Video Report: State of the Region round table

9 July 2010

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MANCHESTER'S business community can emerge stronger, more efficient and more competitive by being positive and forging new partnerships, an expert panel has found.

The biggest threat is a lack of confidence, not the impact on the region of public sector cuts, or political and economic uncertainty, the event organised by the TheBusinessDesk.com in association with leading law firm DLA Piper said.

The panel was made up of key figures from the Greater Manchester business community, across a range of sectors.

DLA Piper Round Table Part 1

David Gray, office managing partner at sponsors law firm DLA Piper, and commercial property partner Anita Weightman were joined by Jonathan Hurst, Northern chairman of business advisers KPMG and Steve Lewis, corporate director at Royal Bank of Scotland.

Sarah Kemp, director of business relations at the North West Development Agency and Karen Hirst, development director at the Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company, represented the public sector, while Kevin Crotty, banking director at Bruntwood and Stephen Robinson, finance director of Nikal represented the property sector.

Growing entrepreneurial businesses were represented by Lawrence Jones, the founder of UKFast, the Internet hosting company and Richard Btesh, director of Chess, the acquisitive Cheshire-based telecoms company.

DLA Piper Round Table Part 2

The debate centred around prospects for the region in the aftermath of the general election and last month's emergency budget.

All agreed the outlook for the next six to 12 months is mixed. Jonathan Hurst summed up the mood: "There are loads of reasons to be fearful and loads of reasons to be positive."

There was consensus that talk of a double-dip recession could lead to a further erosion in business and consumer confidence, which would be highly damaging to the region.

Steve Lewis of RBS said major corporates were already starting to hoard cash in the wake of the crisis in the Eurozone.

There was support from the panel towards the North West Regional Development Agency - which the new government is going to replace with Local Economic Partnerships, but general concern over the size and inefficiency of the public sector in general.

Sarah Kemp said she was fearful of the impact of "indiscriminate budget slashing" by the new administration, but said funding activities to boost international trade and inward investment, had been ring-fenced.

Karen Hirst, development director at Central Salford, said Greater Manchester has always found ways in the past of coping with challenges, and expects this to prevail.

"Without question funding is going to be harder to achieve for projects, but not every line of funding has been cut. I think we need more partnerships and to look at different initiatives as we move ahead."

She said the European-backed JESSICA fund which loans cash to developers to kick-start stalled schemes, was one such alternative.

DLA's David Gray said the Manchester business community had to rise to the opportunities presented by trade with and inward investment from overseas, particularly the BRIC nations - Brazil, Russia, India and China.

"It's extremely important that we focus on the many benefits that we have to offer these nations as a city to come and invest in, which the UK's other regions cannot compete with, not least our reputation for innovation and enterprise" he said.

Steve Lewis from RBS agreed, stating: "Confidence is the vital ingredient without question. When you ask where is the growth coming from? You have to say it is fundamentally from export-led opportunities."

Anita Weightman said activity in the property sector is likely to remain subdued in the short term, but noted that assets in Greater Manchester were becoming more attractive to foreign buyers and sovereign wealth funds.

Lawrence Jones argued that companies which fail to engage with online and mobile technologies would be left behind - particularly from a viewpoint of international trade and relationship building.

He said: "I see this uncertainty as an opportunity - there's no point being inward looking - I remember the 1990s when I had my first business and the recession then really was tough, it hit everyone, but this is nowhere as bad. I see loads of opportunities.

Nikal's Steve Robinson said: "Confidence is massively important and we all need to recognise there are opportunities out there and it's up to us to do it by forming new relationships and driving things forward.

Mr Robinson said the key factors for future success would be 'quality and innovation'."Normal has gone - those who are able to adapt to change will do well," he added.

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