £168m of income for UK businesses, inc. £32m for Somerset-based organisations for the 2023 season. Glastonbury also saw festival-goers spend an estimated £1.6m in the wider Somerset community on food, drink & accommodation. Thousands of additional jobs were also created. If the report findings were true of this year’s event… towns & cities up & down the country should take note on how to turbo-charge their #economicdevelopment through hosting big ticket music events. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eza-TvfS 👗 Taylor Swift Lift Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour reportedly boosted UK spending by almost £1bn. Whether you believe the ‘Swiftonomics’ figure in Barclays’s press release or not, there’s no doubt the pop princess made her mark on the UK including The Labour Party's Sir Kier Starmer. If the UK’s ‘Swifties’ spending was anything like those seen in US, where restaurants in the immediate vicinity of the stadiums she performed at saw an average “Swift Lift” of 68%, accommodations rise by 47%, that will have been a noticeable boost to the regional economies of Edinburgh, London, & in particular to Liverpool & Cardiff. The “Swift Lift”, a phrase coined by #MastercardEconomicInstitute certainly extended beyond spending, as the Miss Americana star left a lasting impact on Cardiff Foodbank after giving them the “largest donation the charity has ever received”. The St Andrew's Community Network & several others in Liverpool were also beneficiaries. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eRxmTMuz 🎾 Wimbledon 2024 With an expected 45,000 fans to visit daily, topping 500,000 over the two-week event, what impact will Wimbledon have on the regional & national economy? Likely consumption of strawberries alone (approx. 1.9m) might be enough to boost the surrounding local economy… Yet seriously, the influx of visitors will undoubtedly boost local businesses, through direct spending on accommodations, dining, & entertainment. Short-term, the event will create hundreds of temporary & permanent jobs, driving local employment. Long-term benefits will be investment into infrastructure & transport improvement, enhancing connectivity & local facilities. While the global media coverage promotes London & the UK as premier tourist & investment destination, with community outreach programs, funded by the tournament, fostering local development. Let’s raise a #Pimms 🥃 to that! 👉 https://lnkd.in/eRxmTMuz

My top 3 stories of the week ‘Great Britain? How We Get Our Future Back’ Low productivity, chronic wage stagnation, and American-style high inequality are just some of the issues we’re grappling with says Resolution Foundation’s Torsten Bell in his latest book. With a typical US household 60% richer than its British counterpart, German households a startling 20% richer & the equivalent French household 9% ahead, something needs to be done. But what? Focus on long-term investment in high-skilled service sectors & improve infrastructure, particularly increasing public & private investment in cities like Birmingham & Manchester. Bell stresses the importance of equitable prosperity through higher wages, better working conditions, & fairer taxation. These measures will ensure that economic growth benefits everyone, reducing regional disparities & fostering a more resilient economy. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eGd9Ya2G Does Britain need an industrial strategy? Trade groups like Make UK & the British Chambers of Commerce all want to see an industrial strategy & The Labour Party has promised to deliver one if it gets into power. If we have one, what will it do? It will certainly provide more policy certainty to business & hopefully create new institutions to ‘join the dots’ of government in ‘horizontal’ areas like skills, planning & R&D. Those adverse to the idea think it will “overly interfere in the healthy action of the free market”. But surely, it will more likely pull government & industry in the same direction to the benefit of the economy. What do you think? 👇 👉 https://lnkd.in/e5HRzCKA Closer to home, Yorkshire’s economic growth Congratulations to the newly appointed Chief Executive of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority James Farrar who has an ambitious vision for the local economy. The Combined Authority is set to leverage the £112 million investment planned for 2024/25, which includes significant allocations for local transport, brownfield housing, green economy initiatives, & skills provision. It’s great to see an emphasis on local partnerships & a commitment to ensuring that all parts of York and North Yorkshire benefit from economic growth. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eU2DxBqr #economicdevelopment #economicgrowth #IndustrialStrategy #greeneconomy #localpartnerships Steer Economic Development Steer James Hopton Julian Rudd

Unlocking city decarbonisation: Key takeaways from our UK REiiF panel. This week Steer and Amberside Advisors jointly hosted a fascinating panel, ‘Unlocking City Decarbonisation,’ on the highs and lows of tackling carbon emissions in urban areas. Covering heat networks, active travel, investment and more our experts provided an insightful and stimulating discussion that offered hope for the future. Read our key takeaways: https://lnkd.in/e-zfz3dZ #decarbonisation #netzero #sustainability #wearesteer