The Northern Powerhouse initative is a proposal to boost economic growth in the North of England particularly in the "Core Cities" of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle.

2. The Budget 2016
• It was good news for businesses in the North
of England.
• George Osborne continued to discuss his plans
to build a ‘northern powerhouse’.

3. What is the ‘northern powerhouse’?
It means rebalancing the economy
away from London by pooling the
strengths of the cities and towns of
the north of England.

4. What were the main highlights of the
Budget 2016 for the North?
• £60m for the
development of an
improved east-west
rail link named
Northern Powerhouse
Rail
• This aims to reduce
journey times from 50
mins to about 30 mins
between Leeds and
Manchester.

5. What were the main highlights of the
Budget 2016 for the North?
£75m to develop plans for an 18-mile road
tunnel under the Peak District to speed up
journey time between Manchester and
London

6. What were the main highlights of the
Budget 2016 for the North?
£20m to bring ‘lagging behind’ schools in the
north up to standard

7. What were the main highlights of the
Budget 2016 for the North?
Cuts to business
rates, with
600,000 small
businesses paying
no business rates
at all from next
year

8. What was the reaction?
The majority of businesses
warmly welcomed the
changes that will help small
businesses, including:
 taking the smallest firms
out of business rates
 cutting corporation tax
 changing stamp duty on
commercial premises.

9. Why is the ‘northern
powerhouse’ important
to the economy?

10. What I’ve set out today is a vision of the
Northern Powerhouse – not to rival the South,
but to be its brother in arms as we fight for
Britain’s share of the global economy. Let’s bring
our Northern cities together, so they’re bigger
and better than anyone can be alone.
- George Osborne, from his
first ‘northern powerhouse’
speech 23 June 2014

11. The ‘northern powerhouse’ stats
• The region accounts
for 16.7% of the UK
population and 13.3%
of the UK's Gross
Value Added
• This is compared to
London's 24.5%,
according to the
Centre for Cities.
• It has performed
below the UK average
for 10 years.

12. The government want to change
this in order to encourage foreign
investment nation-wide, rather
than just in London.

13. The ‘northern powerhouse’ stats
• The economy of the three northern regions that make up
the ‘northern powerhouse’ is worth approx. £289 billion,
which is twice the size of Scotland’s.
• If it were a national economy, the north of England would
rank as tenth largest in the EU.

14. If the UK is to remain competitive
in a global economy, it can only
do that if it operates as an
economic whole.

15. What does the
‘northern powerhouse’
mean for SMEs?

16. Improved transport
Improved transport would mean SMEs could
collaborate more effectively and access local
markets more easily.

17. Lower living costs
Lower living costs alongside improved economic
plans would mean more graduates would choose to
start careers in northern cities, rather than in
London.

18. Less decision-making from central
government
Less decision-making from central government and more
power to local authorities, meaning SMEs can find greater
support.

19. Overall, the
‘northern
powerhouse’ and
central
government’s
move toward
giving regional
economies more
investment and
power to invest
locally must be a
good thing.

20. Businesses across the UK
need to seek investment in
their regional economy and
take advantage of it. How
do you feel these changes
will impact business in your
region?
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