Britain undersells its regional cities

This should encourage those unconvinced by the ability of a London-driven recovery to deliver results, but it also indicates the spread of talent and growth potential up and down the country.

You hear a lot about what the UK doesn’t have, where our business culture is lacking, or ways in which we fall short. But it’s worth pausing for a moment to reflect on what makes Britain great as a place to start and grow a business.

The UK sits at the centre of East and West, which makes it ideal for servicing a global client base. It’s also uniquely placed to bridge the US and Europe, which is why so many US companies enter the European market via a British office. The conditions for entrepreneurship are extremely encouraging, with some great incentives such as the EIS and SEIS schemes making it tax efficient for early stage investors to support new ventures.

I’ve long held the view that Britain undersells the progress made by its regional cities. While the 'London-or-bust’ adage might have been true at one point, this lingering perception does a disservice to the progress made by cities such as Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol. Beyond London lie cities with extraordinary potential, offering a fantastic mix of creativity, technology, academic institutions and capital.

Our universities are just one example of where talent and innovation are both diverse and evenly spread. The discovery of graphene at the University of Manchester represents one of the most significant British inventions of the last decade – it’s already seeding a whole series of spin-off companies that are going to market. And in Cambridge’s Silicon Fen we have a tech cluster that more than matches the capital’s own Tech City, for all the official support and investment offered by the government.

Nevertheless, there is a job to do in generating stronger growth the UK. If we are to rebalance the economy then we need to get better at articulating our strengths and demonstrating the unique opportunities of doing business in British cities.

Putting to one side the ongoing debates around HS2 and the need for increased airport capacity, more work has to be done at a city level to galvanise and unite support.

The importance of leadership and governance within large cities is hugely underappreciated in this country. With diverse interest groups at play, it is essential that one body or organisation is able to set the tone and lead on policy direction, else it becomes impossible to unite resources behind a growth agenda.

Most British cities could do a better job of demonstrating what makes them unique and what they can offer. Manchester has worked hard to burnish its credentials as a media centre in recent years, while my hometown of Liverpool is fast building a reputation as the business capital of the north.

Liverpool today is a different city to the one I was born in. This is the first time in a century that people are optimistic that the future might be better than the past. A huge part of this is thanks to the efforts of city officials to showcase the realities of Liverpool in the 21st Century, a city not in decline but in the midst of a renaissance – one that was European City of Culture in 2008 and the first UK city to host the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in 2012.

Next month it will host the International Festival for Business, a national event comprised of more than 200 events spanning 50 days in June and July. It is set to be the biggest business event since the Festival of Britain took place back in 1951, and one that has the full backing of government, UKTI, the CBI and the FSB.

Not only will it showcase the diversity of modern British industry, but also if, as expected, IFB attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors, Liverpool will have pulled off a stunning coup – for Britain, the Northwest and the port that finally managed to escape the toxic legacy of the post-war years as a city riven by political and economic strife.

It is also an excellent example of how a city can take the initiative and demonstrate its ambition. This is probably the biggest area where British cities need to up their game and recognise the outstanding assets they have at their disposal.

The UK’s regional cites are well equipped with talent and capital; they have what it takes and in many cases the assets are there and ready to be realised. What is missing is the boldness and belief to unlock this latent potential and capitalise on its growth opportunity.

Sir Terry Leahy is the former CEO of Tesco and an ambassador for the International Festival for Business (www.ifb2014.com)

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