Across the North of England, politicians frequently speak about pride of place, levelling up, regeneration and opportunity. Yet for those working daily in the creative industries — fashion, media, design, photography, retail — a fundamental question remains unresolved:
Are we genuinely building the conditions for creative economies to thrive in the North, or are we managing decline while talent quietly drains away?
This article is not a manifesto, nor is it party-political. It is a set of searching questions — grounded in evidence, lived experience and economic reality — addressed to those entrusted with stewarding the North’s long-term prosperity.
From Heritage to Infrastructure: What Are We Really Preserving?
The North of England is rich in inherited assets: mills, warehouses, civic buildings, transport infrastructure and industrial spaces built by previous generations not as monuments, but as working economic infrastructure.
Yet today, many of these buildings sit vacant, underused, or are repurposed primarily for residential conversion. That raises an important question for local authorities and combined mayoral regions:
- How many historic buildings in your area could house creative businesses today?
- How many are actively planned for productive economic use rather than passive redevelopment?
- Who is accountable for ensuring these inherited assets remain economically active?
- When was the last time creative and cultural potential was mapped directly against existing heritage buildings?
Preservation without productivity is not stewardship. Our forefathers built assets to generate employment, trade and innovation. Are we honouring that legacy — or simply managing what remains?
Networks, Not Silos: Do We Understand How Creative Economies Actually Grow?
Creative industries do not thrive in isolation. They grow in dense, connected networks — where designers, makers, retailers, photographers, media professionals and technologists interact repeatedly, visibly and commercially.
This leads to further questions:
- Are creative industries treated as interconnected economic networks, or as isolated policy silos?
- What mechanisms exist to connect creative businesses across towns and cities — not just within individual council boundaries?
- How are smaller towns meaningfully linked into the opportunities of larger Northern cities?
- What is being done to reduce fragmentation between councils, cultural bodies, LEPs and combined authorities?
Economic resilience does not come from isolated success stories. It comes from systems that allow collaboration, trust transfer and shared visibility to compound over time.
Digital Networks and the Cost of Visibility
Creative networks today are not only physical — they are digital. Trust, reputation and opportunity now travel online faster than geography.
When businesses link to one another’s websites, collaborate digitally, share platforms and amplify each other’s work, they generate authority and visibility without recurring advertising spend. These are practical mechanisms that reduce the cost of reach for small businesses competing nationally and internationally.
This raises further questions:
- Are local authorities supporting shared digital platforms, directories and regional showcases?
- Are creative businesses encouraged to collaborate digitally — or left to compete individually for attention?
- Do regional economic strategies recognise that trust and visibility now compound through networks rather than paid exposure?
Digital fragmentation weakens regional economies. Networked visibility strengthens them.
Retaining Northern Fashion Talent: Are We Producing Too Many Graduates for Too Few Jobs?
One of the most pressing and uncomfortable issues concerns creative education and employment, particularly in fashion.
Universities across Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield and Bradford produce thousands of fashion and design graduates each year. This is a strength — but only if the regional economy can absorb that talent meaningfully.
The reality is stark. Starting salaries in fashion roles frequently fall between £18,000 and £22,000, often below the national graduate average and, in many cases, below a sustainable living wage in major cities. This is true not only in the North, but even in London.
The consequence is predictable:
- Graduates relocate south in search of opportunity
- Rely on family support to remain in the industry
- Or leave fashion entirely because the economics simply do not add up
This prompts difficult but necessary questions:
- Are we producing more fashion graduates than there are paid roles to support them?
- Are creative courses aligned with real employment pathways, or symbolic success metrics?
- Do we measure success by enrolment numbers — or by how many graduates are still working locally five and ten years later?
Educating talent without building the economy to support it is not opportunity creation. It is structured disappointment.
HS2, Infrastructure and the Direction of Economic Gravity
These questions connect directly to wider debates about infrastructure — particularly the abandoned HS2 extension to Manchester.
Politically, HS2 was framed as a mechanism to “bring opportunity north.” Yet economic research consistently suggests that faster connections to dominant centres often reinforce existing gravitational pull, rather than redistribute opportunity outward.
Studies by organisations such as the Centre for Cities have shown that improved connectivity frequently increases commuting flows into capital cities, rather than generating local investment where the tracks arrive.
In practical terms:
- Faster routes to London make it easier for Northern talent to leave
- Transport alone does not create jobs or creative ecosystems
- Infrastructure without local economic capacity accelerates extraction, not growth
The political question is therefore not whether transport matters — but whether Northern infrastructure investment has been overly focused on exit routes rather than internal connectivity and local capacity.
Cross-Regional Northern Marketing: Why Are We Not Promoting Ourselves to the World?
A further question deserves serious attention: who is responsible for promoting the North of England — as a connected cultural and creative region — to the rest of the world?
Other regions and nations do this unapologetically. California actively markets itself in the UK and Europe to attract tourism, investment and creative talent. Countries such as Turkey invest heavily in international promotion, not simply to drive visitor numbers, but to position themselves culturally and economically on the global stage.
By contrast, despite the North’s extraordinary industrial heritage, cultural output and creative talent, there is little evidence of sustained, coordinated international promotion of the North — either as a whole or as a connected set of regions.
We know this approach works. The 2014 Tour de France Grand Départ in Yorkshire delivered global visibility, economic impact and a powerful re-imagining of the region’s identity. It reached hundreds of millions worldwide and generated lasting goodwill. Yet the more pressing question is: what followed? Where was the long-term, pan-Northern strategy to build on that momentum?
The same question applies to sport. Northern football clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Leeds United, Newcastle United and Everton attract major international investors who clearly see value in Northern culture, identity and global reach. That appetite exists.
What is less clear is how that interest is being leveraged beyond football — into wider Northern heritage and cultural assets. Are regional leaders working collaboratively across the North to engage those investors, align cultural promotion, and present a coherent Northern proposition? Or are opportunities being missed through fragmentation and competition?
This matters directly for fashion and the creative industries, which rely on international visibility, cultural storytelling, physical spaces and tourism-driven footfall to sustain growth. Without coordinated promotion, designers, retailers and makers are left to compete individually on a global stage that rewards scale and narrative coherence.
Political Time Horizons: Institutions or Initiatives?
A final question concerns time.
- How many current creative-industry initiatives are designed to survive beyond a single political term?
- What physical or institutional assets will still exist in twenty years as a result of today’s decisions?
- Are we building durable creative institutions — or cycling through temporary programmes and pilot schemes?
Previous generations built assets that lasted centuries. Are we building anything with comparable ambition?
An Invitation to Respond
These questions are not theoretical. They go to the heart of whether the North is being managed or genuinely developed.
We invite local councillors, regional mayors and policymakers to respond publicly and specifically:
- How are you stewarding inherited Northern assets for productive use?
- How are you enabling creative networks to form and grow across the North?
- How are you ensuring that creative education leads to sustainable employment?
- And how are infrastructure and promotion decisions being aligned with long-term regional prosperity?
The North does not lack talent, history or potential. What it requires is joined-up stewardship, long-term thinking and collaborative leadership.
We welcome the conversation and encourage the sharing of this article to all in our region who want a voice and a solution.
