Business and enterprise

Manchester’s rise to pre-eminence as the world’s first industrial city was made possible in large part by entrepreneurs who triggered a self-sustaining process of innovation and technological advancement. This spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation and ‘can do’ attitude was perhaps best epitomised by Manchester’s determination to develop a seaport 40 miles inland from the sea and the resultant building of the Manchester Ship Canal.

Today, as we seek to build on the legacy of our industrial past and establish Manchester at the forefront of the knowledge economy, enterprise remains as one of the key pillars on which the success of our vision to pioneer a new model of sustainable economic growth depends.

The objectives and actions set out in the Greater Manchester Strategy are driven by our vision for achieving sustainable economic growth and, in part, by the enterprise challenges to which this gives rise. These challenges, and the opportunities for change and growth, are set out in detail in the Manchester Independent Economic Review (MIER) and the Manchester Strategic Enterprise Framework, but essentially the competitiveness of the city region economy is being undermined in large part by what, in international terms, are comparatively low levels of business start-up, poor density of the business stock, and a range of barriers holding back the growth of our businesses and our entrepreneurial talent.

The Greater Manchester Strategy aims to tackle these enterprise challenges by:

• Increasing the international connectivity of the city region’s firms, especially to the newly emerging economies

• Increasing foreign direct investment, especially in knowledge-based sectors (clusters) and low carbon industries

• Increasing the proportion of employers engaged in formal workforce development and leadership training

• Increasing the number of innovative entrepreneurs living and working in the city region

• Improving the availability of accessible finance to entrepreneurs and businesses

• Encouraging entrepreneurship by promoting a culture of enterprise within the city region’s schools, colleges, universities and communities

• Establishing cross sector networks and improving the innovation of cross-sector (cluster) supply chains

• Boosting the levels of business within the city region through start-ups and growth, especially in knowledge-based sectors (clusters) and low carbon industries

• Establishing city region’s firms as pioneers of low carbon business diversification

• Simplifying employer engagement so that the delivery of business support responds in a coordinated and integrated way to the priorities and needs of the city region’s businesses and economy

We are committed to working collaboratively with our partners and businesses to deliver Manchester’s enterprise priorities, as set out above, and to achieve our vision for the future.

For more information please contact :Marika Rajah