City of London Mayor says Manchester is a place to do business

Mr Bowman centre right, with Mayor Andy Burnham, centre

Trading links were on the agenda during a visit by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, hosted by pro-manchester.

Charles Bowman had an action-packed schedule in the city yesterday, July 26, meeting a variety of figures from the Manchester business community.

He began his day meeting the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, alongside pro-manchester chief executive, John Ashcroft and pro-manchester chair, Alistair Cree.

In this private meeting, they discussed how both London and Manchester can boost international trade links, collaborate on FinTech initiatives and upskill a talented workforce for the future.

Following this, FinTech was the topic of discussion when the Lord Mayor took to the stage at The Hilton Hotel.

A discussion on Manchester’s growing FinTech community was hosted by the Lord Mayor, in a sold-out lunch organised by pro-manchester.

Here, the main discussions explored how FinTech is flourishing in the region, and Manchester’s reputation as a city of innovation.

The Internationalisation Strategy was later discussed at length in a closed round table following the lunch.

The strategy sets out a three-year framework, which will be worth more than £2.2bn to the region’s economy.

The final event on the Lord Mayor’s agenda was a private dinner with the region’s business leaders.

This dinner gave him the opportunity to discuss the City of London Corporation regional engagement strategy with key pro-manchester members to seek a local perspective on a wide range of topics, including the Northern Powerhouse, devolution, Brexit and the EU perspective on FPS regulation.

Of the visit, pro-manchester deputy chief executive, Sam Booth said: “The pro-manchester team was delighted to welcome the Lord Mayor of the City of London to our fabulous city to highlight just some of the excellent work going on in our thriving region.

“Manchester is a unique place to do business, and we are very proud to represent the business community here.

“The goal of the visit was to show off the collaborative nature of our business community, and with the wide range of companies we introduced, we’re certain this goal was achieved.”

Charles Bowman said: “Manchester’s history of entrepreneurialism and innovation has cemented its position as an international hub for finance.

“Home to a number of financial firms that have unique specialisms and contribute a significant amount to the local economy, Manchester is a vital city for the UK’s financial sector.

“I hope that we can build on our existing partnership and combine the strengths of our two cities to ensure the UK remains the leader in financial services.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close