The EG Interview: Bernstein on partnership, regeneration and levelling up

Some may argue Sir Howard Bernstein never really went away. Since retiring as chief executive of Manchester City Council in April 2017, he has taken up roles at Manchester City Football Club, Deloitte and Vita Group. But with such historic rivalry between Manchester and its neighbour Liverpool, his parachuting in by Greg Clark to rescue the troubled city raised some eyebrows. Evelina Grecenko sits down with the “ultimate public servant” to find out why collaboration trumps competition every time. “You’ve got to be collaborative. You’ve got to respect political mandates. And you’ve got to take people with you,” says Sir Howard Bernstein, fresh from his appointment to help fix Liverpool City Council’s “continued problems” by the then levelling up secretary Greg Clark. Bernstein, a man synonymous with rebuilding Manchester following the IRA bombing in 1996, is dedicated to development partnerships and creating place. He spent 45 years at Manchester City Council, the last 19 as chief executive presiding over the economic renaissance of the city. He says everything he did at Manchester was based around building partnerships and trying to harness the very best of civic and place leadership alongside the energy and resources of the private sector. And he did it well. During his tenure at Manchester, billions of pounds of investment flowed into the city. The top drawer of Bernstein’s filing cabinet at Manchester was rumoured to be stuffed full with ready-to-go opportunities to be presented any time central government announced a new fund. “Manchester is a pretty good example of how those energies can be optimised to deliver the best outcomes,” says Bernstein. “I now see different parts of the country with real evidence of new place leadership capability emerging, and that’s going to be the secret of the long-term success of those places.” Must do better A not-too-distant different part of the country is Liverpool – just 35 miles away in distance, but light years apart in terms of its evolution as a modern, economically booming city. Liverpool City Council has effectively been taken over by central government following a number of critical reports into its operation. The council, says central government, is failing and in need of urgent reform. Poor performance in procurement, finance and auditing is limiting the “council’s ability to operate at a crucial time”, claims the most recent report. Not everyone at Liverpool agrees, of course. Liverpool city mayor Joanne Anderson says government intervention will not solve the issues facing the council. She says they are common local authority issues that are not unique to the city. “The UK is facing stark skills shortages and it is widely known that local councils are struggling to improve capacity in key areas,” she tweeted following the intervention. But Clark thinks a strategic advisory panel, led by metro mayor Steve Rotheram, former Leeds city council leader Judith Blake and Bernstein, can turn the fortunes of the council – and the city region as a whole – around. “There are still serious shortcomings that need to be sorted out, especially in financial management,” said Clark when the panel was announced in August. “But I want this to be a turning point at which the city of Liverpool can see a bright future that lives up to the power this great city embodies.” You’ve got to be collaborative. You’ve got to respect political mandates. And you’ve got to take people with you A major rethink Bernstein won’t be drawn on the specifics of exactly what he will be doing as part of that advisory board, but expect him to focus steadfastly on building partnerships, collaborating, getting the private sector on board and levelling the city up. “The whole gamut of fiscal and growth policies needs to be rethought,” Bernstein tells EG, “not just in the context of the current crisis, but starting to address the long-term economic health of different places.” He adds: “It’s about working with those places like Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, as well as others that have got the capacity to deepen their access to powers and resources, recognising that they know best what their priorities are and can deliver.” Bernstein says that while the Levelling Up white paper was “a welcome development”, just how the wider government gets behind the key aspects of that policy to ensure that towns and cities can drive the growth is yet to be seen. “You’ve got to have the opportunities to drive growth, you’ve got to work with the private sector and focus on your key assets, your key distinctive sectors,” says Bernstein. “You’ve not just got to drive the opportunity to encourage businesses to locate [in your city], but you’ve also got to have the skilled workforce to underpin the long-term sustainability of those businesses. You’ve got to have a comprehensive offer.” And if there is one man that can bring that comprehensive offer to Liverpool, it’s Bernstein. As chief executive of Manchester City Council he was known for guiding development with an iron fist, for being tough and uncompromising but being able to instil a sense of purpose beyond just pound notes. Dubbed “a property developer disguised as a town clerk”, Bernstein is credited with creating unique opportunities for the property sector in Manchester, enabling the redevelopment of Piccadilly Gardens, Exchange Square, New Cathedral Street and the Sportcity district, among many others. Bernstein says he is particularly proud of the partnership approach between local government, universities and teaching hospitals that helped to create a science and innovation base in Manchester. “I think that academic science-related push to support innovation was very important and will become even more important in the future,” he says. “If we’ve got assets and innovation which have the capability to transform manufacturing processes as well as life science and other services, then we need to build on that discovery element. And, frankly, we need to do more to ensure that the impacts of scientific discovery are actually captured locally.” I think when you stop learning, you start walking backwards Maximum potential Turning back to Liverpool, Bernstein says its success is as important to the north of England as a successful Manchester or any other place in the region is. “If we are going to transform economic performance as a country, if we are going to narrow economic disparities between the north of England and London and the South East, then Manchester needs to perform to its maximum potential, and so does Liverpool, so does Sheffield, so does Leeds, and so does Newcastle and our other great towns and cities in the north of England,” says Bernstein. That will require him to instil his culture of collaboration across the nation’s local authorities, or, to begin with, in Liverpool. Across the development community there is confidence in Bernstein. David Ashley, director at TFT, says: “Sir Howard Bernstein’s ambition and experience will be invaluable to help Liverpool take its next step. Judith Blake is also an encouraging presence, having guided Leeds to become a desirable location for big companies – such as Channel 4, which relocated from London in 2021 – and start-ups alike.” Paying tribute to him as he stepped down from Manchester City Council in 2017, Bruntwood chief executive Chris Oglesby said Bernstein had “incredible vision and unswerving commitment”. He described him as a man who was “unreasonably optimistic” but always got things done. Unreasonable optimism might be just what Liverpool needs if the council is to leave its past troubles behind. For Bernstein, it is even simpler than that. He is a strong believer in development – not just of our cities and our economic abilities, but of ourselves. For him, it is not just about optimism, it is about pushing forward, about trying new things, about building new partnerships. “I think when you stop learning, you start walking backwards,” he says. To send feedback, e-mail evelina.grecenko@eg.co.uk or tweet @Gre_Eve or @EGPropertyNews Photo © David Gennard