John Ashcroft to deliver Manchester ‘Budget’

JOHN Ashcroft, chief executive of Manchester’s professional services group Pro Manchester, is to deliver the city’s first “independent Budget”.

The statement, issued a week ahead of the real Budget, promises to provide a “fiscal outlook with the priorities and perspectives for Manchester”.

It has been commissioned by the think tank New Economy, on behalf of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Local Enterprise Partnership.

Mr Ashcroft, who writes a blog called The Saturday Economist, said: “This Budget is a great platform allowing Manchester the opportunity to demonstrate our own macro-economic analysis and demonstrate how the wider fiscal outlook impacts on our own region, its businesses and people.”

He plans to cover key areas such as the austerity, investment, and inflation. The statement will be delivered at Manchester Town Hall on March 14, at 10am.