Minister backs airport’s £5m promo campaign for North

Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry has visited Manchester Airport to kick off its £5m drive to boost the international profile of the North.

The UK’s third largest airport is searching for the people, businesses, attractions and other assets that make the North a great place to trade with, invest in and visit.

It plans to showcase these success stories to the 27.8 million passengers who pass through its terminals each year, travelling to locations ranging from Boston to Beijing, Houston to Hong Kong and Singapore to San Francisco.

Worth an estimated £5m, over the course of the next year the campaign will see the airport work with leaders in each of the Northern regions to identify the things that best represent their global strengths. Every month new images and artwork from different areas across the North will be added to new sites across the airport.

As well as being displayed across the Manchester Airport campus, the stories will be promoted via a tailor-made social media campaign, both in the UK and around the world.

The commitment was made during a visit to the airport Berry, who was joined by Manchester Airport chief Andrew Cowan, as they took the wraps off a collection of Northern Powerhouse images that celebrate the North’s strengths in a range of fields, from sport and natural beauty to its world class universities and exporting businesses.

Berry said: “We are proud to work hand-in-hand with Manchester Airport to open a new frontier for the Northern Powerhouse.

“The success of the Manchester toBeijing route, and the new direct flights to Seattle opening up later this year, reinforces our shared vision of having a super-connected global North bringing the Northern Powerhouse to the world and the world to the Northern Powerhouse.”

Cowan said: “Manchester Airport has a critical role to play in driving growth across the North by connecting it to the world’s most important markets.

“It is this connectivity that will enable businesses to export their products and services to economies in all corners of the globe, and that will bring tourists, investors and students to our Northern towns and cities.

“As well as providing direct access to more than 210 international destinations, we are always eager to promote the collective strengths of the North to those travelling through the airport, whether that be for business of leisure.

“That is why I am looking forward to working with our colleagues across the North to showcase the things that combine to make this a world class place to visit and do business with.”

The minister unveiled images showcasing some of the North’s leading universities and sites of natural beauty, such as the Lake District.

Others pointed to the £54.5bn of exports by Northern businesses each year and images linking the likes of Bradford to Beijing, Liverpool to Los Angeles, Manchester to Madrid and Teesside to Texas.

During the coming months, the Airport will work worth each Northern Powerhouse region to select a series of images relating to that part of the world to go on display.

The first will be revealed during a week of international-themed activity across the North in February.