Manchester has everything (except a beach)

COMMENT: Last week I had a proud (sad) dad moment when I dropped my eldest daughter off at Manchester University to start her degree. [caption id="attachment_883348" align="alignright" width="150"] Guy Grainger[/caption] Any parent is proud to have their child attend a world-renowned university, and having brought my kids up in London, I was very keen for her to live and learn in another great city. I am delighted that Manchester became her first choice. It made me think; Manchester really has secured its place as the UK’s most globally connected city outside of London. While you can link a lot of success to the high profile of its premiership football teams or the distinct musical heritage, Manchester attracts more than just leisure tourists – when it comes to international business, the city is first class. Global appeal When I moved from being UK to being EMEA chief executive, I thought my business trips to the UK regions were behind me. But in the past few years I’ve been a frequent visitor to Manchester. And not with London-HQd businesses but with international investors. Surprised? I certainly was with how often it was happening. Yes, they are interested in the heritage of the city, but it’s the combination of the large labour force, quality retail, great infrastructure and education facilities that really provides Manchester with its global appeal. Did you know Manchester Airport attracts more passengers than Edinburgh and Birmingham combined? And outside of London it has more flights than other UK cities to Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Frankfurt and New York. Most impressively, it was recently ranked in the world’s top 10 cities for foreign direct investment. Local leadership This is no accident. And it should be a lesson to other cities that want to progress. Of course it helps that the wider region has a joined-up overarching body in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, a directly elected mayor with a broad range of devolved powers, and a city council with local accountability. However, in my opinion, Manchester has become the UK’s second city because of its long-term vision and disciplined leadership. For the past 25 years Manchester has maintained a clear strategy to attract investment. While other local authorities were selling their stakes in regional airports, Manchester increased its ownership so it could directly influence international accessibility. The city leadership has made difficult decisions and been ruthless about staying on strategy. This type of governance and leadership is very similar to what I see in German city regions – something I’ve spoken about before. It not only allows the city to attract interest from around the world, it also looks after its local economy. Turning back to education, Manchester has a graduate retention rate of at least 50% and was the highest ranked UK city (No.35) on the Global Liveability Index 2018. As a dad, I do worry my daughter may not come back to London when she graduates, but the one thing that Manchester cannot guarantee is good weather, so there’s still hope. Plenty of potential… but could do better I do think Manchester needs to continue improving in order to compete with the “New World Cities” such as Boston, Berlin or Austin. However, it does have the potential to be top class and I hope over the next three years my daughter will let me visit her regularly so I can keep an eye on the city’s continued improvement. I always remember the quote from Ian Brown of Stone Roses: “Manchester has everything except a beach”. I am definitely a convert but I’m not ready to pack my sunglasses yet!