CHAMBER NEWS Bringing HS2 to the East Midlands
Business, MPs and local Government are making a concerted effort to drive commitment to the HS2 Eastern Leg. Chambers of Commerce along the
route – together representing over 11,000 companies – joined Members of Parliament and councillors at an event in London to show unity in support of the new rail link between Birmingham and Leeds via Sheffield and the East Midlands. They were joined by private and
public sector colleagues from Leeds north to Edinburgh to put forward the case for maximising the economic benefits HS2 Eastern Leg can deliver through onward connectivity all the way to Scotland. Research carried out by KPMG
identified that the Eastern Leg could be worth £4.1bn to the regional economies of the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. Since then a strong groundswell
of support has built for furthering the opportunities for growth that HS2 will bring by joining the route to the large conurbations of the North East and Lothian. The meeting, organised by the
Chamber in conjunction with hosts Turner and Townsend, followed letters sent by Chambers and councils along the route to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond seeking Government commitment to HS2 Eastern Leg. At the event in November at
global construction and management consultants Turner and Townsend’s London offices, delegates heard the case for HS2 Eastern Leg from speakers: Lillian Greenwood, Labour MP for Nottingham South, Chris Hobson, Director of Policy at East Midlands
Chris Hobson (front left) and Lilian Greenwood (right) at the HS2 East event
‘Good infrastructure, such as HS2 Eastern Leg, will be crucial to the economy post-Brexit’
Chamber, Cllr Joyce McCarty, Deputy Leader of Newcastle City Council and Cllr Russell Imrie, of Midlothian Council. Speeches were followed by a Voice
of Business discussion where the panel included Andrew Carter, Deputy Chief Executive at Centre for Cities, Maria Machancoses, Programme Director and Midlands Connect, Jonathan Spruce, Director of Strategic Transport at Tees Valley Combined Authority and Lillian Greenwood. Chris said: “Good infrastructure,
such as HS2 Eastern Leg, will be crucial to the national economy post-Brexit.
Business should help shape Brexit
Making sure business has a hand in shaping the outcome of Britain’s exit from the EU was the focus of a major conference last month. Business is already beginning to feel the impact of Britain’s decision to
leave the EU, creating doubt and uncertainty. How Brexit is expected to play out and its impact on the national and
regional economy were among topics discussed at a State of the Economy Conference staged by the Chamber. With an audience of business leaders from across the region, key
speakers and panellists at the event included Nicky Morgan, MP for Loughborough and Lilian Greenwood, MP for Nottingham South. The economic landscape was discussed by Patrick McGee, Chief
Operating Officer at the British Business Bank, Ryan Bourne, Head of Public Policy at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Emma Titmus, of Primary Markets at the London Stock Exchange Group and Jochen Schnadt, Chief Commercial Officer at bmi regional. A second discussion group under the heading of Shaping a Great Future - Envisaging a Successful East Midlands Economy Post-Brexit, included
L-R: Lilian Greenwood MP and Nicky Morgan MP share the stage at the State of the Economy Conference
Garry Mowbray, Director of Finance at Bombardier Transportation, Nick Freeman, Assistant General Manager of Corporate Planning and External Affairs at Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK), John Bowater, Chief Finance Officer & Deputy Chief Executive at Aggregate Industries and Bill McElroy, UK MD Advisory at Turner & Townsend. Chris Hobson, Director of Policy at the Chamber, said: “This conference
is all about business not being passive as Brexit unfolds, but taking a central role to help shape the vision for what a successful East Midlands economy should look like in a future outside the EU.”
business network December 2016/January 2017 15 “The areas along the route are
home to some of the UK’s most dynamic and innovative firms, operating successfully in regional, national and international markets. “These businesses are already
growing. Improving linkages will unlock further growth, allowing them to exploit the benefits of agglomeration and help forge an economy that is balanced both in terms of geography and sector. “The business community is fully
committed to grasping the opportunities that HS2’s Eastern Leg will bring. Plans are already being developed to increase
connectivity within the regions in order to maximise the economic benefit of HS2. “The economic benefits have
been clearly identified and we don’t want to see the East Midlands and other parts of the country on the Eastern Leg route miss out on this opportunity for growth.” Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of
Leeds City Council, said: “The Eastern Leg of HS2 brings together half of the ten largest city regions in the UK. “We will continue to call for the
pace of construction to be accelerated so the benefits of high- speed rail can be felt across the whole of the north as early as possible in keeping with the commitment to use HS2 as a way of rebalancing the national economy.”
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