Invest North: What West Yorkshire needs to boost growth
Investment is crucial for any region seeking to grow – but every region’s needs are different.
In our first report form the Invest North: West Yorkshire round table, regional leaders discussed the need to invest in skills and talent. In this report we look at their views on investment in infrastructure and business growth, and on the ease access to funding.
Tom Sumpster, head of private markets at savings and retirement giant Phoenix Group, stressed the importance of responsible investment, especially with the flexibility coming as restrictions on pension investments eased. His firm invested at a number of levels, from venture capital to major infrastructure projects.
“Forums like this are absolutely crucial to us to understand where the best investment opportunities are for communities. And when we think about communities, we think about employment. Where’s the money flowing from? How can we support local businesses, SMEs to significant global organizations – and then the infrastructure that sits around that – improving homes decarbonizing a city, thinking about the way that people move around that city.”
Cat Smith, senior network manager for Yorkshire and Humber with the British Business Bank, said that investment momentum was picking up again. “The amount of interest in the region is increasing. There was an increase in equity last year – we were one of only three regions in the country to see that growth in equity.”
Mike Briffett, president of Leeds Chamber of Commerce, said unlocking the region’s growth involved a number of major challenges, and required long-term solutions. “How do we create more, better housing around for more people? How do we make that housing sustainable in the in the long term? When do we get when we get to the point where we’ve got the right transport infrastructure to allow social mobility to find access to education and jobs?
“These investments are things we need to think about for the next hundred years, not the next two or three, because unless we do that, all the talent that is over our region is never going to find opportunity.”
Mark Roberts, chair of Leeds City Region LEP, said better travel infrastructure was crucial, particularly on trans Pennine routes. “We need to make sure that Government realises that current levels of investment are not acceptable, and we want to get Northern Powerhouse Rail, which for me includes the new line from Leeds to Manchester via Bradford.”
Urvashi Parashar, chief economist with the UK Infrastructure Bank, said transport infrastructure must be looked at holistically. “We know that 70% of commuters in West Yorkshire live and work in their home districts, and yet the region has some of the lowest investment levels. We have some capital to deploy with the private sector and local authorities to address that problem. But we can’t look at it in silos. Transport isn’t about a bus network here, a tram there. You have to look at how they connect people to places and businesses. It’s ultimately about connectivity.”
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said that as well as transport, investing in innovation was key to solving restrictions on growth, but those investments must be diverse. Part of the remit of the West Yorkshire Innovation plan, she said, was to “widen the remit of who is allowed to have the ideas and who is allowed to have the money to scale up those ideas.”
Women found venture capital much harder to gain than men, she pointed out, with female-led start-ups attracting 1.6p to men’s 12p in the pound. Enterprise West Yorkshire, with a £6m investment budget, was ensuring 50% of its money went to women entrepreneurs, 20% to people of colour and 3% to people with disabilities.
Natalie Boswell, regional development director at Lloyds Bank, that organisations could not only help fund female and ethnic minority-led businesses unlock funding, they could help with networking, helping create platforms where such businesses could get themselves ready for funding from VCs, Northern Powerhouse or banks.
She added that women-led businesses also attracted less funding to transition to net zero. “We’re really keen to understand why that is. Is it due to lack of access to finance? We don’t really know.”
Gary Woodhead, co-founder of fintech and property investment start-up Curveblock, said that disruptive innovation often worried both funders and regulatory bodies, and recommended setting up a sandbox to help innovators demonstrate their products, similar to the FCA’s fintech sandbox. “They take all the crazy pioneers who come and allow them to play. If all the boxes are ticked, if it does what it says on the tin, they’re effectively allowed to market.”
While most attendees spoke of investment in infrastructure, skills and innovation, some highlighted particular sectors they felt were lively or had potential.
Olga Watterich, the CBI’s deputy director for West Yorkshire, said, “Probably the thing I’m most excited about is the momentum behind creative in West Yorkshire. Leeds 2023, Bradford 2025 coming up, the Brit school opening a branch in Bradford – there does seem to be a momentum behind that.”
Colin Briggs, associate director with Bowman Riley, said, “As an architect, my passion in life is repurposing existing buildings. And that is one of the most investable opportunities in this region. There are so many historic buildings, underused buildings, and we’ve got a wealth of opportunity there.”
He also felt there was an additional, intangible area for investment – regional pride and identity. “I’m not from Yorkshire,” he said, “but I have a Yorkshire accent now. I love how passionate people are, how wedded they are to their local area, and the legacy that entails from it.”
The North is full of investment opportunities and world-class economic strengths. Accelerating progress and unleashing its full potential can rebalance the national economy and change the lives of the people who live and work here.
Invest North is being led by TheBusinessDesk.com, in partnership with Northern Powerhouse Partnership, Squire Patton Boggs, Phoenix Group, and Lloyds Bank. It is also being supported by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, Curveblock and Influential.
Through a series of round tables, research and interviews it will identify the investment opportunities and policy requirements that can make a significant difference to the economy of the North.
Visit investnorth.thebusinessdesk.com to find out more.
