Unlocking growth through collaboration: what I took from our webinar with the British Chambers of Commerce

With the Government’s long-awaited modern industrial strategy announced most recently, and its focus on supercharging growth in eight key strategic sectors, Robert White, CEO of Brabners and Co-Chair, True North Advisory Council, felt it important to reflect on what role businesses across the North can play in driving the strategy forward — and where they sit in the current policy conversation.

I sat with Alex Veitch, Director of Policy and Insight at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), as part of our first True North member briefing to discuss just that. Alex and the BCC bring a valuable national perspective to regional issues, grounded in deep research and constant dialogue with business leaders. Our conversation reaffirmed many of the themes we hear regularly from our True North members — and Northern businesses more generally.

To make a modern industrial strategy real, we need to listen to business concerns

We opened the session by discussing the overall sentiment among UK businesses. And the reality is sobering. As I am sure I do not need to remind our members, many businesses are feeling the bite in a number of different areas, including rising energy costs, skills recruitment, and complex international trading requirements. 

In the North, the weight of those challenges is even heavier. Four out of five businesses here, Alex told us, are struggling to recruit, compared to 70% nationally. Infrastructure also remains a sticking point. And while recent government announcements, including a 10-year infrastructure strategy have promised rail upgrades and new transport links in the North — Alex said what we are all thinking — we need to go further and faster. Not only on physical infrastructure but on digital infrastructure too. Even basic broadband is still unreliable in rural parts of the North, which makes doing business harder than it needs to be in 2025.

These themes are consistent with what we have heard directly from the True North network. In our recent member survey, over half (52%) identified access to workforce skills and talent as a significant barrier to growth, while 48% pointed to physical infrastructure — specifically transport. 

These are not abstract policy concerns. Business leaders feel them day in, day out. To make the industrial strategy work, we need a joined-up, place-sensitive approach that gets the basics right: infrastructure, access to skills, and digital capability.

Skills gaps and youth unemployment: joining the dots

Skills continue to dominate conversations across our network, and for good reason. There are currently nine million economically inactive people in the UK, including around one million young people not in education, employment or training (NEET). This, as Alex described, is a tragedy. And yet for businesses, recruitment is getting tougher.

However, Alex shared some encouraging progress — with the introduction of foundation apprenticeships. These shorter, more flexible schemes allow individuals to gain practical experience across multiple disciplines within a sector, before committing to a specific role. For example, rather than going straight into a bricklaying apprenticeship, an apprentice might start with a broader construction foundation apprenticeship, getting a feel for different parts of the job. This gives them time to find what fits, while still gaining valuable, transferable skills.

From a business perspective, this approach could be a game-changer. It removes some of the complexity (and cost) that has deterred smaller employers from maximising the apprenticeship levy, while also creating the environment to upskill our future workforce in multiple disciplines.

These reforms also aim to simplify entry requirements, particularly by easing restrictions for those who do not achieve standard Maths and English GCSE grades. That change is significant in a region where youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, and where many of our most driven young people need flexible, supportive routes into work.

As a network, one of the most valuable roles we can play is to make these pathways visible and workable, for businesses on the ground and the people in our communities. 

Regeneration is the engine of growth, if we get it right

Regeneration is at the heart of what we do and the most exciting area driving growth in the North, according to our member survey. Alex shared some reflections on what makes regeneration successful.

Done well, regeneration can catalyse investment, drive footfall, and raise confidence in a place. But to work for business, it must be anchored in local supply chains, skills, and leadership. As Alex explained, part of the challenge is capacity: to regenerate a place, you need people with the right skills, and businesses who can build, supply and maintain it. You also need procurement rules that work for smaller firms.

He pointed to Bradford, where improvements to the public realm and transport infrastructure are beginning to support town-centre renewal. But he also raised examples of missed opportunities elsewhere in the North where the ambition is right, but local suppliers are locked out, or the workforce simply isn’t in place to deliver regenerative change.

True North members — many of whom run businesses rooted in their communities — stand ready to play an integral role in building the future of the places they operate in. We must ensure they are given that opportunity and that inclusive regeneration is a core part of our national economic ambition. With future projects built on strong partnerships between the public and private sectors and underpinned by a long-term perspective. 

Confidence as a catalyst

As we closed the discussion, Alex spoke of the “unabashed pride in place” that defines so many parts of the North. It is something I see every day when meeting with leaders from across the region: a deep-rooted belief that this is a fantastic place to live, work and do business.

That pride and confidence is our differentiator. It is what drives True North — connecting purpose-led organisations who want to build a stronger, fairer, more prosperous future.

My hope is that the Industrial Strategy goes beyond the page and matches that confidence with clarity and commitment. Because if we get it right — joining up infrastructure, skills, and investment — then the North won’t be playing catch-up. It will be leading the way.