Be brave and ditch excuses – the key to future Manchester growth

On the day Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled her plans to drive growth (much of it rehashed old ideas that have previously been rejected), I attended a thought-provoking Insider session on the future of growth in the Manchester city region. 

The event brought together a range of speakers, including Matillion CEO Matthew Scullion, who shared inspiring insights into the city’s potential and the role of tech in shaping its future.

Matillion’s journey is a testament to entrepreneurial grit. Originally ‘poachers turned gamekeepers’, they built their own products out of necessity and scaled them into a global business. Now a poster child of both ‘Unicorn’ and ‘Centaur’ status regionally, Matillion’s story serves as an inspiration in thinking big. 

While the company’s first fundraising round was all UK-based, the bulk of its $305 million total investment funding has come from outside the UK. Scullion’s message was clear: don’t let a lack of local investment hold you back. Build a globally attractive business, and the capital will follow – no matter where it comes from.

In fact, his overarching message was one of ‘be brave and don’t make excuses’. It’s a great mantra. Excuses and a lack of confidence are arguably significant factors that have led the UK to fall behind the likes of the US in creating and growing world-leading companies.

For example, while the UK had a historical head start in computing innovation, we’ve let that advantage slip over time. Fast forward to today and the lead the US has built in software has been estimated to equate to an incredible 15-20% addition to the wealth the country would have without the sector. If the UK could harness that kind of potential, it could generate an extra £70 billion in tax revenue. 

A key takeaway that’s therefore hard to avoid: software is key to growth (for Manchester and the UK more widely). And while the Oxford-Cambridge Arc revived by Reeves has promise, the commitment to the sector needs to be about more than just physical infrastructure. It requires a shift in mindset and belief in the potential of UK tech to be the best and compete globally.

As a nation, we need to support and champion tech and software companies, encourage entrepreneurial bravery, and think globally. As Scullion put it, “there’s nothing mythical about the success of a company such as ours.”

Indeed, Manchester, a city that birthed the first computers, has the intellectual capital and infrastructure to lead again. But we need to get past any petty Manchester vs. London mentalities. It’s about the UK vs. the world. And Manchester has a massive role to play in that. The opportunity is vast and Manchester is positioned like few other city regions globally.

Another of the speakers, from EY, highlighted that the North West already punches above its weight, and that Manchester’s investment community is thriving. Further, following a period beset with pandemics and recessionary conditions, the Private Equity sector is now sitting on significant cash that’s ready to fuel growth. 

But as he pointed out,  while confidence is returning, challenges still lie ahead. 

The key for the region in this cautionary environment is to better focus on connecting businesses, academia, and communities – something the University of Manchester is actively working on.

The university is a global academic powerhouse already playing a central role in supporting the region -spinning out dozens of companies annually and fostering a new generation of entrepreneurs. As another of the speakers, University of Manchester Vice Chancellor Duncan Iverson stated, today 50% of its students want to start businesses when they graduate. That’s a huge shift in mindset from even just a decade ago and highlights how tomorrow’s regional leaders don’t want to settle for a corporate 9-5 life, they want to make their mark on the world.

However, to get wider social buy-in, we also need to speak to the bigger picture of why it’s so important to support business success.

As Travel Counsellors CEO Steve Byrne reminded us, business success is a force for good. This is something that we sometimes need to remind the wider population of. Especially those in the outer boroughs who witness the glittering skyscrapers rising in the city centre but who may see them as far removed from their realities. 

The likes of the Bee Network is helping to better connect the outskirts to the core, but we need to always remember that the ultimate goal of supporting businesses to succeed is to drive economic growth, raise living standards, create quality job opportunities, and fund vital public services. And we need to ensure that everyone in the region feels this benefit.

With that in mind, the lasting takeaway from the session was that the region’s future potential lies in harnessing its intellectual capital, fostering global ambition, and building a community that supports bold ideas.

Manchester must not just think big – it needs to think globally.

The city has historically led the world in many areas – computer science, splitting the atom, and today in areas such as graphene. Now, it must be once again match that ambition and confidence, and it must encourage its entrepreneurs to be brave and assured that they are among the best in the world.

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