Bernard Ginns: LEPs would not be able to cope with a financial bloodbath

I DREAD to think what would happen in Yorkshire if the events of September 2008 played out again.

Back then, we had the regional development agency to coordinate the response to the financial crisis.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, followed by the rescues of Halifax Bank of Scotland and Bradford & Bingley, threatened whole communities with economic destruction.

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Proud towns in West Yorkshire faced losing their main private sector employers, institutions that provided prosperity to many sections of society.

I am not pretending Yorkshire Forward was perfect; indeed it was at times profligate and wasteful.

But it did succeed in presenting a united and coherent voice for the region in Westminster and the City of London.

Chief executive Tom Riordan and the board of Yorkshire Forward, notably Lord Haskins, used their connections to make the case for Yorkshire during a time of unfolding crisis.

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They met with Victor Blank and Helen Weir, then the chairman and retail director of Lloyds, to underline the strength and importance of the Halifax operation to HBOS.

They met with the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, to further the cause of Bradford & Bingley’s workforce when the lender was nationalised.

Massive job losses were inevitable as lenders deleveraged and stripped cost out of their bloated structures.

But undoubtedly the efforts of the regional development agency helped prevent a blood- bath.

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I fear that Yorkshire Forward’s replacement, the denuded local enterprise partnerships, would struggle to do achieve the same today.

Speaking about the events of five years ago, Mr Riordan told me: “I can’t think of anyone in the civil service who would have made the case for us in the way it required.”

Yorkshire Forward had a good crisis and had ideological and political support from the top of Government.

It was helped by Rosie Winterton, who as Minister for Yorkshire was a strong supporter of the region.

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I don’t see the local enterprise partnerships enjoying the same level of sponsorship.

This is not a party political point. The Labour Party has conspicuously failed to come up with credible policies to address the increasingly twin-speed UK economy.

As well as advocacy, the North needs business support and infrastructure to provide an effective economic counterweight to the might of London and the South East.

This is a point made by the managing partner of Ward Hadaway, the top 100 UK law firm which has offices in Newcastle, Leeds and Manchester.

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He said: “Really we have two economies – London and the South East and then there is the rest of the country.

“Government policy tries to deal with both as a single entity but to me that’s a concept that is fundamentally flawed because London and the South East is almost like a separate country economically.”

He added: “The inherent strength of the manufacturing base in the North needs to be promoted and supported.

“The Government has got that message but more resource needs to be put into the regional structure of UK Trade & Investment to support exports from the manufacturing sector in the North.

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“There are concerns that UKTI seems to be concentrating its work on the South of England when there is so much potential in the North.

“We hear encouraging noises periodically from the Government about manufacturing and the ‘March of the Makers’ but there needs to be more action to back those words up, for example; improved tax incentives for investment and more support for exporters.”

Like virtually every businessman I speak to in Yorkshire, he sees too much investment in infrastructure in London and not enough in the North.

He said: “Why can we spend billions on projects like Crossrail in London and not improve links across the Pennines, for example?

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“To me it makes no sense that it takes almost as long to go by train from Newcastle to Manchester as it does to go from Newcastle to London.

“Upgrading the route across the Pennines between the major cities across the North would have a huge beneficial effect on the North’s economy.”

As for HS2, he believes that the rail project has the potential to suck business into London. Modest investment in the existing East and West Coast Main Lines might provide a better return, he added. Which is another argument for another day.

@bernardginns