Unwritten Creative has conducted new research, which reveals that North East business executives believe the business community should be the guardians of the Northern Powerhouse brand.
The snap poll of a sample of business influencers from the region, carried out by the Newcastle-based branding experts, also highlighted the belief that a strong Northern Powerhouse brand would be beneficial to international trade.
Last weekend, the Government confirmed the continuation of the project after James Wharton MP was replaced by Andrew Percy MP as the Minister responsible for the initiative.
And while the Northern Powerhouse is a key element of the Government’s regional devolution commitment, North East businesses believe responsibility for its brand should be devolved to the region to help showcase the area and its people.
Overwhelmingly, 90 percent of those questioned say that regional business should have responsibility for the Northern Powerhouse brand with the same number also believing that the brand can help sell the North of England to international business.
The poll supports the Institute of Directors (IoD) ‘business-led’ initiative, which was launched last week to drive the next stage of the Northern Powerhouse scheme.
Unwritten, which is a specialist in ‘place’ branding, which helps create and implement marketable identities for locations, suggests the Northern Powerhouse brand is a powerful tool that the region has to capitalise upon to achieve a presence in competitive international markets.
Amy Jackson, Director of Unwritten, said: “The further away we get from UK shores the more important the Northern Powerhouse brand becomes. Rather than trying to promote the attributes of individual Northern cities to world markets that only think of London when considering Britain as a place to do business, we can offer the collective might of brand Northern Powerhouse.”
Lisa Eaton, Director at Unwritten, said: “The Government has the ability to open doors for the Northern Powerhouse, but it is the businesses within it that are the best advocates for what the area has to offer. North East businesses, along with those in Yorkshire and the North West, are the perfect ambassadors for what they do and it seems only natural that they become the guardians of the Northern Powerhouse brand.”