A Cumbrian business leader is joining with others in the North West in championing plans from productivity experts to accelerate the levelling up agenda in the region.
Professor Barry Leahey MBE, CEO at Cumbria-based Playdale Playgrounds, and former Siemens UK chief executive Juergen Maier are among those calling for a rethink when it comes to addressing the North West’s productivity challenges.
The call comes on the back of the newly released Productivity Insight Paper for the North West of England, created by The Productivity Institute and its North West Regional Productivity Forum, both based at Alliance Manchester Business School.
The paper highlights the strengths of the region, including its large and very productive manufacturing sector – which sits head and shoulders above its UK regional counterparts – as well as its leading R&D assets, life sciences, energy and digital industries.
But it also outlines productivity gaps in the region, identifying the obstacles preventing the North West and its sub-regions from gaining ground on UK average productivity levels.
The report’s authors have called on the government to prioritise policy areas that focus on the region’s strengths, factoring in improving within region connectivity through local transport connections; strengthening coordination and collaboration between businesses, government and universities; unlocking demand for skills and strengthening basic conditions for creating a productive workforce; and digitalisation.
The paper comes on the eve of the publication of the long-anticipated Levelling Up White Paper, which also seeks to address the widening gap and “dismal” productivity growth rate in the North West of England.
Data from the Office for National Statistics indicates that productivity in the North West has fallen by 0.3 per cent (between 2008 and 2019), whereas the national average has increased by just four per cent, highlighting the sheer scale of the issue.
Jennifer Halliday, North West Forum Chair, said: “The time has come for business leaders and boards to really engage on the topic of productivity, to set targets and to initiate projects that will really move the dial, and drive the inefficiencies out.
“These are often embedded deep within an organisation’s processes, and may not be easily visible to boards or to senior management. We need to take a cold hard look at the facts around productivity and really understand the factors preventing businesses from reaching their full potential.
“Let’s focus on the key drivers. In many cases, there are common themes, particularly around skills and digitalisation. Businesses should learn from others and reach out for support. One of the keys to solving the productivity puzzle is in engaging people at all levels in the organisation, and laying out a clear vision of the target they should be reaching for.”
Professor Barry Leahey MBE, CEO at Cumbria-based Playdale Playgrounds, Be the Business Fellow, and member of the North West Forum said: “Business, government and universities must work together if we want to level up the North West. We simply can’t afford to wait around.
“Lacklustre business investment during the pandemic is a concern and progress on productivity has gone backwards – compared to not only our global competitors but other UK regions – as a result. We need to leverage the expertise of our region’s most productive businesses and find mechanisms to share their tactics for success with businesses that want to improve.”
