If you want to trace the rebuilding of Manchester after the IRA bomb of 1996, most roads lead to the city’s town hall and, more specifically, to room 212. This is the office of Sir Howard Bernstein, chief executive of the city council and the man widely credited with leading Manchester’s growth.
The champion of the city’s Metrolink system, and the man behind the delivery of the redesign and rebuilding of key areas including Spinningfields, Exchange Square and New Cathedral Street on time and budget, has earned a reputation for being a safe pair of hands, a Mancunian icon and, most importantly, someone who makes things happen. As one high-profile industry figure said recently: “You’re alright in Manchester though aren’t you? You’ve got a Sir Howard.”
But the 59-year-old, who started his career at Manchester city council as a junior clerk in 1972, says he does not dwell too much on what others think of him, even the positives. “You’re only as good as your last failure,” he laughs over coffee in room 212.
Now, as Bernstein plans to bring his Mancunian way to London to help with the West End Commission’s report into the capital’s challenges, due to be released in March, he talks about the impact he hopes to make outside of Manchester, the future of his home city and his hands-on approach to regeneration.
Sir Howard on London
Often seen as the embodiment of Manchester’s confidence and ambition, the promise of Bernstein bringing his ideas to London is likely to see ears pricking up around the capital. So what does he have in mind?
“You can’t help but admire the energy and creativity that the private sector has in the West End, and its long-term potential,” he says. “But it’s also fair to say it has challenges that need to be tackled.”
He says, apart from tackling the transport system, other areas need attention, such as retail, as more competition from Westfield will make the sector a much tougher one to navigate: “The businesses there never had to fight for growth because it has always happened. The next decade will be different for them.
“It’s important for the UK that the West End keeps its pre-eminent position in terms of retail and leisure but it can’t be taken for granted. It’s not enough to just say it will always be popular. It will need to work much harder to stand out as a retail, entertainment and experience destination.”
With at least some of his attention now focused outside of Manchester, sharing the city’s growth strategy with its rivals, is this where Bernstein sees his career developing? Increasingly away from his home city? Not if he can help it.
“Everyone who knows me sees me as focused only on Greater Manchester and its opportunities. Part of that role is to be seen as a thought leader I suppose, and what I’m doing in London is an example of that. As long as I’m satisfied I can marry that sort of position with my civic duties, I’ll continue to do it. But if there is any conflict, I can assure you that there’s only one winner.”
Mr Manchester
For a city that is quick to tell others how wonderful it is, the next catalyst for growth in Manchester stems from a constructive but largely critical report published in 2010 by Mike Emmerich, chief executive of the Commission for the New Economy, called Growth and Prosperity for Manchester.
It is one the city council commissioned into its own workings – turning the mirror on itself. The findings, says Bernstein, were “a withering analysis”. The report picked up on huge gaps in skills and training, and the pockets of deprivation that still dog the city. “But we knew we had to challenge ourselves to move the city forward,” he says.
“We do a lot of work to understand Manchester’s place in the economy, and what will grow cities in the future. Consistent leadership helps that I suppose as long as that leadership is effective.”
The key to growth, according to Bernstein, is allowing cities like Manchester to have more power over their own destinies – specifically, spending and skills development. A city-region deal bringing together all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester was the first step. Now he wants Whitehall to hand over more responsibility.
“The most important thing is we have government recognition about something some of us have been arguing for some time, that Greater Manchester has the capacity to be a national engine for growth. We need to make sure we are training people for the jobs that will develop in the city. We need a set of priorities that reflect the requirements of Greater Manchester, and they are not always the same as the wider North West. They’re certainly not the same as the rest of the UK as a whole.”
Manchester’s economy is moving in a new direction. It has a strong professional-services sector. The city is starting to look at IT, biotech and life sciences as the next big opportunity, as well as a burgeoning digital and creative collective.
“That’s a reflection of our assets and skill base,” says Bernstein. “We have a can-do, creative and entrepreneurial spirit. There is robust civic leadership and a strong relationship with business in Manchester. All of its institutions work together well. If you look at successful world cities, you will see a diverse pluralist model.”
Hanging the growth of the city on new discoveries such as graphene – the strongest, thinnest material in the world, discovered by two Russian scientists at Manchester University – will also affect the city’s commercial property requirements, he argues.
“People thought I was mad when we went to MIPIM two years ago and talked about graphene. What’s that got to do with property? Quite a lot, actually. We’re building the National Graphene Institute here in Manchester, and that will create new, possibly game-changing opportunities to commercialise that sort of discovery.”
He also claims large institutions will look for value-based office space as the economy recovers. “The days when financial institutions wanted to spend as much as they can on glitzy high-profile properties are going to be few and far between. In the next few years, you’ll see financial institutions rationalise properties around a wider area and focus their attention on cities, whether that’s Manchester or somewhere else. But they won’t be looking for huge, expensive properties.”
Successes and failures
In Manchester, developers including Allied London, Ask Developments and Argent have begun to adapt by offering less conventional office space, at schemes such as Spinningfields, First Street and The Hive respectively. That’s good news for Bernstein, as the city council has been a cash investor in several big schemes. It sunk more than £20m each into Allied’s Spinningfields, Ask’s First Street and the 21-acre NOMA district being developed around the city’s Victoria Station by The Co-operative.
That is unlikely to change, despite cuts to public-sector budgets and accusations from outside the Town Hall that the city can be more of a “dabbler” than a facilitator: “We are a positive, proactive council,” says Bernstein. “If we are going to grow our economy, there will continue to be the need for prudent interventions we can’t let the market operate by itself.”
Bernstein’s single-minded approach to growth does not always pay off. Setbacks include a referendum drubbing the idea of a congestion charge in Greater Manchester – all 10 boroughs voted against, despite the lure of a £3bn transport investment from Whitehall – but it also set big businesses in Greater Manchester against each other. John Whittaker’s Peel Group bankrolled and mobilised an opposition campaign that smothered the pro-lobbyists.
The city council also came a cropper in a recent CPO enquiry against Britannia Hotels, over the ownership of the London Road Fire Station. The building has stood derelict for 25 years, despite promises and plans from its owners. Bernstein was determined to take it from them, but the enquiry found he had acted outside his authority during the CPO process.
Was he embarrassed by it? “No, I don’t think I lost face over that,” he says. “I did what I always do. I pinned my colours to the mast because I knew it wouldn’t get built. We’re sat here several months later and it still isn’t being built. And that’s not a huge surprise to me.
In the battle for Manchester’s growth, Bernstein has continued to pick his own, domestically and outside of the city. And invariably, the winner resides in Room 212.
Bernstein on:
His (other) favourite city: “Barcelona. It shows how you can put sport at the heart of regeneration. It has reinvented itself, harnessed its assets and developed a profile for change.”
Peel Group: “The relationship is fine. They face challenges, as all businesses do, but John Whittaker has made a huge contribution to the region over many years. We’ve never been in each other’s pockets, but we both know that if there are any issues, we can pick up the phone and talk about it.”
Manchester City FC: “As a fan it’s been worse. You still have to pinch yourself. Not many clubs are investing £100m around their stadium. It has been a carefully constructed partnership. They’ve been fantastic to work with at all levels.”
His future: “Everything comes to an end at some point, but I’m happy to carry on doing what I’m doing for the moment. I think I have the best job in the public sector. A peerage? It’s not for me.”
