How should local and regional leaders encourage investment in their communities? Around the world, cities struggle with a legacy of industrial decline. In England, devolution of planning policy to mayoral combined authorities has allowed for regions like Greater Manchester to outpace national growth. But within regions, local areas can themselves fall behind, and require a joined up approach to planning and investment.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford City Council, joined Tim Newns, MD for Levelling Up at the UK Department for International Trade’s Office for Investment, and Richard Robinson, president, UK & Ireland at AtkinsRéalis, at a panel discussion at UKReiif in May 2024 to consider the importance of place in planning and investment.  After the event—and after the 2024 UK general election—John Rayson, MD of Northern Transformation at AtkinsRéalis, joined Engineering Matters to explain the history of devolution in England, and to consider the impact of newly proposed new devolved authorities.

In this episode, we learn from the successes of Greater Manchester and Bradford. We discover how they consider the history and needs of places within their communities, and the opportunities they present. We find out how the creation of place-based plans can spur investment, from national and international investors. And we discover how transport infrastructure within and between regions can provide the foundation for growth.

Guests

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

Susan Hinchcliffe, Council Leader, Bradford City Council

Tim Newns, MD, Levelling Up, Office for Investment, UK Department for International Trade

Richard Robinson, President, UK and Ireland, AtkinsRéalis

John Rayson, MD for Northern Transformation, AtkinsRéalis

Partner

AtkinsRéalis is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. Employing over 37,000 people across Canada, the US and Latin America, the UK and Ireland, and Asia, the Middle East, and Australia, AtkinsRéalis creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world’s infrastructure and energy systems.