Steer Economic Development

🌹 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

How do we boost the UK’s green economy? That’s what’s on my mind this week… 🌆 Decarbonising cities: Join me in Leeds tomorrow, Wednesday, 22 May with my Steer and Amberside Advisors colleagues for a panel discussion on the pathways to unlocking city-wide #decarbonisation. A fringe event of UKREiiF, hosted by Shivali Mathur, hear from Dr Leanne W., Andrew Farrimond, Patrick Allcorn, Prof. Jillian Anable and Colin Blackburn about how we can build a #sustainable future for our cities. There’s still time to register for online participation 👇. For those coming in-person, I look forward to seeing you there. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eWMbTCCD 🔌 Repurposing energy: Looking further afield for decarbonisation solutions, it was encouraging to see Google announce a €1 billion investment into the expansion of its data centre campus in Haminan kaupunki - Hamina Town, Finland this week. Whilst the investment is inevitably good for job creation, innovation & economic activity, I’m keen to learn more about its partnership with the Finnish energy company Haminan Energia Oy, the local district heating provider, which will capture and repurpose heat from the data centre for district heating. 👉 https://lnkd.in/e5EhqjmQ 🏭 UK Green economy: The UK has a prime opportunity to rejuvenate its manufacturing sector during the transition to a net-zero economy says a report by the IPPR. Despite a decline in diversity & tech advancements since the ‘90s, there’s potential for growth in green industries, something the former UK business secretary and former EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson championed in the Financial Times last week. Good to see Yorkshire cities Leeds, Bradford and Doncaster highlighted as potential areas in Britain for developing green manufacturing. Check out IPPR’s interactive map to find out other areas 👇. 👉 https://lnkd.in/efRu8fkj #NetZero #BusinessFinland #GreenEconomy #UKREiiF #EconomicDevelopment #GreenManufacturing What have I missed? Message me 👇 Steer Economic Development James Hopton Nicola Kane Steven Bishop Neil Rutledge Mark Easter Victoria Johnson Serbjeet Kohli

Are you attending UKREiiF 2024? We'll be there together with a fantastic panel of experts discussing pathways to unlocking city-wide decarbonisation. Want to join us? Limited spots remain for our in-person event at Horizon Leeds. Register now for either in-person or online participation: https://lnkd.in/gZy2jYVZ Meet the experts: 💡 Dr Leanne Wilson - Energy Accelerator Programme Manager at North of Tyne Combined Authority. Leanne brings over 20 years of experience in climate change and sustainability, facilitating collaboration in the North East towards low-carbon investments. 🏢 Andrew Farrimond - Infrastructure Sector Lead at Aviva, leveraging his expertise in structured finance and sustainability to drive prosperity in communities. 🌱 Patrick Allcorn - Head of Local Energy at DESNZ, leading initiatives to foster energy solutions at the grassroots level. 📚 Prof. Jillian Anable - Chair in Transport and Energy at the University of Leeds, renowned for her research on travel behaviour and energy policy. 🏗️ Colin Blackburn - Assistant Director at South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, spearheading strategic policy and investment projects for housing regeneration and net zero initiatives. Hosted by: ⚡ Shivali Mathur - Associate for Energy Transition at Amberside Advisors, building on her experience from DESNZ, to drive the energy transition agenda, with particular focus on fostering collaboration between stakeholders from across the public and private sector. Don't miss out on this valuable discussion and opportunity to contribute to the conversation on building a sustainable future! Register now for "Unlocking City Decarbonisation" on Wednesday, 22 May, in Leeds or online, brought to you by Steer and Amberside Advisors. #UKREiiF #decarbonisation #netzero #sustainability #wearesteer

4 #economicdevelopment insights that got me thinking… 📈 Economic growth: What’s best for stimulating economic growth & innovation? University-led or corporate-led lab research? With 15m global researchers & 💷 bns of govt support, you’d expect the former. Yet, according to economists, inc. Sharon Belenzon, when it comes to delivering productivity gains, the old, big-business model works better than the new, university-led one. Of course, universities & the private sector should & DO work together to foster growth & fuel innovation. We’re working with Durham University to develop its innovation & R&D facilities to foster better collaboration with regional & national firms, boosting #growth & developing solutions for some of our major societal challenges. Steer Economic Development James Hopton Richard Baker Helen Kelt Karl Gardiner 👉 https://lnkd.in/exbc5y58 💷 Spending review: The next UK govt should urgently prioritise a 1-year spending review ahead of a December planning “cliff-edge” for departmental budgets, any later would “lead to high levels of instability”, says a report by Institute for Government, reported in the Financial Times. Delays to spending plans risk cuts in services valued by the public & puts major infrastructure & economic development plans potentially on hold, undermining aspirations to provide certainty over devolved funding for local areas – think #transport #skills #housing etc. Steer Nicola Kane Steven Bishop 👉 https://lnkd.in/evVRhXyV 👉 https://lnkd.in/ejySAkjA 🎯 Mission-Driven Govt: A paper from IPPR’s Harry Quilter-Pinner explores how & why the next administration, in an era of distrust & disruption, will need to be innovative in seeking to renew govt. Takeaways include building on past innovations like the #minimumwage & tackling #regionalinequality. He calls for an establishment of independent bodies, like the #ClimateChangeCommittee, to hold the govt to account. Govts that organise around 'missions' rather than siloed policies are more effective & CAN achieve much more. The recent covid vaccine was a good example of this. Tackling #climatechange, eradicating #childhoodpoverty & addressing regional #inequality would be my 3 ‘missions’ as a starter for 10… 👉 https://lnkd.in/enmeKQ2M 🏙 Connected Places Catapult: The UK’s #innovation accelerator for #cities, #transport, & #placeleadership has announced that applications are open for the 2nd round of the #CleanFuturesAccelerator in the West Midlands. This is a great example of devolved innovation program design & funding, one that should be rolled out in other UK regions. Simon Statham Jonathan Gibson 👉 https://lnkd.in/emKVXeac Share your views 👇

My top 4 policy and research highlights 🏥 Public services: Drawing on our experience of the #OnePublicEstate program, Steer Economic Development’s evaluation of Local Government Association & the Office of Government Property’s (Cabinet Office) #PlacePilot program kicked off last week. Over the next nine months, we’ll investigate the lessons that can be learnt from the five pilots in reshaping the public estate & integrating public services. We’re looking forward to working with local teams across the West Midlands, South Yorkshire, Derby, Thames Gateway, & Hull. Rebecca van Zanten James Hopton Isabella Thompson Read 👉 https://lnkd.in/eNV8Z4Ni 🗳 Elections: With local elections coming up, most 👀 are on whether existing The Conservative Party mayors in West Midlands & Tees Valley will hold on to their mayoral seats. Also on May 2nd, with local elections taking place in a large proportion of #PrimaryUrbanAreas, Centre for Cities's Jessica T. published a blog on the implications for Bolton, Bristol, Hull, Norwich, Oxford, Plymouth, Salford & Sheffield. Read 👉 https://lnkd.in/eYMuTWrV 💡 Innovation accelerator: Can an innovation partnership between a city region & central government generate synergies & catalyse outcomes that deliver the highest quality R&D of national & international standing, alongside strong local economic impact? The answer is ✔ according to Dean Cook, MBA, FRSB Executive Director for Place & Levelling up, Innovate UK. From my perspective, it will be vital that 'impacts' can be clearly demonstrated to enable the rollout of this approach as a standard, not an exceptional, component of any #devolution deal. Find out more about the programme, which has injected £100m into 26 high-potential projects in three areas & its blueprint 👉 https://lnkd.in/eeej6huU ⚡ Greener energy: How can we #decarbonise #electricity without disadvantaging poorer families? That was the question the Resolution Foundation posed in its latest blog. Inevitably with more 💷 we must address the issue of equitable pricing to ensure generation contracts remain affordable, to protect lower-income households from potential cost ⬆, as well as consider state intervention in modernizing the grid. Read 👉 https://lnkd.in/eTsQwDyU Steer #GreenEnergy #PublicServices #PublicSector #InnovationAccelerator #MayoralElections #LocalElections Image credit: Canva

James Hopton, Principal Consultant at Steer Economic Development, recently attended the Convention of the North in Leeds. Against the backdrop of the recent budget James found the themes - including the indispensable link between Trade & Investment and the Net Zero transition - underscored the urgency for a more autonomous North. Read a full account of our analysis here: https://lnkd.in/eEkGKZHF #northernpowerhouse #levellingup #netzero #budget2024 Steer #wearesteer

We had the privilege of chatting with some of the remarkable women experts from Steer, Steer Economic Development, Amberside Advisors, and Fourth Economy this week. From mobility to energy and technology to education each expert shared their unique journey, offering insights into their educational background, daily responsibilities, and the skills crucial for success in their respective fields. As part of our International Women's Day 2024 celebrations, we're thrilled to share a first glimpse of their candid and uplifting stories, which we hope will inspire the next generation of women leaders. Stay tuned to hear more from these incredible women over the coming weeks! Join us in celebrating diversity and inclusion across critical services and infrastructure. Together, let's continue our journey toward a future where every woman and girl are valued, heard, and empowered to reach her full potential. #IWD2024 #internationalwomensday #InspireInclusion #womenempowerment #diversityandinclusion #wearesteer Shivali Mathur Nicola Kane Rubi Sarang Hannah Thomas Victoria Johnson Sally J. G.