A Great opportunity to unlock North's potential

An initiative inspired by the Great North Run that brings together Northern mayors offers a unique opportunity to transform the North's economy, a new report says.

- GRAEME WHITFIELD

> North East mayor Kim McGuinness with Great North Run founder Sir Brendan Foster, second from left, and other mayors and leaders at a meeting of the The Great North board at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, home of Everton FC, in Liverpool last year

The paper from the IPPR North thinktank comes after the launch of the Great North initiative by North East mayor Kim McGuinness last year, which was backed by most other Northern leaders.

IPPR's paper says The Great North partnership could help bring in more public and private investment by offering a more obvious pipeline of schemes to invest in to both private developers and public finance institutions (PuFins).

Last year some of the country's largest private providers and insurers launched the Sterling 20 group to invest in infrastructure projects and fast-growing businesses in the regions, and IPPR says the group believes that "a shortage of money was not the issue but a pipeline of projects to invest in".