Powerhouse 2050 offers a £10bn boost to productivity
2 October 2017
The Northern Powerhouse Partnership’s (NPP) second report, proposes to improve productivity by £10bn and create an extra 850,000 jobs.
The Northern Powerhouse Partnership’s (NPP) second report, 'Powerhouse 2050 - transforming the North', has detailed how the region can improve productivity by £10bn and create an extra 850,000 jobs. The evidence led report has made four fully-costed proposals to boost the region’s key sectors – Advanced Manufacturing & Materials, Energy, Digital and Health Innovation.
The report proposes £60m investment for the Advanced Manufacturing & Materials sector, which will see the region be the first to fully commit to Industrial Digitalisation.
Intensive support for manufacturing firms in the North
The report proposes an intensive support pilot for 1,000 firms in the sector to lead on industrial digitalisation on an international scale. By supporting businesses to adopt digital technologies including The Internet of Things and automation, the report suggests this pilot programme will generate approximately £70m additional GVA to the region each year.
“This Northern Powerhouse Partnership report sets out bold and original initiatives that could, with appropriate levels of funding and support, have a transformational effect on the North of England and provide a vital boost to productivity.
"The digital reindustrialisation of the North of England is an essential part of our economic future to ensure that UK growth benefits the country as a whole.
“As digitalisation becomes central to our society and the future of manufacturing, the UK needs to invest in automation, innovation and science to give our UK industries the boost they need to be globally competitive.”
Professor Juergen Maier, Lead, Advanced Manufacturing & Materials research
In addition to the pilot programme the following recommendation have been made to bolster the Advanced Manufacturing & Materials sector.
- Ensure better collaboration between academia and industry to address specific industry challenges, including technology demonstrator facilities. Examples of planned collaborative centres include Hartree at Daresbury (which received £113m expansion support as part of the Northern Powerhouse Strategy) and the completed Materials Innovation Factory at The University of Liverpool. All of these are industry-challenge led and by further linking many of the existing programmes for innovation in applied areas, it would also strengthen their impact and reach.
- Establish global centres of excellence based on existing expertise. This would advance the competitiveness of UK industry, improve productivity and conserve materials, as well as meeting forthcoming environmental legislation and adding value across a wide range of products.
- Invest £25m to allow SMEs to take advantage of pan-Northern supply chain opportunities by mapping them and their capabilities across advanced manufacturing and other prime capabilities.
The proposals in the report have been submitted to the government for consideration in the Autumn Budget on 22 September.
To view the full report click here.