{"id":2165194,"date":"2026-01-08T17:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/northwest\/?p=2165194"},"modified":"2026-01-09T15:07:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T15:07:27","slug":"burnham-reveals-green-projects-at-heart-of-%e2%80%98most-exciting-decade-since-victorian-era%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/northwest\/news\/2165194-burnham-reveals-green-projects-at-heart-of-%e2%80%98most-exciting-decade-since-victorian-era%e2%80%99","title":{"rendered":"Burnham reveals green projects at heart of \u2018most exciting decade since Victorian era\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has confirmed that Carrington is emerging as a major national green\u2011energy hub, as he set out a vision for \u201cre\u2011industrialising Greater Manchester\u201d at a live event hosted by law firm Fieldfisher and TheBusinessDesk.com with the Institute of Directors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Burnham revealed that Carrington, at the western-most end of Trafford, already has three flagship projects underway: <\/span>a liquid air energy storage plant to capture surplus offshore wind power, <\/span>large\u2011scale battery storage, and is <\/span>one of the first green hydrogen plants in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis decade is the most exciting since the Victorian period for Greater Manchester,\u201d he said, describing Carrington as the city region\u2019s emerging \u201cgreen cluster\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carrington sits alongside four other priority growth areas \u2013 digital and tech, creative and media, life sciences, and advanced materials and manufacturing at Atom Valley \u2013 which Burnham said together amount to a credible, funded plan to rebuild Greater Manchester\u2019s industrial base.<\/span><\/p>\n

Burnham also urged employers in the room to join other in co-operating on the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate, which he called \u201can equal alternative to the university route\u201d. Central to this is a 45\u2011day work placement model, backed by 352 employers across all ten boroughs of the city region including industry leaders like IBM, Murphy and Autotrader, as well as small and medium businesses, including First Steps nursery in Rochdale, Security firm Protec in Oldham, and aerospace manufacturer Silcoms in Bolton.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve hit our target of 1,045 forty\u2011five\u2011day placements for this September,\u201d he announced, adding that in some colleges \u201cover 50% of young people on placements end up working for the employer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Contrasting today\u2019s longer placements with his own \u201cold\u2011style\u201d work experience at a Thomas Cook travel agents in St Helens, he said: <\/span>\u201cIt told me I didn\u2019t want to work in a travel agent in St Helens \u2013 useful, but limited.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The 45\u2011day format, he argued, is different because he says it tackles imposter syndrome head\u2011on: <\/span>\u201cForty\u2011five days is enough for a young person to lose the imposter syndrome, feel they belong in that environment, and start feeding back things you need to hear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pressed on persistent speculation about his future, Burnham refused to rule out a return to Westminster, but set strict conditions: <\/span>\u201cI wouldn\u2019t go back if I didn\u2019t think I could fundamentally rewire the system. Westminster needs massive change \u2013 proportional representation, reform of the whip system, and replacing the Lords with a Senate of the nations and regions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He repeated his long\u2011held view that Whitehall and Westminster are \u201cinstitutionally biased against the North\u201d, and said he left Parliament specifically to challenge that \u201cfrom the outside\u201d through devolution.<\/span><\/p>\n

He went further in his criticisms of the current political culture and said the Mayoral election was the first campaign fought under a system other than ‘first past the post’ and he said that gave him a reason to persuade a LibDem to give him second preference because of public transport, or a Conservative over a tough approach to police numbers.<\/p>\n

“Having been schooled in Westminster and then all of a sudden, released from it, it was just massively better, because the conversation between politician and voter is because the voter wants practical solutions,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I personally think we need much more collaboration between the parties, much less point scoring, much more long term approach. And all of that comes through an abandonment, in my view, of the short term first past the post.<\/p>\n

\"\"Closing the event, Burnham paid an unusually personal tribute to Greater Manchester\u2019s business community and its role in building a different kind of politics and economy: <\/span>\u201cWhatever we want for Better Manchester cannot be achieved without you.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think our success is, we listen, we debate, we talk, but then, as best we can, face the same way, pull the same way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He called that place\u2011first, pro\u2011business culture \u201cthe spirit that people before us built\u201d \u2013 and warned it is \u201cprecious\u201d and must be actively maintained if Greater Manchester is to fulfil its ambitions in green energy, advanced industry and opportunity for young people.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reveals details on emerging Carrington green energy cluster \u2013 but AGAIN refuses to rule out Westminster return at our event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":264565,"featured_media":2165195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120782,136545,120780,50204],"coauthors":[116163],"class_list":["post-2165194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-local-government","category-sustainability","category-technology","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-manchester","tag-northwest","tag-top-story"],"yoast_head":"\nBurnham reveals green projects at heart of \u2018most exciting decade since Victorian era\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Reveals details on emerging Carrington green energy cluster \u2013 but AGAIN refuses to rule out Westminster return at our event\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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