There was good reason to be optimistic that the Industrial Strategy would be an opportunity to make our economy fit for the future.

With Brexit imminent and persistent structural challenges including weak productivity, regional inequality and an ageing society, this would be a blue-print for a genuine shift to unleashing our nation’s capacity. And with the committed devolutionist Greg Clark steering it, the importance of place seemed set to feature strongly – he even promised sector leaders a 'pivotal' and 'almost constitutional' role for local government.