Bruntwood joins Northern business and political leaders at major transport summit

Bruntwood, the leading regional property company, has joined hundreds of business and political leaders from across the North at a major transport summit in Leeds.

The company, which is a major investor and stakeholder in the Northern Powerhouse and is committed to supporting growth in the Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester city regions, says that investment in improving the rail network, now and in the future, is essential to the future of the UK economy, as well as the North.

Earlier this week, it backed The Northern Powerhouse Partnership’s Crossrail for the North Campaign, which is seeking “transformational investment” in the rail network across the North. 

Jessica Bowles, Bruntwood’s Director of Strategy, who attended the summit said: “If our great Northern cities are to meet their potential and drive the rebalancing of the UK economy, we must as an urgent priority radically transform the connections between them”.

“Today’s event brought together business and politics, speaking with one voice about our ambition and the opportunity that exists to bring about the change we need.

“We were rightly challenged to plan in the North, and show that we have a clear plan for growth. The Government now needs to work in partnership with us to bring about the investment we need.

“Connecting cities like Liverpool, Manchester , and Leeds , Sheffield and Newcastle into a single economy with a large talented labour market will help them grow and compete globally. For us, this is all part of making our great city regions even greater.”

Bruntwood is supporting the calls at the summit for the government to:
● honour its commitment to deliver short term improvements to rail services
across the North, including full electrification, track and signalling
improvements on key commuter routes and the upgrade of hub stations;
● prioritise its manifesto commitment to deliver new west-east rail infrastructure
reaching across the North, working with Transport for the North to set out a
clear timetable for its delivery in the Autumn Budget ; and
● set out a fairer distribution of transport funding (revenue and capital) across
all regions of the country.

Speakers at the event at Cloth Hall Leeds included: Lord
Jim O’Neill, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram, Mayor of
Liverpool City Region, Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council, Judith
Blake Leader of Leeds City Council, IPPR North
and Business North .