The Northern Powerhouse has divided opinion between those who have welcomed it as an opportunity to ‘put the North on the map’ particularly with international investors, and others who see it as little more than a branding exercise which has failed to meet expectations in terms of real power and resource to sustain lasting change. As the evidence base for local industrial strategies begins to emerge, there is a question about where the Northern Powerhouse goes from here.

At IPPR North we have been largely supportive of the Northern Powerhouse conversation, because of its potential to galvanise debate about the North’s challenges and opportunities. This has been important for IPPR North’s work on a Great North Plan, which aims to support collaborative working between stakeholders across the North. We’ve argued that we need to go beyond the cliché of the unproductive North, trying to ‘catch up’ with London and the South. For us, it’s about defining the North by its strengths arguing that success in London and the South East should not come at the expense of opportunities in the North and other regions of the UK.