Greater Manchester business leaders call for levelling-up through innovation

Business leaders in Greater Manchester have called on the government to partner more closely with city-regions on driving innovation ahead of the publication of the Levelling-Up White Paper early next year.

With the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee recently endorsing the Innovation Greater Manchester blueprint for driving innovation in the city-region, government is now being recommended to devolve greater powers to other conurbations nationwide to allocate R&D funding in the upcoming White Paper. The document will set out the strategy for how government will improve living standards, stimulate business growth and widen access to opportunities in UK regions beyond London and the South East.

Innovation Greater Manchester is the city-region’s blueprint for working with Government to direct innovation and R&D spending to the most effective projects. The steering group behind the strategy, along with the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (GM LEP) is now calling for its success to be used as an example of how supporting local innovation can help drive the levelling-up mission.

Chris Oglesby, Chair of the Innovation Greater Manchester steering group, said: 

“Innovation Greater Manchester is a serious, positive offer to work in partnership with Government to level up communities, attract investment and transition to net zero.

“We share the Government’s aim of increasing science funding more broadly across the UK, but we need to ensure this investment lands in the right places. The most efficient and effective way to do this is a collaborative approach, with Government partnering with local businesses, investors, R&D organisations and public sector bodies.

“We were happy to host the Science and Technology Committee in Manchester and welcome its findings – particularly its recommendation that Government draws on local expertise to drive innovation ecosystems in places like Greater Manchester.

“In Innovation Greater Manchester we have the most-developed blueprint in the country for levelling up through innovation and our approach can serve as a model for the rest of the UK.”

Lou Cordwell, Chair of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (GM LEP), said: 

“Innovation policy and R&D spending can play a key role in driving regional economic growth.

“Through Innovation Greater Manchester we can work with Government to target funding at businesses which can pioneer the technologies of tomorrow, in turn creating jobs and attracting wider investment. The blueprint is led by business and modelled on approaches that have worked elsewhere in the world.

“Innovation is at the heart of our Economic Vision for Greater Manchester. By linking industry and academia with local and national governments, we can ensure R&D spending helps the Government deliver the levelling up outcomes it wants to see.”