Just returned from an early start and a most interesting Industrial strategy meeting in Manchester

Here are five things I learned:

1 Greater Manchester is one of three ‘trailblazers’ regions able to feed in at an early stage of consultation and help shape the wider UK context

2 Work is already underway identifying where Greater Manchester has an advantage over regional and global competitors.

3 Growth will be green. City Mayor Andy Burnham announced eye wateringly ambitious_climate_change_target_proposed_for_manchester  last week and this will underpin the way things will be done for the world’s first industrial city.

4 Local content and opportunity will be a consideration – especially important in a post-Brexit economy. Others in the region are alert to this: north-west_offshore-renewables

 5 Stakeholder engagement continues and can be accessed available online: https://www.gmconsult.org/strategy-team/jobs-and-growth

The opportunity is clearly there but consultation closes shortly. The pivotal date of 29 March 2019 looms – for a whole number of reasons!