Andy Burnham’s tenure as prime minister may embrace a northern No 10 and the devolution of energy outdoors of London, which might sign a serious shakeup in UK politics.
Burnham, who was mayor of Larger Manchester and was sworn in as an MP final month, made his first large coverage speech this week. He mentioned if he turned prime minister he would transfer away from Whitehall-centric politics and switch energy throughout the UK, together with to cities like Manchester in hopes to gasoline financial development throughout the nation. When Keir Starmer took the Labour Celebration to energy in 2024, a part of the remit was a want to rebalance political and financial energy throughout the UK.
Whereas devolution has been a speaking level for years, the very fact Burnham may make this a actuality makes it time to ask the enterprise neighborhood their ideas.
Right here’s what a various set of companies, together with male and female-led ventures and people primarily based within the north and the south, needed to say about Burnham as PM and potential devolution.
‘Burnham will assist SME development and innovation’ – Dale Brimelow, co-owner and operations director at Duo UK, a packaging producer and consultancy, Manchester.
Our firm was the recipient of Analysis and Improvement [R&D] funding in 2025 as a part of the GM Enterprise Progress Hub, an initiative supported by Mr Burnham when he was mayor of Larger Manchester. We’re utilising R&D assist to develop a world-leading packaging innovation, with {industry} trials being accomplished and a launch due within the coming months. The GM Progress Hub is all about supporting native enterprises with tailor-made recommendation, funding entry and workforce improvement.
“Mr Burnham realised that supporting SMEs can unlock market-leading improvements, drive industry-wide collaboration and create sustained alternatives for financial development.”
Andy Burnham was eager for the initiative to open doorways for SMEs, which don’t all the time have quick access to very large capital reserves or specialist assets to behave on the various nice concepts that these smaller, agile and entrepreneurial companies are sometimes well-known for.
Mr Burnham realised that supporting SMEs can unlock market-leading improvements, drive industry-wide collaboration and create sustained alternatives for financial development. I imagine that if he turns into PM, he’ll be seeking to do extra of this throughout the UK. He’s spoken about devolving powers to UK areas, and primarily based on what he delivered as mayor of Larger Manchester, this might effectively contain creating enterprise assist alternatives for SMEs in cities and cities nationwide.
‘Burnham’s agenda might be transformative, however element issues’ – Todd Davison, co-founder and MD of Purbeck Private Assure Insurance coverage, London.
Andy Burnham’s devolution agenda might be genuinely transformative for small enterprise homeowners within the north of England; however the element will matter enormously. The suggestion of regional management over enterprise charges, procurement and important providers sounds compelling, however SMEs want certainty, not complexity.
“Regional financial confidence is a significant factor in whether or not a small enterprise proprietor feels in a position to make investments and develop, or whether or not they pull again.”
If devolution means completely different guidelines in numerous areas, enterprise homeowners and their lenders will want readability on what meaning for funding selections, borrowing urge for food and the chance setting they’re working in. What we constantly see is that SME homeowners are already carrying vital private monetary threat, usually backed by private ensures on enterprise loans.
Regional financial confidence is a significant factor in whether or not a small enterprise proprietor feels in a position to make investments and develop, or whether or not they pull again. If Burnham’s agenda genuinely shifts assets and decision-making energy nearer to the companies that want it, that would strengthen confidence in markets which have felt left behind. But when devolution creates a patchwork of native guidelines that provides to the regulatory burden on small companies, it dangers making a troublesome setting tougher nonetheless.
I would love Burnham to reverse the employer NI enhance, or at minimal increase the edge considerably in order that small companies aren’t penalised for taking over employees. It is without doubt one of the most direct limitations to SME development we’ve seen in years.
Second, enhance entry to finance. Too many viable small companies are being turned away by excessive road lenders, and the private assure market, which we work in each day, exists exactly as a result of administrators are having to place their very own property on the road to safe the funding their enterprise wants. They need to be working with lenders to get extra capital flowing to SMEs.
‘Enterprise development issues; however don’t examine the North to London’ – Kate Burt, founder and CEO of boutique compliance consultancy HiveRisk, Preston.
Whoever is in No 10, the precedence must be creating the circumstances for companies to develop. Too many SMEs have confronted years of financial uncertainty, rising prices and sluggish development. London is already one of many world’s main enterprise and authorized centres, and we should always proceed to construct on that success.
However rising the UK financial system isn’t about evaluating Northern cities to London; it’s about harnessing the untapped potential of cities like Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool to compete with comparable world enterprise hubs for funding, expertise and innovation. Backing the North’s world-class authorized {and professional} providers sector would give SMEs higher entry to the experience they should scale, create jobs and drive sustainable development throughout the UK.
‘Energy distribution is constructive, if backed by infrastructure’ – Angela Yore, founder and CEO at SkyParlour, a fintech communications and advertising consultancy, Manchester.
The transfer to distribute energy throughout the UK is constructive for SMEs however will should be backed up by daring infrastructure tasks to enhance the whole lot from housing to public transport. Firms don’t simply want decrease enterprise charges, they want staff to need to work within the cities and cities the place they’re primarily based.
Manchester has been a blueprint; individuals don’t simply need to come right here for jobs, however as a result of it’s a particularly livable metropolis. Firms like Go-Cardless in Leeds and Starling in Manchester are displaying that world-class corporations can exist outdoors the London bubble and I hope different fintechs make the most of the chance that the brand new prime minister is seeking to create.
‘Energy out of Westminster is sweet; however companies want sensible assist’ – Jason Tassie, founding father of Know Your Enterprise, a monetary merchandise comparability web site, Norwich.
If and when Andy Burnham is prime minister, the largest upside for UK SMEs can be a severe try to pull financial energy out of Westminster and nearer to the companies really creating jobs within the areas.
“If Burnham turned PM, I’d need to see him focus much less on shouting about devolution and extra on utilizing it to make the UK a a lot simpler place to run and scale a enterprise.”
Enterprise coverage has for a very long time been designed by way of a London lens, and I believe that has meant that there was little understanding of what companies in different components of the nation really must develop.
If Burnham genuinely shifted decision-making, infrastructure spending and abilities budgets out to regional leaders, I believe that may actually be constructive for SMEs as a result of native economies should not all coping with the identical issues. A one-size-fits-all development technique has not labored significantly effectively. That mentioned, merely “shifting energy north” is just not really a correct marketing strategy in itself. What companies want now’s fairly sensible; less complicated tax and higher transport, simpler entry to development finance, and assist with hiring and retaining individuals outdoors London.
If Burnham turned PM, I’d need to see him focus much less on shouting about devolution and extra on utilizing it to make the UK a a lot simpler place to run and scale a enterprise.
