Andy Burnham unveils bold plan for future economic growth in Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham announced in a key note speech yesterday his “concrete plan to reindustrialise the birthplace of the industrial revolution”.

Greater Manchester has been the UK’s fastest growing city region since 2015, with Burnham’s most recent plans seeking to continue the current trajectory, as the Labour Mayor calls for an overhaul of the skills system to promote future growth.

More jobs are set to be created for the city region across fields such as creative industries, digital and health innovation, where Greater Manchester has a proven record of strong delivery.

In the plan put forward for Greater Manchester’s economic future, the Mayor has also identified a need to integrate Manchester’s developing sectors into the economic cluster, including advanced materials, manufacturing, and low carbon technologies.

Read More: Burnham’s Britain: King of the North on how he would ‘rewire’ Westminster

The cluster will provide work across the city centre and surrounding council towns. Health and life sciences innovation are identified on Manchester’s ‘Oxford road corridor’, alongside the digital, AI and cyber cluster that operates from the centre of the city. Greater Manchester boasts a £5 billion tech ecosystem, the largest AI sector outside London and the South East.

Famously, Greater Manchester is also home to MediaCity in Salford, where its creative industries help the city to provide the largest concentration of creative businesses outside of London.

Made up of around 500 businesses employing 15,000 people, Greater Manchester’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing cluster will create jobs across towns Bury, Rochdale and Oldham. Trafford will see the benefits of the low-carbon green energy cluster, as Carrington is set to be home to the world’s largest liquid air energy storage plant, which has been back by £300 million of investment.

Burnham delivered his speech at a conference on regional growth hosted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and UCL Policy Lab.

“We are publishing for the first time our cluster map: five defined locations across our city region which, as this century develops, will host industrial clusters of growing global significance,” Burnham said,  “In other words, a concrete plan to reindustrialise the birthplace of the industrial revolution, bringing high-value employment to all parts of Greater Manchester.”

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook.

Burnham also used his speech to show appreciation of the national government’s efforts on empowering local areas, highlighting specific measures that support investment in new infrastructure. He continued to praise the introduction of Northern Powerhouse Rail announced by the government last week.

Burnham also welcomed to the opportunity for city regions to attempt new solutions for funding growth-maximising infrastructure, including business rates retention and land value capture.

Share your thoughts. Contribute on this story or tell your own by writing to our Editor. The best letters every week will be published on the site. Find out how to get your letter published.

However, he also warned of potential blockers for growth, making the case for further devolution of skills and technical education to create new opportunities for the next generation. This builds on the message Burnham presented audiences with at the IfG conference last week, arguing that “devolution is the direction” as a means to drive growth in Britain.

He said: “This is about growth which recycles wealth back into our communities, not syphoning it out; that creates pathways for our young people; and offers good, secure jobs for our residents.”

• • SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
  • SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
  • DONATE: If you value our work, please chip in a few pounds a week and become one of our supporters, helping sustain and expand our coverage.
  • PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
  • ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].