Manchester growth model highlights private sector role in UK urban revival

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Highlights

Manchester's office space grew faster from 2015 to 2024 than in London, Paris, and Barcelona, driven by a private sector-centered development model.
Knowledge-intensive business services employment in Manchester increased faster since 2008 than in any UK city region outside London, aided by higher foreign direct investment and graduate retention.
The article argues that replicating Manchester's state-enabled, private sector-led strategy is crucial for faster UK growth, rather than shifting further left on economic management.

Business-led strategy behind Manchester’s expansion

As reported by the Financial Times, Manchester’s transformation from post-industrial decline to one of the UK’s faster-growing major cities is rooted chiefly in a long-running strategy that put private enterprise at the centre of development. The article argues that this model predates Burnham’s tenure as mayor and was established under former Manchester city council leader Sir Richard Leese and the late chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein.

With limited public funding and devolved authority, the city leadership sought to attract long-term private investment through stable policy, rapid planning decisions and relatively light restrictions on building height and density in the city centre. Public money was also used selectively, including through loans and below-market land leases, to draw in additional investment.

That approach supported major infrastructure and commercial growth, including the expansion of Metrolink, Greater Manchester’s tram and light rail network. The emphasis on connectivity, clustering and redevelopment also helped convert former industrial areas into business districts for higher value sectors such as professional services, technology and media.

The article says Manchester’s office space grew faster from 2015 to 2024 than in London, Paris and Barcelona, while knowledge-intensive business services employment has risen faster since 2008 than in any other UK city region outside London. It adds that foreign direct investment, graduate retention and start-up activity have reinforced that momentum.

Political debate over lessons for Labour and the UK

Burnham, who has served as Greater Manchester mayor since 2017, is described as the public face of the city’s revival and has pledged to challenge Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership if he wins the Makerfield by-election next week. But the article contends that supporters on Labour’s soft left risk misreading Manchester’s success by linking it too closely to Burnham’s backing for causes such as public ownership.

While Burnham has continued the city’s business-oriented strategy and won additional powers over transport, skills and housing, the article says the bulk of the credit belongs to the earlier local leadership that built a pro-investment framework. It argues that local government played an important enabling role through devolution, long-term planning and entrepreneurial policymaking, but not by trying to control the economy directly.

Oxford Economics economist Alexander Harvey is cited as saying Manchester’s focus on agglomeration was necessary, and that efforts centred on re-industrialisation or wider redistribution at the expense of the urban core would have weakened its economic base. The article acknowledges that living standards remain uneven across the city region and that housing development has largely targeted higher-income professionals, but says the stronger tax base, labour market and investor appeal created by private-sector growth leave Manchester better placed to address inequality over time.

It presents that conclusion as significant for national policy, arguing that faster UK growth depends on replicating a state-enabled, private sector-led model rather than moving further left on economic management.

Our earlier article on the Makerfield by-election outlined how the vote has become a pivotal test for Labour, potentially boosting Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s ability to mount a leadership challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It also highlighted how resignations and internal disputes—along with an entrenched personal rift between the two men—could trigger further instability, including the risk of a full leadership contest and repeated cabinet reshuffles.

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