Friday High Five – the news this week
It was like Groundhog Day this week as a Chancellor made big bold promises about investing heavily in infrastructure to shift the dial on the poor productivity that has been a drag anchor on the UK economy.
We reported the cautious and qualified welcome for the suite of initiatives that Rachel Reeves announced in a speech in Oxford this week.
You could imagine her special advisers (probably Toby, Olly and Jessica) scrambling around for projects that she could load into her otherwise very technocratic speech. Remarkably, one of them was a new stadium for Manchester United.
It was an attempt to channel some of the Trump style boosterism that has been a net inflator of American confidence and exceptionalism since his election. Her version of it may lack the rhetorical flourishes, but it still stood to remind us of the enormous north south divide.
George Osborne made similar claims in 2014. The difference now is the Mayoral system that he unleashed now has the power and the authority to make these decisions without having to go on bended knee to a sceptical Treasury.
Geeks amongst us – and I count Chris Fletcher of Greater Manchester Chamber as a kindred spirit – cheered the ripping up of the Treasury Green Book methodology that has dictated that London gets the Elizabeth Line and we get empty promises.
But there is a stark reality running through our news this week. Iconic burger joining Almost Famous has closed its doors, family owned Lakeland is looking for a buyer, and venture capital investment has dropped.
None of that was of any concern to our lunch speaker on Thursday, Dave Stevinson of QBS Technology completed a £40m deal to acquire distributor Prianto this week on his quest to build a business with annual recurring revenue of $1billion.
Two steps forward, two steps back. And many sideways moves.
Finally, the resignation of Sacha Lord as Night Time Economy Adviser to the Mayor is a huge victory for journalism. Well done to The Mill for sticking to their guns.
