Bye for now!

On six months of posting

As promised back in January, I’m going to take a break from regular updates for the next few weeks due to the imminent arrival of our second child. So I’ll be swapping data and policy for bottles and nappies for a little bit.

This post is a summary and reflection on the past six months. I’ve been posting about projects, issues and trends across the North of England; meeting some new people and ideas along the way. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed, shared or commented on any post - I really appreciate it.

This newsletter now has over 800 subscribers - not just in the North of England but across the whole UK and beyond.¹

Part of my aim here is to highlight all of the amazing things going on and inject a little optimism. This isn’t to say everything is rosy, but far more things are within our gift to achieve if we have the means and put our minds to it. And these means are increasing all the time given the process of devolution. Milestones over the coming weeks will include the expansion of integrated funding settlements to four more northern mayors and the expected passage of the English Devolution Bill.

Photo by Ian Cylkowski on Unsplash

As I take a step back and think about the future, I have one small ask. Over the next few weeks, it would be great if you could fill out this reader survey to help me think about what to look at over the rest of the year. There are only four questions, none of them are compulsory and any views would be most welcome.

For example, do you like the posts about the economy and hate everything else? Or vice versa? Now you can let me know!

Complete Survey Here

Here are my most read ‘top’ posts according to Substack if you missed them:

1. Why is Greater Manchester the fastest growing part of the country?

2. Why Future North

3. What does £45bn for the North buy you?

4. What does the Budget mean for the North?

5. Building the future

6. What is driving the economy of the North East?

7. What lies behind the rise of Rotherham?

8. The wheels on the bus

9. Let Tracy Build

10. Trams and growth in West Yorkshire

Plus three of my favourites that didn’t make it onto this list:

1. A new national park for the Pennines?

2. AI and Tech - is the North catching up or falling behind?

3. Is this the future of local news? [Since I wrote this, Mill Media has announced its expansion to Leeds - will chalk this up as a win!]

And also here are three of my favourite charts:

1. Bus usage has taken off in Greater Manchester

2. AI adoption has been lower by businesses in the North than in the rest of the UK

3. Growth spending per head remains lower in the North than the Greater South East - but the gap has closed slightly

One final reminder about the survey:

Complete Survey Here

See you in a few weeks!

1. In particular, hello to the people across 25 other countries who are subscribed according to Substack statistics!