Manchester's Economy (updates)

[Cherguevara]

Isn't that the point though? London overspill is growing despite the restrictions placed on it, whereas many deprived areas haven't even though they've received generous investment in facillities for a growing population/economy. I think the idea of a more varied pallette of interventions in very deprived areas is a good one, and using money to make these areas better for the people who live there rather than providing housing for non-existant new residents is a good one.

[jrb]

MEN. Best kept in here. Otherwise..........

Media and manufacturing sectors to lead growth in 2011

Media and manufacturing are tipped to be the sectors set to see most growth in Greater Manchester in 2011.There is also likely to be an increase in the number of start-ups aimed at plugging the gaps left by public sector cuts, experts believe.
But they also predict it will remain tough going, especially in parts of the retail and property sectors, as households come under increased pressure due to rising interest rates.
Baron Frankal, director of economic strategy at Greater Manchester's Commission for the New Economy, said: “It’s not all grim though, as Greater Manchester strengths like environmental consultancy, biomedical research, healthcare and advanced manufacturing look set for recovery and growth.
“Manchester has more creative businesses than all other Northern cities put together and is second in the UK in financial services, which, despite its bogeyman status, remains a central driver of our economy.
“Our diversity will continue to put Manchester at a competitive advantage, and, with less reliance on the public sector, reinforce our resilience.”
The creation of the £650m MediaCityUK at Salford Quays, which will house both the BBC and ITV, is predicted to drive a boom in media-related industries.
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce's Chris Fletcher said: “I think we are getting very close now to lift-off with regard to MediaCityUK and I think we will begin to see businesses from that sector coming in and being more prominent in our economy.”
Greater Manchester's rich manufacturing heritage is forecast to stand the region in good stead to capitalise on opportunities thrown up by the government's low-carbon agenda, such as making giant offshore wind turbines and parts involved in their development, testing and maintenance.
Mr Fletcher added: “We have already seen Siemens announcing it is coming to Withington to assemble and test equipment for wind farms, and obviously there will be a need for other companies around that to play a part in what is going on.
“One of the things we are going to be looking at as a Chamber is how do we promote that and help companies start working on things in that sector that have a commercial basis.
“Across the region there is also a lot of specialist manufacturing going on and, certainly looking at our members, they have managed to keep their heads above water and as the economy starts to come out of the doldrums, these companies, especially if they are exporting, will see real growth.
“The other thing I think we will see a lot more of is community investment companies and support services.
“Where public sector cuts bite on service delivery, we will see growth in the third sector, where co-operatives will look to supply these services, such as healthcare.
“Whenever there is a cut in public spending, there is an opportunity for a different form of business to plug that gap and I think a lot of local authorities are looking at how they can continue to deliver vital services in a different way but using the same skill sets.”
Prof Lynn Martin, of Manchester Metropolitan University's business school, shares Mr Fletcher's views.
She said: “Manufacturing in our region is actually at one of the strongest points it has been over the last 10 years.
“The second thing is that what I am seeing are different forms of business, particular in areas like energy and the low-carbon sector, such as co-operatives, consultancies and social enterprises.
“That is really interesting and something that has been emerging over the last three years. With the disappearance of some of the public sector, these organisations become much more obvious, for example those working in the health sector.
“They will be delivering services that used to be the province of public sector organisations and often it is people from the public sector who start them up, and that shows that for every problem, there is an opportunity for someone else.
“We were the home of the industrial revolution and the home of the co-operative movement so it would be quite nice if we were at the heart of their re-emergence.
“Obviously, nobody is saying it is going to be easy, but there are enough core strengths here that people can tap into.”
Prof Gary Davies, of Manchester University's business school, said: “I think next year will be one of the toughest going.
“There are lots of things that will push the economy downwards. Firstly, there is the increase to VAT, though I think the impact of that will be marginal.
“But when the public sector cuts hit, unemployment will rise. However, there are sectors that have always done well irrespective of recession, such as electronic goods retailers, as long as there are new products to be bought.
“And it is the price-led end of retail that is going to be the most interesting. You have only got to see the number of people walking around with Primark bags to see it is the likes of Primark and Matalan and other companies who lead on price, who will continue to move in the right direction.
“And then, there's higher education, which I think will be a mixed bag next year. I don't know what impact the restrictions on visas will have but if you look at the numbers of students coming to Manchester from outside the EU, it is rapidly growing
“I can't see that stopping and we should always remembers that the universities account for one third of the economy in Manchester.”
Some sectors do stand to do well in 2011 but experts still think there is work to be done.
Mr Frankal added: “For a real sustained growth spurt, massive transformation is still needed to shift the economy much more rapidly to a high-growth, high-innovation, knowledge intensive business base that sucks in talented people and capital in all its forms.
“Too many firms remain unambitious, parochial and impervious to the benefits of global trade and investing in challenging talent.
“Too many innovators and entrepreneurs don’t make Greater Manchester their home. Lending and the general availability of capital is still nowhere near where it needs to be.
“A Greater Manchester solution to that would really be something to attract and keep the Googles of tomorrow here and to mark out the original modern Manchester brand as the international centre of vitality, innovation, technology and growth we once were and want to become again.”

[SleepyOne]

"For a real sustained growth spurt, massive transformation is still needed to shift the economy much more rapidly to a high-growth, high-innovation, knowledge intensive business base that sucks in talented people and capital in all its forms.

“Too many firms remain unambitious, parochial and impervious to the benefits of global trade and investing in challenging talent.

“Too many innovators and entrepreneurs don’t make Greater Manchester their home. Lending and the general availability of capital is still nowhere near where it needs to be.

Wise words from the Baron and well worth emphasising. Plenty of progress made; plenty more to do.

[Wirlie G]

C4 Evening news had a small article on Hesteltine and Cameron visit to the NW today. Couple of vox pops with MAnc business leaders.

Plenty of reasons to be concerned with the forthcoming cuts in this neck of the woods.

[heatonparkincakes]

Too many Coalition cuts in our necks of the woods and there will be too many wishing for cuts in their Coalition necks .

http://nfl.msg.com/article/0fAj7xr9Y...=David+Cameron

Anyway this is on the cards.
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereven...t_for_upgrade_

[Garibaldi773]

“A Greater Manchester solution to that would really be something to attract and keep the Googles of tomorrow here and to mark out the original modern Manchester brand as the international centre of vitality, innovation, technology and growth we once were and want to become again.”

Bollocks from Baron I'm afraid... just words with no meaning or activity to support it. As all of the potentially interesting bits of the Manchester Family become bureaucratised within the Big Brother that is the Commission for the New Economy, we may as well kiss our commitment to innovation goodbye.

[hulmeman2]

On the main BBC national front page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ester-12177853

Manchester City Council to cut 2,000 staff posts

Almost one fifth of staff are being sought for voluntary redundancy

Councils: Funding cuts hit 12.1%
Trafford Council to cut 150 jobs
Council to axe 800 jobs in review
About 2,000 jobs are to go at Manchester City Council because of government spending cuts, the authority has said.

The Labour-run council said it needed to reduce its workforce by about 17% after changes to local authority grants left a huge hole in its finances.

Officers need to find £110m of savings in 2011-12 - £60m more than they expected last year.

The council said it wanted to avoid compulsory redundancies.

However, it said it needed to reduce the workforce "quickly".

All staff are being asked to consider voluntary redundancy or, for those aged over 55, early retirement.

When it announced changes to local government grants in December, the government said no council would face cuts of more than 8.9%.

But Manchester City Council said it was among the five worst-hit authorities in England, and in reality faced a 25% cut over the next two years.

Accelerated cuts
Leader Sir Richard Leese said: "The unfairness of the government's financial grant settlement for Manchester, one of the five worst in the country, has been widely reported.

"We now have to find £110m in savings next year - £60m more than expected - because of front-loading and the redistribution of money from Manchester to more affluent areas.

"The accelerated cuts mean we can no longer achieve the staffing reductions we have been forced into through natural turnover which is why we are proposing a time-limited offer of voluntary severance and voluntary early retirement.

"At the same time we will continue to invest through our M People employee programme to improve the skills and the productivity of the majority of our staff who will stay with us."

The M People programme, developed in conjunction with the unions, aims to match the skills of the existing workforce to roles that can improve services.

The council hopes the scheme can help it make efficiencies while maintaining services.

[TheFly]

The council hopes the scheme can help it make efficiencies while maintaining services.

So, the council was overstaffed with jobs with no work!

Bad for the employees no doubt but 20% over staffed...By their own words they think they can cope with 20% less staff!

Indeed, show me the figures of a council making any redundancies in the last 15 years....any at all. Seriously, can anyone find me a Manchester City Council announcement of redundancies in the last 15 years.....has anyone's department found efficiency savings or that they are no longer needed.

Nah.

Sorry, slash and burn.

[Wirlie G]

IBM have a policy of never making redundancies.

[TheFly]

Originally Posted by Wirlie G

IBM have a policy of never making redundancies.

1st reaction> bullshit

2nd reaction>bullshit

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04...ts_compulsory/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...s-ibm-business
http://tuscportsmouth.com/2010/04/14...in-manifestos/

etc for the rest of time!

Maybe you meant net job gains in an expanding computer sector? But like the rest of the sane real world, as a business, they cut.

[Wirlie G]

Ok, they had a no redundancy policy when I worked there (until about 2005).

[TheFly]

Originally Posted by Wirlie G

Ok, they had a no redundancy policy when I worked there (until about 2005).

Lol!

Probably so, it is nice for a company to be able to `carry' the cost...you keep your reputation as a good employer which carries for years rather than a short-term bottom line gain.

[thecityofgold]

Originally Posted by Wirlie G

Ok, they had a no redundancy policy when I worked there (until about 2005).

So a no-redundancy policy until redundancies were necessary! I like the the way they spun that for years!

[link_road_17/7]

I am surprised how if MCC are so overstaffed how the city is so badly run. Filthy streets, potholes galore, all except outside Albert Square, naturally.....

(Although I am sad that MCC are unable to allow Len Grant (photographer) continue the 'This is East' blog. However, one of the features had a park warden on £20k+ looking after Cotton Field Park, which isn't even built yet!!!)

[jrb]

BD.

Ian Simpson eyes recovering London residential market
11 January 2011 | By David Rogers

Renewed demand for large-scale residential schemes in London is set to push up workloads at Ian Simpson Architects this year.

The firm has seen a number of its recent high-profile schemes fall victim to the recession, including the Lumiere tower in Leeds which was put on hold in 2008 before being cancelled last year and its One Blackfriars Road project in central London, which went into administration last October.

“It has been a nightmare two and a half years but we are starting to see things more positively particularly in London,” Simpson told BD.

The firm, which has recently bolstered staff numbers by nine to 60, is expecting two schemes in the capital at Tower Bridge and Greenwich to get out of the blocks this year, while Simpson said demand was rising for grade A office space in both London and Manchester.

“The residential market outside London doesn’t really exist at the moment,” added Simpson. “London is another world because it’s a global marketplace. People from across the world want to have a home in London. The value of development is always going to be massively higher in London than Leeds or Manchester.”

The firm is designing a new concert hall in Antwerp where the Belgian Philharmonic Orchestra plays. but this job aside Simpson said it was concentrating on UK schemes.

In its latest set of accounts, profits at the firm’s LLP arm helped turn in a group profit of £380,000 although Ian Simpson Architects - which handles its more risky construction schemes - saw turnover in the year to March 2010 down a third to £2.7 million with pre-tax profits falling from £222,000 in 2009 to a £35,000 loss.

[jrb]

PNW.

Capital projects are safe, says Leese21 Jan 2011, 16:56

Severe cutbacks by Manchester City Council will not affect the £138m renovation of the Town Hall Extension and Central Library or the next phases of the Metrolink, council leader Cllr Sir Richard Leese said.
Responding to questions left by residents on his Leader's Blog on the council website, Leese explained: "The redevelopment of the Town Hall Extension and the Central Library are well under way and too far advanced to cancel. The redevelopment is also about maintaining Manchester's heritage and building on it as we look to the future. Central Library is one of the most important buildings in the city, needed significant work done to it, and would have had to close permanently if we hadn't acted."
The council is currently consulting employees over cutting 2,000 from its workforce due to a reduced budget from central government. The council has to find £110m of cost savings in the next year.
Leese continued: "We will also be able to locate staff at the Extension rather than at rented locations dotted across the city - which saves money. All the Metrolink extensions are contractually committed and are essential to the future economic health of the city. As well as delivering services today we need to continue investing in the city's future."
Contractor Laing O'Rourke and architects Ryder Architecture and Ian Simpson Architects are delivering the renovations. Manchester City Council has relocated staff temporarily to Ask Developments' First Street and a smaller version of the library is in Bruntwood's Elliott House on Deansgate while the work is carried out.
The new BMX centre in east Manchester and football museum in Urbis are also both contractually committed and remain on track, Leese said.

[Wirlie G]

http://insidethem60.journallocal.co....e-in-the-city/

Bank of Manchester.

Bull shit???

[Cherguevara]

Originally Posted by Wirlie G

http://insidethem60.journallocal.co....e-in-the-city/

Bank of Manchester.

Bull shit???

MIER pointed out that lack of capital for new businesses was a major obstacle preventing their expansion in the city region. I think we've got to see this as an attempt to tackle that gap, and ignore the rather strained metaphor used to describe it.

Interestingly some left(ish) wing economic policy proponents are suggesting local/regional banks and bourses to address this same issue. Of course since we have a Tory government its unlikely their suggestions will be taken much further for the forseeable future.

[Seasonedbest]

Right, possible locations for a possible Bank of Manchester anyone?

[WatcherZero]

This is only what the NWRDA used to do before it was axed, proposing that the business startup loans function still continues elsewhere is only logical.