manchester city council business plan

Manchester launches new economic strategy: Investing in Success

Nov 28, 2023 | GMLEP News

On Tuesday 28 November 2023, Manchester City Council launched a new 10-year plan guiding how Manchester’s economy will grow and become more inclusive.

The refreshed economic strategy, Investing In Success, seeks to build on the foundations of the last 25 years or so which have seen Manchester transformed from post-industrial decline to being a dynamic city with a growing population, a larger and more highly skilled workforce and a more diverse economy – attracting talent, investment and visitors from all over the world.  

Manchester’s population has risen from 503,000 in the 2011 Census to 607,000 (Manchester City Council estimate), which is a 20% increase in twelve years.

Manchester, and especially the city centre, plays a leading role in Greater Manchester’s economy which with an £86 billion a year GDP is similar to those of major world regional cities such as Vancouver, Lyon and Rotterdam and remains slightly larger than Birmingham’s.  

Between 2011 and 2021 Manchester’s GDP per capita, a measure of output, has increased by 44 per cent from £35,739 to £51,330 – the largest increase of any of the UK’s major cities and any Greater Manchester district. The number of businesses has risen from around 17,000 to around 23,500 between 2011 and 2021 and the number of employees from 350,000 to 426,000 between 2011 and 2022.  

There have been other markers of progress too. For example, more than 90% of Manchester’s schools are now rated good or outstanding – above the national average – and more of the city’s residents (45%) are now educated to degree level.  

With these strong economic foundations established, Manchester City Council decided that now is the time to consider what future growth in Manchester should look like and how the economy can continue to grow in a way which is more inclusive and in line with the city’s commitment to becoming zero carbon by 2038.  

Leader of Manchester City Council and Deputy Chair of GM Business Board Cllr Bev Craig said:  “ Manchester has seen remarkable change in recent decades. But we are clear that there’s more work to do to ensure that everyone in our city gets the benefits of Manchester’s economic growth. Our vision is clear – a thriving Manchester where every resident can share in the prosperity of a growing economy.    “That’s what this strategy is focused on, building on our existing strengths and some of the fastest growing sectors and making sure Mancunians are connected to ever-increasing opportunities. We don’t just want to support and attract businesses, we want them to play a positive role in the wider life of the city by acting as advocates for the things we need to become a fairer and more prosperous place – from inspiring and recruiting diverse local talent to paying decent wages to supporting the city’s zero carbon goals.” 

The strategy has five priority themes: 

Use investment and development to drive inclusive growth .

Recognising that the city centre is the main driver of growth in Manchester and the wider city region and that growing the size of the city centre is fundamental to increasing Manchester’s overall prosperity. But at the same time ensuring high-quality liveable neighbourhoods across the city, with large-scale regeneration projects – for example around North Manchester Hospital/Victoria North and Wythenshawe Hospital – including economic assets that enable places to thrive. 

Nurture thriving, productive and innovative sectors  

 Attracting investment in the highest growth and most productive sectors such as financial and professional services, tech and life sciences and growing and promoting current and future knowledge-intensive industries such as AI, cyber, FinTech and genomics while also developing the green economy.  

Develop world-class infrastructure, places and talent 

Planning and delivering the physical and digital infrastructure to support businesses and ensure the city is a great place to locate, and for workers to live in. This includes working with Transport for Greater Manchester to implement the Bee Network to connect more people to employment and training opportunities via public transport, cycling or other forms of active travel.  

The city’s Housing Strategy – which is targeting 36,000 new homes by 2032 – at least 10,000 of them affordable – is also fundamental to this and includes increasing housing density in the places with the best transport connections.  

Ensuring the city is a great place to live will also help retain and attract highly skilled talent.  

Transition to a zero carbon and resilient economy

Supporting the city’s goal of becoming zero carbon by 2038 to combat, and adapt to, the impacts of climate change. ‘Green growth’ will create opportunities in areas such as housing retrofit, energy, transport and research but it’s just as important that other sectors are as sustainable as possible. 

Measures such as developing a Manchester standard for net zero construction through the city’s new Local Plan will also contribute. 

Include more people in economic opportunity  

Connecting new businesses and investors with partners who can help them ensure training and employment opportunities for local people. Initiatives include bespoke community economic development plans for areas where large-scale regeneration projects are taking place to maximise local benefits. Continuing to maximise the social value of employment, for example through encouraging all employers to pay the Real Living Wage and to recruit locally wherever possible.  

The strategy was launched at an event at Roku’s offices in Circle Square, showing an example of recent investment in the region and the city’s burgeoning tech sector.

Speaking at the launch event Joanne Roney, Chief Executive of Manchester City Council said  “ Manchester’s successful economic growth, its resilience, doesn’t happen by accident. It happens through a number of things. Firstly, having an ambition and a strategy that is honest about the challenges the city faces but about opportunities. For plans to be delivered, the second core element of what makes Manchester special is collaboration with our private sector partners. Those partnerships are deep and meaningful. Whatever the plan is, whatever the partnerships are, you have to have the confidence that it will be delivered.”

Becca Heron, Strategic Director of Growth and Development at Manchester City Council said  “ What is great about the strategy is that it builds on our work over the past few decades and has redoubled on what we need to do. “That clarity of vision is really important, and I do think there has been a consistency of growth across Manchester and Greater Manchester as well. There’s been strong leadership and ambition to deliver for our people. “As a council, we know we can’t do this on our own. Our other role is as a convener and an enabler. Manchester is known for the strength of its partnerships and that’s where it plays out. Driving growth in our frontier sectors is about creating the partnerships, the ecosystems and the conditions to help these sectors grow. “Part of this is about actively investing in and working in partnership to make sure that those benefits are spread more widely. Partly it starts in the early years and in schools but also making sure that the right skills and training are available at different points in life is fundamental.”

Bev Craig said, “ Manchester’s ability to deliver has never been in doubt. When we talk about the exciting things that happen in our city, when we talk about prosperity, we need to talk about the purpose of prosperity. When we celebrate our successes, we also have to be honest about our challenges. In that population of 600 thousand people, we still have some work to do to make sure that everyone can benefit from the success of our city and that everyone thrives. “What does the next 10 years look like? When I think about the level of growth in Manchester, one of the most exciting things is there’s at least another 10 – 15 years to grow at the scale we’re doing. With that, there should be excitement and pride. Manchester has not lost its energy, its buzz, its excitement. Hopefully, this strategy will outline where we’re going. “If we want Greater Manchester to do well. If we want the Northwest of England to do well. If we want the North of England to do well, and if we want the UK to do well, we need cities like Manchester to do well. If we don’t think about the roles cities play in economic growth and driving prosperity, we run the risk of making the same mistakes of the past.” 

The launch event for Manchester’s new Economic Strategy featured a keynote speech by Bev Craig and two panel sessions.

The first, chaired by Martyn Evans Creative Director of U&I was all about the role of business and the private sector in Manchester, and how the city enables these businesses to thrive. Joining the panel was Andrea Nelson, Director of SENSE SEND Services, Andrew McIntosh, Director of Place at Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Becca Heron, Strategic Director of Growth and Development at Manchester City Council, Gavin Taylor Managing Director of Far East Consortium and Rochard Jones Vice-President for Regional Innovation and Civic Engagement at The University of Manchester.

The panel discussed how growth can be more inclusive and how to drive investment into the places that need it most, as well as Greater Manchester’s devolution deal, commitment to building an attractive ecosystem for businesses and the importance of the region’s clear vision and strategy.

The second panel, chaired by Bev Craig, was all about the power of partnerships in supporting growth across the city centre. Joining the panel was Chris Oglesby Chief Executive of Bruntwood and Chair of the Business Sounding Board, Rob Jones, Director of KPMG and member of Our Manchester Business Forum and Steven Cochrane, Partnerships Director at the Oxford Road Corridor Partnership.

The panel discussed skills, innovation and how to maximise talent at every level as well as Manchester’s longstanding culture of collaboration.

As Rob Jones said , “ Currently there’s a lot of things that aren’t coherent in the world, but a lot of things make sense in this city at the moment.”

To read ‘Investing In Success: An Economic Strategy for Manchester’ click here.

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Road map published by Manchester City Council for ambitious Active Travel plans

A bold and ambitious strategy is being developed by Manchester City Council to greatly increase active travel across the city. It is the Council’s belief that everybody in Manchester should be able to walk, wheel or cycle as part of their everyday lives – for school, work, shopping and socialising, in safety, comfort and happiness. As a result the Council has been developing the Manchester Active Travel Strategy and Investment Plan (MATSIP) to achieve this goal. Because of this, a target has been set to make walking the natural choice for short journeys and that the mode share* of people cycling in the city will double by 2028.

Other key ambitions within this strategy include:

• – Making walking the natural choice for short journeys. 
• – Reducing the default speed limit in the city to 20mph, and reduce 40mph speed limits to 30mph by 2028 where justified and consistent with road safety. 
• – Deliver one school street per ward by 2028. 
• – Enable at least 70% of primary school and 40% of secondary school pupils to walk or cycle to school by 2028. 
• – Remove all access barriers to walking and cycling paths which prevent access to non-standard cycles by 2024. 
• – This is a key part of the Council’s desire to create an inclusive and accessible Active Travel network.

The draft MATSIP will set out the significant benefits that Active Travel will bring across a range of policy areas including public health, clean air and zero carbon. Four broad aims have been set that will allow the Council to measure the success of this plan.

They are:  

• – Improving access to the city centre, district centres, parks and other key destinations. 
• – Enabling safe access to schools and colleges. 
• – Improving citywide health and wellbeing. 
• – Reflecting the diversity of Manchester and addressing transport inequalities.

A solid base already exists on which the Council can grow this plan. In Manchester walking is the dominant mode of transport for journeys under 2km, with 59% of journeys being made this way (based on figures from 2021). Currently cycling has a 6% share for all journeys in the city, a figure which the Council aims to grow to 12% by 2028. As well as working with partners across Greater Manchester on how this plan can be developed, the Council also reached out to communities in Manchester to learn what their priorities were. One of the most cited barriers to people walking, wheeling or cycling was the speed and volume of traffic – with 64% of respondents mentioning this problem. Additionally 53% said crossing busy roads and junctions was a barrier, and 42% citing the poor physical condition of pavements. When exploring solutions to the above barriers, 70% of respondents suggested creating segregated spaces for cyclists, 53% suggested putting filters in place to create low-traffic streets, and 38% thought level surfaces and dropped kerbs would remove barriers. These proposals on the MATSIP will be heard by Councillors on the Environment and Climate Change Scrutiny Committee on February 9, before going before the Council’s Executive on February 15.

To view the full strategy follow this link – https://bit.ly/3RsldBV Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment and Transport said: “Active Travel is one of the most important policies in recent memory that Manchester City Council has proposed. “We know how important it will be in not only creating a greener and less polluted city – contributing to our goal of becoming zero carbon by 2038 or earlier – but in shaping our neighbourhoods to become more vibrant and safer, as well as improving health across generations. “School safety also plays an incredibly important part in the work we are doing. Providing safe and accessible spaces for our young residents is something the Council is eager to work on as in many areasschools lie at the heart of our communities.

“Most importantly, this work will be inclusive and we will work hard to make sure that every one of our residents is represented. Our city is for everyone to enjoy and it is crucial that no one is left behind for any reason. We must work tirelessly to identify barriers that get in the way of active travel ensure that Active Travel works for everyone. Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council said: “We want Manchester to be one of the best places in the country to live and work. That means attractive, green, and connected neighbourhoods with safe streets which prioritise residents.

“Running alongside Greater Manchester’s launch of the Bee Network we feel this policy puts detail on Manchester City Council’s long-running ambition to make sure our roads our safer and that air pollution can be tackled.” 

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Manchester City Centre Business Improvement District has been operating for a decade and started a new, five-year, term in April 2023.

A Business Improvement District is a specific geographical area where businesses agree to invest in extra services and initiatives that support city vibrancy and economic success.

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