Our history shows us that the North has the grit, determination and creativity to face challenges and succeed.
These qualities helped our region shape the world through the Industrial Revolution and then reinvent itself to build a vibrant, forward-looking, modern economy.
And this is why I am confident that once we emerge from this difficult time, the country has the right mechanisms in place to ensure the strongest possible economic recovery, and that the North will be at the forefront of it.
The social and economic impact of Covid-19 dwarfs that of the 2008 financial crisis, and many businesses are understandably concerned about their ability to bounce back after this period of inactivity.
According to data published this week by Lloyds Bank, overall business confidence has plummeted to a near record low across all 海角视频 regions and all sectors, with three quarters of businesses saying demand has fallen, including 36% reporting a drop by more than half.
But leaders from across the North are taking the initiative and doing what they can to support people, businesses and essential services, such as the way that they have quickly mobilised to implement free travel for frontline workers, as just one example.
One of the key mechanisms to accelerate this recovery will be the collaborative effort of England’s Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
From online careers support and guidance to help young people in Cheshire and Warrington, to Lancashire’s #AskForHelp service, and Tees Valley changing the hours of its dedicated business support line to a 24/7 service, LEPs are stepping up to provide tailored support for each region.
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With assistance from their LEPs, there are many businesses that are being empowered to innovate or shift production capacity and support the NHS in its fight against Covid-19.
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For example, Herida Healthcare, a Leeds-based manufacturer of specialist mattresses which has ramped up manufacturing and operations to urgently supply 12,000 mattresses to the new NHS Nightingale super-hospitals.
In my role as Chair of the NP11 (the grouping of all 11 Northern Powerhouse LEPs), I am seeing first-hand how rapidly partners are working to respond to Covid-19, and we are working to amplify these efforts in support of businesses.
I’m also hearing directly and daily from other LEP areas and northern business leaders about where some of the key challenges and gaps are emerging.
Being in such a position has enabled the NP11 to identify and champion issues on behalf of the North’s business sector, such as the urgent need to plug funding gaps for medium and micro-sized businesses, and to call for the Government and Bank of England to look for new ways to support legitimate businesses that don’t match eligibility criteria and risk falling through the cracks.
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On behalf of the 537,000 sole/small traders across the North who are particularly vulnerable to economic shocks, we wrote to the Government earlier this month to put forward proposals for a micro version of the CIBLS (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme) to help unlock smaller amounts of funding that may be necessary.
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The micro-loan scheme that has since been announced by the Chancellor is evidence that the Government is taking seriously the messages from the wider business community.
Importantly, our own response is also about being able to calibrate the Government’s delivery rather than just set out more asks.
To that end we are meeting regularly with regional directors of banks that cover the North of England, to aid their responsiveness in distributing the allocated business support in these exceptional circumstances.
The banks are essential for a speedy recovery and deserve a lot of credit for the pace at which they are responding. Being able to work in partnership with them and represent the North’s business voice as one, is incredibly useful at this time.
LEPs have already helped to speed up some processes that would otherwise take months and even years to fulfil, unlocking additional funding for arts and cultural originations in Cumbria, and for a major decarbonisation project in the Humber, to give just a couple of examples.
Beyond the immediate response to the crisis, we have begun to consider and discuss with Government officials, how our collective efforts must be deployed to rebuild and recover the Northern economy.
The North has exceptional strengths in health innovation, advanced manufacturing, clean growth, and digital that can be deployed to ensure maximum resilience and responsiveness to a post-coronavirus economy.
Equally, the North has longstanding challenges in terms of its skills base, prevalence of insecure work, incidences of mental and physical health conditions, and reliance on typically low productivity sectors such as retail, leisure, and tourism.
These challenges are being exacerbated by the current crisis and require particular attention, with tailored solutions.
Leading the economic recovery will also mean taking some initial steps to refocus our policy programme towards areas such as mitigating supply chain impacts, realising potential ’north-shoring' opportunities, and expanding the role of the innovation ecosystem in supplying health services.
It does not mean however, unravelling the work that has been delivered to date.
The Manifesto for the North that we published in partnership with the Convention of the North last November remains a solid foundation on which to deliver a strong recovery.
Recovery from the coronavirus pandemic represents the single biggest economic challenge since the Second World War, and it is imperative that recent progress to level up the 海角视频 is not lost.
However, it is also a huge opportunity to reshape the British economy to make it more inclusive, productive, sustainable, innovative, and resilient.
The Northern economy is only as strong as its businesses, and the 海角视频 economy is only as strong as its regional economies – the Northern Powerhouse can ensure that the Covid-19 recovery is led by a wider effort to level-up the 海角视频.
In responding to today’s uncharted challenges, I have frequently recalled the words of playwright George Bernard Shaw: “We’re made wise not by the recollection of our past but by the responsibility for our future.”
Never have these words been truer - the actions that we take now will ensure the strongest possible future for our children and grandchildren.
Our response to the Covid-19 impact on business is a major challenge but also an opportunity for the North - and indeed the rest of the country - to play to its strengths like never before.