Can Gray help the UK get serious on growth?

COMMENT Here is my big question: what is Sue Gray actually going to do?  I sure wasn’t the only one to cheer when I heard Ms Gray had been appointed to be “envoy to the nations and regions of the UK”. I guess she could have done without that torrid summer (says she, flippantly), but there you go. Onwards and upwards. Our gain, I reckon.  Darned straight we need a high-profile envoy. Bring it on! Regional voices I speak having just returned from the chalk face. Fresh (sic) from Expo Real in Munich, where 40,000 men in blue suits with brown shoes have tried to wrestle that wall of European investment – the one that we all know is out there, even if we can’t quite grasp it – to the ground.  In an attempt to attract some of that wall of investment, the valiant UK Cities and Partners stand staged a great programme of events.  On the first day, I found myself chairing a most illuminating panel of city and regional leaders: Joe Manning of MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency; Gavin Quinn championing the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, where he is head of commercial development; Dagmar Steffens waving a flag for the West of England Combined Authority, as head of innovation and inward investment; and Frances Moffett-Kouadio, strategic investment director for the Thames Estuary Growth Board.  We were admirably supported by James Needham of Shoosmiths and James Sherwood of Luton Rising, giving us the investors perspective. It was a feisty showing and it demonstrated huge commonality of purpose. And the upshot? The distillation of all this glorious expertise? It could be summarised in three words: let’s get serious.   Forward planning Simple asks, really. First, can we have an industrial strategy please?  We need certainty, certainty, certainty. It’s hardly rocket science.  We need to plan for (at least) the next five years and look toward an impact for the next 50 years, promoting all of our regional capabilities. The state does not crowd out business investment: public investment crowds it in. We are up to our eyes in developing the growth plans for each of our places, but we do need to feed these into something coherent. We need them stitched together. We need an agile document to lead the charge.   And we need to ensure that we are not all parroting the same things. We need a narrative for each of our regions that is serious, that is real, that showcases the strengths of each of our places to the market.  Can we have proper strategic planning please? And could we have a national airports strategy please? Water? Electricity? Broadband? Could we just join up? Could we get, well, serious? Whist we’re at it, can we bin off competitive bidding for penny packets of money? Pretty please?  Ask the experts And, by the way, we’re happy to supply any number of real experts who could write any or all of this strategy stuff if asked. And can we proffer our awesome convening power, both within regions and internationally, to perform a prominent role in trade missions and acting as champions? Could we possibly do this without always having to fight with you to help? Can we communicate a seriousness of purpose? In fact, we would all be sick with relief if the government would just consult people who know what they are doing.  As we all know, Rachel Reeves is holding an investment summit on Monday. But just who is going to that? Apparently, the mayors have all been invited. That’s good. Apparently, they are not all going, which is bad. Our senior guys may have been out in Munich talking to the Big Money this week, but not many of them seem to have been included. Most of the experts in how to build local economies have been left pressing their noses to the glass. The irony of this is not lost.    Back to Sue Gray. Well, there’s work to be done. Let’s hope she goes for broke.  In my own limited dealings with Sue, I have found her to be most impressive – clear sighted and energetic, straight talking – and with a massive commitment to our agenda.  She knows very well that you build an economy from the ground up. It is great that she gets on well with the mayors. She knows how to harness the power of Whitehall – when to gently join up and when to kick down the doors.  She could be the greatest champion for the growth plans of our nations and regions, restore our sense of inspiration and optimism, and give due prominence to the ingenuity and strength of each of our places, using every lever – fiscal incentives, developments corporations, new town allocations, matched funding, aligning of funding agencies and the like – to encourage better collaboration and partnership working. All power to Sue Gray’s elbow. So said my panel of true experts in UK places. You say you want economic growth? Let’s get serious.          Jackie Sadek is chair of the UK Innovation Corridor and of the EG public sector forum