Recently our CEO Andy Kendall-Jones called upon the region’s entrepreneurs and business leaders to join him in galvanising the Northern Powerhouse into more effective action.
He said: “We need a Northern Business forum where like-minded owners and entrepreneurs can come together to discuss those issues that are unique to the city of Leeds and the surrounding area.”
The Northern Powerhouse is the name attached to the government’s bid to create a rival economy to London and the South East in the north of England. It involves devolving new powers from Whitehall, improving transport links and creating new regional mayors to act as figureheads for their regions. But Andy feels it needs to go further, faster.
He’s absolutely behind the Northern Powerhouse, but equally he’s frustrated at the lack of hard information that is available. If lines of communication were improved then there would be quicker dissemination of ideas, leading to the businesses on the ground devising creative solutions that work for local and regional economies. Andy wants genuine momentum behind the Northern Powerhouse to be developed in Leeds.
We have businesses in the group in Yorkshire, Manchester, Cheshire and Lancashire, so Andy is well placed to lead the proposed forum, instigating greater action to get things really moving.
“Action is what’s necessary and we all need to work together to get things really moving,” he told us. “I’m urging any interested business leader in the region to get in touch with me.”
