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North East Northern Powerhouse insight: Richard Myers, Commercial Director at Transmit Start-Ups

In an ongoing series, Jamie Hardesty is talking to North East business leaders in an attempt to understand the region’s feelings towards the government’s Northern Powerhouse initiative.

The next regional business leader to take part in our investigation is Richard Myers, Commercial Director at Transmit Start-Ups.

Based in the North-East, Transmit Start-Ups is a national delivery partner of the Start-Up Loans Company, a Government-backed initiative. Since it was established in 2013, the enterprise has lent over £8m and provided financial, business and mentoring support to 1,000 new businesses starting up across the UK.

What does the Northern Powerhouse mean to you?

For me, the Northern Powerhouse is all about the regions of the North working more collaboratively, which has been a long time coming, and having more independence and autonomy with regard to economic development and investment in infrastructures.

It is ensuring a better balance and giving businesses assurance that London doesn’t have the lion’s share of power and influence.

Are there signs of the Northern Powerhouse starting to bear fruit in the region?

Not yet from what I have seen. There has been a lot of positive talk so far, but at the moment the Northern Powerhouse seems to remain as more of a concept and vision which will take time to filter down. Anything on this scale that is pan-regional is not going to happen overnight.

Has the government done enough to convince you of its commitment to Osborne’s vision?

It’s very easy to spout rhetoric, but if Osborne is genuinely passionate about the Northern Powerhouse, then we have to get behind the initiative if we are to see genuine benefit for the North.

It is important that this is not a figurative vision that never comes to be a reality and the difference will be genuine passion from both the Government and people of the North. This is key to the success of the Northern Powerhouse Initiative.

Transport improvement is intrinsic to the Northern Powerhouse. Do you believe that spending billions of infrastructure will improve Northern productivity?

Absolutely. We have to ensure that we continue to build on the good transport links that are already in place. I spend a lot of time on trains and at the moment it’s still easier for me to get to London from the North East than it is to Manchester or Liverpool.

So, as well as good links to the rest of the UK and indeed the rest of the world, we need to ensure that the Northern Powerhouse (if we are talking about geography) is well connected itself. Time is money, so efficiency savings are as important in travel as they are in anything else.

Are there any other areas which you believe money should be spent on, ahead of transport?

Other than the fundamentals that everyone is entitled to, such as education, healthcare, housing and employment, I would say digital infrastructure. Whether that should be ahead of transport I don’t know, but it is certainly as important.

In the same way that good transport links create a network that allows people to move freely and efficiently from one place to another, digital networks serve the same purpose, except they are about moving data not people.

While teleportation still needs a bit of work, investment in robust digital infrastructures will allow people to conduct meetings using virtual reality and holograms. Why spend three hours on a train from Newcastle to Kings Cross for a one-hour meeting (I often get asked to ‘pop down to London for a quick meeting’) when you can stick your web cam on and have a hologram of yourself presenting to your investors in Shoreditch?

Digital investment drives these efficiencies and the benefits can then be passed on to both individuals and businesses looking to make links across the UK and beyond.

Does the North East need a mayor? If so, who should it be?

I’m not sold on the idea, but I’m not opposed to it either. It very much depends on who puts themselves forward and who we elect. I don’t think we need another political figure, but a great ambassador with commercial and strategic experience, and a deep and varied network to call upon, could be the right candidate.

Someone without political bias may be the best option as fundamentally it’s the region’s needs that should be the focus.

Will the Northern Powerhouse be realised in the North East?

I think we have some catching up to do with the North West, particularly Manchester and Salford, but I think it will be realised in the North East.

I think the Northern Powerhouse will very much be about how the people of the North shape it, not what those in Westminster tell us it’s going to be. It’s ours for the taking.

Thanks Richard.

To get involved in this series, contact Jamie at jamie.hardesty@bdaily.co.uk.

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