NWBLT launches a ‘Business Case for Place’
The North West Business Leadership Team working with the UK2070 Commission and NWBLT Members including AECOM, Arup and Bruntwood, has launched a new report aimed at stimulating discussion about the positive role of business in the debate about place and place-based economic regeneration.
Full report can be downloaded here.
Building on a number of examples of pro-active business leadership across the North West, the work has identified that efforts to re-balance local economies and deliver sustainable growth are significantly boosted by business involvement. Case studies from NWBLT members Assura, BAE Systems, Bruntwood and Northern Trains highlight the positive change that can be delivered leaders working together across sectors.
Adrian Curry, Managing Director of Cheshire-based Encirc and NWBLT Innovation and Growth lead said: –
‘Businesses need places just as places need business. Whilst it is important to recognise that business is only one of the groups that make up local communities, it is often a group that is overlooked in discussions around place.
Through our collective experience, we want to make a case for greater involvement in place for and by business; to demonstrate that, by helping to build and support positive relationships, both business and place can benefit.’
Stephen Gleave, Cities Director at Aecom helped to lead the work:
‘This approach also has benefits for businesses directly including building better, more positive relationships with local authorities and communities for ‘doing business’. We recognise the many financial and capacity constraints that public sector agencies currently face when trying to develop and deliver place-based projects and initiatives and we are keen to continue to explore what more business can do to make a positive impact to the places in which they are located.’
Andy Hulme, Head of Innovation and Growth at NWBLT said: –
‘Our work was prompted by a recognition that for some time public sector partners have been faced with reduced resource and institutional capacity. This impacts on their ability to deliver the day-to-day help and support that business needs — and also on their ability to deal with the additional challenge of trying to access competitive funding competitions designed to help boost place and ‘level up’, or major projects the like of which might only rarely pass through an economic development or planning team’s desk. We wanted to consider how the private sector can help through genuine partnerships and collaboration in place.’