The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is calling on Government to back plans for a new Northern Arc to rebalance infrastructure investment and turbocharge the national economy.
On Tuesday, he will meet with Treasury ministers to set out the Northern Arc vision, which is based on new analysis carried out by economists at Metro Dynamics.
Greater Manchester has seen the fastest growth in the UK, with average annual growth of 3.1 per cent since 2015, and the highest productivity growth of anywhere in the country.
This growth has come despite historic underinvestment in transport infrastructure in the North of England, which is losing £16 billion a year in productivity due to poor transport links.
Greater Manchester’s economic success to date has been driven by its pioneering devolution deal, and a unique place-first partnership approach that brings together the public, private, community and voluntary sectors, and harnesses the strengths of the city-region’s universities and dynamic innovation ecosystem.
But the city-region’s continued growth cannot be guaranteed as poor transport links are acting as a brake on economic development across the North.
The productivity gap between London and the North West alone stands at 27 per cent and could widen without the right infrastructure to connect growth centres.
New analysis suggests that if the untapped potential of the North West can be unleashed through new infrastructure investment, the region could help turbocharge economic output to the tune of £90 billion by 2040 – complementing the up to £78 billion generated by the Oxford-Cambridge Arc by 2035.
The Northern Arc is a series of economic areas stretching from the North West to the Pennines and connecting into West and South Yorkshire, underpinned by transport links that would include a new railway from Liverpool to Manchester.
The North West section alone, encompassing the Liverpool City Region, Cheshire and Warrington, and Greater Manchester, covers an area home to 5.4 million people, two Investment Zones, and an annual economic output of £150 billion.
It also offers an unparalleled opportunity to compete on the global stage, with international gateways through the Port of Liverpool and Manchester Airport, and a world-leading innovation and industrial ecosystem, from life sciences to energy and advanced materials.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said:
“The Northern Arc is the most exciting growth opportunity on offer – and one that can give a massive boost to the national economy.
“Greater Manchester has been the UK’s economic success story over the past decade, as part of a resurgent North pioneering English devolution. But the outdated infrastructure linking our great cities risks limiting our potential and widening the productivity gap with London and the South East.
“The Government has given its backing to the Oxford-Cambridge Arc to boost economic output in the South. We can say with confidence that the Northern Arc is our answer to reaping the rewards of growth here – and offers an even bigger prize for UK plc.”
