Media and manufacturers a target for Pro Manchester

THE new chairman of Pro.Manchester has set the organisation the twin goals of broadening the sectors with which it engages and aligning itself more closely with the Manchester “family” of support organisations like Midas and Marketing Manchester.

Paul Johnson, a corporate partner at law firm Cobbetts, said that it would seek to involve itself more with corporates from sectors such as creative & digital, low carbon, healthcare, food & drink and specifically advanced manufacturing.

“The manufacturing sector is very important for us and I think members are keen to engage with it through Pro.Manchester,” he said.

The organisation has sought to broaden its remit in recent years, courting membership from organisations in areas such as private equity and wealth management – particularly as funding from public sources such as the NWDA have been cut. It now has 340 members – 80 of which are members of various boards and committees responsible for creating its programme.

Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com after hosting the post-AGM chairman’s lunch, Mr Johnson said: “The membership has expanded greatly. John (Ashcroft, chief executive) has done a great job for us and he’s got some great ideas.

“Pro Manchester has very much changed even during my time with them with them. When I first started, we used to have this discussion quite a lot about competing with London and the work that goes down there.

“But at the end of the day, let’s just face it… London is arguably THE global city and I think we’ve got a much more grown up relationship with London. We engage a lot with them, but we’re a city in our own right. We’re a very strong European city and we see ourselves alongside Milan, Munich and Amsterdam.”

Mr Johnson is a Mancunian who started work in the city when completing his training in 1989. At the time, he argued, the city appeared to be losing ground on regional competitors such as Birmingham and Leeds.

“I’m only 44, and in 20 years Manchester has transformed itself. What I want to see in 20 years’ time when I’m hanging up my boots is that we’ve made that step change again. Professional services is so fundamental to the success of the city that we need to be engaged with it… and we want to be.

“We are extremely fortunate here in Manchester to have the joined -up approach we have.”