Sir Howard Bernstein highlights Wigan’s role in the Northern Powerhouse

Sir Howard Bernstein, the chief executive of Manchester City Council, met with Wigan business leaders this week to discuss the role the town should play in creating jobs as part of the government’s Northern Powerhouse vision.

Sir Howard spoke at the Wigan Forward Board public-private partnership to discuss plans for growing Greater Manchester’s economy in the years to come.

The Northern Powerhouse, he said, referred to a strategy rather than a place, a plan to enhance transport and productivity and get more people working.

Drawing attention to Wigan’s role in the plan, he said the borough’s strength lay in its status as a manufacturing base, with freight, logistics and distribution businesses there all being central to delivering employment opportunities.

Speaking at the Leigh Sports Village event, Sir Howard said: “We have got to have those investment opportunities and then we have to work together to take full advantage of international investment.”

He added that the borough’s employment potential is “enormous”.

The chairman of the Wigan Forward Board, Richard Waterfield, said: “From listening to Sir Howard there is a recognition within business and the local authority that Wigan is an example of what Greater Manchester is trying to achieve. Wigan is a powerhouse in its own right.”

Mr Waterfield went on to praise praised Wigan Council’s Deal for the Future strategy, but added that a major challenge would be to raise the aspirations of those who are out of work.

Wigan Council leader Lord Peter Smith commented: “We have excellent businesses in the borough and it is only through working together with our businesses that we will be able to grow the borough’s economy in the coming years.

“The council’s Deal for the Future is a deal with business as much as it is a deal with our residents. The Deal for the Future starts with growth and jobs creation, attracting quality employment and making sure that people can access work.”

He continued: “It’s our task to link the jobs that are created in the Northern Powerhouse with residents in the borough who are dependent on support or who may have never worked.”

Wigan Council has set a goal through its Economic Prospectus to create 10,000 jobs over the next decade.

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