Member Article

That was the month with NWBLT's Geoffrey Piper

Geoffrey Piper is the chief executive of independent business group, the North West Business Leadership Team. Speaking to Bdaily, he summed up his highlights for North West business throughout April.

What do you feel has been the most significant event in the region this month?

The region’s most significant event this month may eventually turn out to have been the launch, by Lord Wei and George Osborne, of the Manchester–China Forum.

Well attended by senior representatives of both Manchester and Chinese business communities, this event heard Lord Wei, Chairman of the all party East Asia House of Lords Business Group, identify opportunities for Manchester in advanced manufacturing; whilst Osborne viewed China as a ‘huge marketing opportunity in engineering, education, agriculture, aerospace and architecture.’

The Chancellor promised the British Government’s 100% support behind a concerted drive to promote Manchester’s trade links with China.

Have there been any surprises?

The biggest surprise in April, apart from the sun eventually coming out, was the news that the UK had not after all succumbed to a triple-dip recession.

The widely predicted second successive quarter of negative growth miraculously turned out to be a positive 0.3%.

Not much to write home about but a great deal better than a triple-dip, especially when confidence is so fragile. Let’s hope it doesn’t prove to be a false dawn when the next set of figures emerge.

What was your highlight of the month?

For us at NWBLT, the highlight was the publication of our Skills report. ‘Bridging the Divide’ examines the mismatch between skills and jobs, especially in the North West, a major cause of industrial productivity being 20% lower than the national average – and costing our region’s economy £160 million a year.

The report calls for a ‘Talent Bank’ to promote engineering and manufacturing; a go-between for employers and training providers; and a cross-party commitment to a long-term national skills strategy.

Our Chairman, Juergen Maier of Siemens UK, is leading a strong North West delegation to debate the report in Parliament in June.

What do you hope next month will bring?

During this next month we will be pushing ahead with organisations such as the EEF, Semta and UKCES on how best to take forward the recommendations from ‘Bridging the Divide.’

We’d also like to see some tangible evidence that Government really is committed to rebalancing the economy.

Thus far we have had plenty of talk but very little action, or even a plan for action. A clear commitment to rebalance the transport infrastructure spend between the London area and the North would be a good start.

Which other businesses have piqued your interest in the region?

NWBLT follows closely the progress of all the North West’s leading businesses, especially those which demonstrate imaginative leadership rather than simply following the crowd.

Home-shopping and online retailer N Brown, for example, recently bucked the trend by returning to high street retail.

With Angela Spindler taking over now as their CEO – one of the far too few female Chief Executives here in the North West – it will be very interesting to see how this strategy plays out.

Watch out for our next monthly round-up at the end of May with another business leader from the North West.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .