Powering Up the North
Minister for Levelling up Paul Scully was the guest speaker invited to the Northern Asian Power Policy Think Tank roundtable meeting at the House of Lords.
Chaired by Lord Rami Ranger CBE, FRSA, the think tank brought together key stakeholders to discuss Levelling Up and what it means to the North.
“Levelling Up is not a ‘strapline’ but is about access to finance, infrastructure, talent, peer networking and mentoring’ said Scully.
“I see my role as getting people together and going beyond business support with community buy in.”
Founded by the Northern Asian Power group, the Northern Asian Power Policy Think Tank is an independent policy and advisory Northern think tank based in the north with a vision to creating pathways towards prosperity, the transformation of society and creating a better environment for businesses, economic growth, and international trade. The group brings together leading experts in Government and academia from across the globe to tap into the highest quality research, policy recommendations and analysis of public policy issues.
During the recent roundtable thank tank members including Naveen Ahmed, Karina Jadhav and Ammar Mirza CBE all shared their thoughts with the Scully.
Sharon Jandu, director of the think tank, said: “Access to social capital, networks, finance, being taken seriously and fitting in were cited as major barriers [to Levelling Up].
“However, resilience and using adversity as a means to overcome challenges is a major strength of the Asian Business community”, she added.
“The Asian business community is well aware of what the benefits of Levelling Up could be, having been exposed to inequalities and being doubly disadvantaged’, said Lord Ranger, chairman and founder of Sun Mark which has been awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise in International Trade for 5 consecutive years (2009-2013) – a British business record.
Karen French from Squire Patton Boggs which is a patron of the Northern Asian Power Policy Think Tank added: “The meeting was inspiring. The Asian business community is resilient and need to have a voice and seat around the table to influence policy”
