‘Cut the waffle and get on with it’ – East Midlands business owners react to Levelling Up White Paper

The Government’s plan to “level up” the East Midlands has met with a mixed response from business owners across the region.

On Wednesday, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove unveiled the government’s Levelling Up White Paper.

Gove had set out a complete “system change” in order to “level up the UK” through twelve national missions which the government says it wants to achieve by 2030.

The government says this is the first time economic disparities have been at the heart of any government’s agenda.

The White Paper sets out a devolution of power from Whitehall to local leaders across England after being inspired by mayors such as Andy Street in the West Midlands, Ben Houchen in Tees Valley and Andy Burnham in Manchester.

Nine areas will be invited to agree to new county deals to extend devolution and become Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCA). Those areas are; Cornwall, Derbyshire & Derby, Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, Durham, Hull & East Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire & Nottingham, and Suffolk.

There will also be negotiations for “trailblazer” devolution deals with the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, acting as blueprints for other MCAs. This means each region will have a London-style devolution deal if it wants one by 2030.

However, not all business owners in the East Midlands believe the plan has merit.

Becky Valentine

Becky Valentine, co-owner of Nottingham property firm Spenbeck told TheBusinessDesk.com: “While devolved powers via a Mayor sounds good in theory, the opportunity cost of establishing and maintain a Mayoral office will likely be significant and we need every penny spent on the ground, not on creating more bureaucracy, if “levelling up” is to have any genuine impact on Nottingham’s economy.”

Julio Taylor, the CEO of Nottingham digital agency Hallam said that any government strategy that focuses on improving and growing the East Midlands – whether it’s the levelling Up agenda or otherwise – is welcome.

He added: “Nottingham has always had huge amounts of unrealised potential: with a large, young and talented population and strategic location in the heart of the country, I would always welcome anything that contributes toward it. I would also welcome a regional mayor. Looking at the work and success of regional majors such as Andy Burnham in Manchester, we’d certainly benefit from the leadership and vision of someone like that at the helm.

“However, it’s also important to remember that we’ve faced decades of under-investment and much of that under the same government that now wants to reverse the trend. Whether they deliver what they now promise or not is a different story.”

Bhavesh Amlani, national head of real estate at Roythornes Solicitors is more optimistic. He said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for those chosen regions to deliver the much needed regeneration which will help boost local communities. Although early doors, it is important that this initiative is embraced by local leaders so they can influence and assist in kick starting this agenda. We here at Roythornes are already involved in a number of projects in the Midlands and we welcome this significant investment into levelling up and regenerating towns and cities.”

Matt Wheatcroft

Matt Wheatcroft, managing director at Derbyshire creative agency Purpose Media, just doesn’t like the term “levelling up”.

He told us: “It’s the weakest marketing ploy I have seen from any government in years as it actually means nothing at all and just allows everyone to interpret what levelling up means to them… which is what the government might want after all. However, because the term is so loose, what levelling up means to an individual or company could land the government in hot water by not being able to manage people’s expectations. Dreams of levelling up might not match the cold reality.

“Surely this is a PR and marketing disaster; people want to know the truth and what it means to them. How will it actually help from a personal, job/employment point of view or from a business point of view commercially or industry specific?

“In my opinion they are an easy target for people who are or become disgruntled because the term is very throw away.

“Just be clear… cut the waffle and get on with it.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for property company Clowes Developments said: “The UK government has made a

Rob Day

considerable investment in Thameslink and Crossrail in London, but cancelled the HS2 extensions to the North. The amounts reportedly involved in ‘levelling up’ will certainly help, but the current government will continue to prioritise the South East as that is where the majority of the Conservative party votes come from. They have only woken up to the rest of the Midlands and the North since Brexit robbed Labour of many of their traditional seats.

“It is good to see a change of tack after decades of starving the North of investment in jobs and infrastructure, but the amounts need to be considerably more in order to make a material difference in creating equilibrium across the UK.”

Rob Day, the boss of Blueprint Interiors said he was at the East Midlands Chamber presidents roundtable discussion on this subject on Wednesday evening. He added: “The consensus was that political unity in the East Midlands was an absolute prerequisite to the region being able to gain its fair share of central government investment. Whilst all three counties in the region are signed up to the new county deal it will be vital for all of them to agree and focus on a united investment plan. Further concern is the proper representation of the private sector to deliver this.”

Paul Morris, development director at St James Securities, developers of the £200m Becketwell regeneration scheme in Derby, remains unimpressed, calling the Government’s plans “half-hearted” – at best.

He said: “After a two year wait, it’s interesting to finally see what levelling up will actually mean in practice under this Government – and I have to say that from a development and regeneration perspective I am particularly underwhelmed by it.

“To say the White Paper is half-hearted is an understatement. Sadly, no new money has been announced and £1.5 billion available to regenerate the 20 towns and cities selected won’t even scratch the surface.

“The funding will make a difference to the lucky 20 towns and cities who are successful in bidding for funding.

Paul Morris

“However, to really close the north-south divide would cost hundreds of billions of pounds. The Centre for Cities has likened the amount of investment needed to regenerate all the cities in need to the £1.7 trillion needed to rehabilitate the reunified Germany in 1989.

“Clearly, the appointment of regional mayors is welcome. More powers given to local areas will give cities and regions the autonomy to target the issues that matter to them and will help communities restore pride in the places they live and work.

“Devolution would be welcomed in the East Midlands, which is starting to be being left behind by other regions that have devolved powers.

“Derby is badly in need of regeneration, and I sincerely hope it is lucky enough to see a piece of the action.”

Darren Messias is managing director of KH Hair Group. The company owns 21 salons based across the East Midlands.

He told us: “As a business owner I would love nothing more than to pay our employees more, but with the imminent increase in minimum wage, increase in NI, rise in energy prices etc it is extremely difficult to do so.

“Personally, I feel improvements to local public transport and more access to 5G is not going to make any difference to our businesses, but I applaud and support the ideal of seeing pay, employment and productivity grow and the levelling up of less fortunate areas to improve the standards of life for all.

“I would prefer to see the Government tackle the unfairness on VAT for labour intensive businesses such as hairdressing and the VAT threshold ‘stepped” rather than it coming all in at once, which is preventing growth for some businesses.

“I would also like to start to see some parity in tax implications for small business owners like us and the self-employed models.”

Finally, it’s the lack of detail that concerns Mark Richardson, partner at BB&J Commercial.

He said: “I think the term ‘levelling up’ sounds like a media friendly soundbite. I don’t want to be cynical on this and the proof will be in the delivery, so we will need to wait a number of years to see if it means anything. There has been scant detail which gives cause for concern, and I suspect a limited budget with which to deliver any meaningful change. I’d like to see infrastructure investment to unlock areas and sites of employment potential, which is one of the main areas of growth in the East Midlands.

” I can’t see a regional mayoral role working here. Each of our cities have their own goals in terms of investment and regeneration and it would I think bring accusations of favouritism and bias between the competing urban centres rather than help the region move forward as a whole.”