Is there really such a thing as the Northern Powerhouse in Yorkshire?

It’s been little over 18 months since George Osborne declared the need for a Northern Powerhouse.

Yet, how close has Yorkshire really come to reaching independent economic prosperity during this time?

Whilst groundwork may have been laid, many would argue that the Northern Powerhouse simply doesn’t exist in Yorkshire. Certainly the region’s economic woes of late would defy the reality of such a concept.

The idea of bridging the economic gap between the northern and southern areas of the UK still remains just that… an idea.

The Yorkshire Reality

The biggest force supposedly driving the concept was the £900m devolution deal for the Sheffield City Region, a scheme designed to grant greater autonomy to the area over a 30 year period.

Whilst the news was largely well received by pro-devolutionists, the feeling of positivity in the region quickly evaporated when the UK steel crisis hit the area hard, only weeks later.

Certainly when Tata Steel announced that 900 jobs were at risk at its Scunthorpe plant, many believed that the government’s response to job losses was insufficient.

Along with Sheffield Forgemasters’ announcement to cut 100 jobs, it would be fair to say regional mood was more concerned at the future of its proud steel heritage, rather than Whitehall ideas of a promised ‘powerhouse’.

Arguably the most puzzling announcement thus far has been the government’s decision to close St Paul’s Place office in Sheffield, putting 250 jobs at risk. Whilst the BIS Permanent Secretary, Martin Donnelly, hasn’t confirmed the exact number of job losses, the closure of the Sheffield office is part of a plan to reduce costs and create a combined central HQ and policy centre in London. Many people, including myself, are still trying to comprehend how closing a government office in the north and relocating it in the country’s capital is helping create a Northern Powerhouse?

The wider region hasn’t managed to elude signifcant job cuts either. Asdarecently confirmed that hundreds of jobs are expected to be axed, many of which will be at its Leeds head office. Bradford-headquartered Morrisons is also trying to downsize, closing seven stores around the country. Among them is the only Morrisons store in the centre of Bradford, which will result in more than 80 redundancies. What do you think, would your average Yorkshireman argue that the region is haemorrhaging more jobs than its creating?

Northern Powerhouse progression

Whilst the idea of a stronger economy in the North of England is still far from becoming a reality, it would be wrong to assert that developments in Yorkshire have not been made.

For example, UK Trade & Investment, the Government’s international business development department, is definitely doing its part for our region’s economy with the launch of Financial Centres of Excellence initiative for Yorkshire’s financial services sector. The initiative’s main aim is to urge potential investors to establish offices in Yorkshire rather than the City of London.

January also saw the launch of the North Shoring initiativeby Creative Sheffield, the economic development arm of Sheffield City Council. North Shoring’s primary focus is to attract legal services firms from London and the South East to relocate in Sheffield.

More recently, Business North, a new group comprising senior industry leaders from across northern England, held its inaugural meeting to discuss creating economic growth across northern England. As well as generating ideas, challenges and support for the the Northern Powerhouse agenda. The group also looked at the newly created Transport for the North proposals.

Finally, one of the most significant development of 2016 so far has been the arrival of the world’s largest offshore wind farm to the region. The wind farm will create around 2,000 jobs during the construction phase, with up to 300 additional jobs supported throughout its 20-25 year operational phase.

But after nearly two years, has enough been done to build towards a Northern Powerhouse in the region? If you ask me, there is still a lot more work to be done before Yorkshire is to be considered a ‘powerhouse’.

How to make a Northern Powerhouse a reality

Since the concept of the Northern Powerhouse was born, it has certainly grown and become more established in Yorkshire, but not enough progress has been made.

The region’s major cities have seen economic and organic growth in several key sectors, as well as the safeguarding and creation of new jobs. New and established businesses continue to expand and the region has also seen substantial progress in fairly new industries such as technology and digital. But at the same time, many people across the region feel neglected by the government, their councils and can’t quite see a Northern Powerhouse becoming a reality down the road.

In my opinion, the majority of the blame must fall onto the government. Firstly, many of the new schemes launched, such as North Shoring, Business North and the Financial Centres of Excellence, are still in their infancy state. The full impact of these initiatives will not be realised for quite some time, and action needs to be taken now.

In addition, it is vital that the government doesn’t put jobs at risk by closing offices or relocate them to southern regions. The people/workforce behind building a stronger economy in the north needs to have full confidence in their government, and at this time I don’t believe many do.

Yorkshire shows that in order for the North of England to become a true economic competitor to London and the South East, no one industry, sector or location can be neglected. SMEs, industry giants, business leaders and the government all need to collaborate, co-exist and communicate before the bridge between the North and South is finally crossed.

What do you think? Has the Northern Powerhouse focused too much on connectivity? How can more jobs be saved? Is the government too focused on other areas in the north?