Daily Junction.mobi portalTechnology · July 22, 2026 · The Conversation · 3 min
The city is home to the fastest-growing digital economy in Europe.
<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <figure> <img alt="manchester skyline at dusk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/748434/original/file-20260716-71-i0pigb.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&rect=252%2C0%2C2995%2C1685&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" /> <figcaption>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aerial-view-manchester-city-uk-on-2085542731?trackingId=8b8800c9-2d11-45b8-a2f3-58ef05baf5a4&listId=searchResults">Pandora Pictures/Shutterstock</a></span> </figcaption> </figure>
<span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/richard-whittle-257891">Richard Whittle</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-salford-878">University of Salford</a></em></span>
<p>Of the policy areas where Andy Burnham might claim a mayoral record worth nationalising, the digital and technology economy is among the strongest. It is also one that has drawn surprisingly little scrutiny. </p>
<p>Over the past decade, <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/greater-manchester-106803">Greater Manchester</a> has become the <a href="https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-outlines-digital-and-tech-ambitions/">fastest-growing</a> digital economy in Europe, home to a tech ecosystem valued at around <a href="https://reports.ticmanchester.org/The-Greater-Manchester-AI-Catalyst-Report.pdf">US$4.2 billion</a> and the largest <a href="https://imperialtraining.org/corporate-news/manchester-named-uks-most-ai-ready-city-for-third-year-running/">artificial intelligence (AI)</a> sector by headcount anywhere in the UK outside London and the south east. </p>
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<p><em>The northern English city of Manchester has played a critical role in the development of Andy Burnham’s political and social outlook. This series considers what some have dubbed <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/manchesterism-190937">Manchesterism</a> and what it might mean for the future of the UK.</em></p>
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<p>Inward investment into the city region’s tech firms rose by more than <a href="https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/news/greater-manchester-sets-next-chapter-towards-being-a-world-leading-digital-city-region/">1,000% between 2017 and 2022</a>, according to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). The digital, cyber and AI cluster, anchored in Manchester city centre, now sits alongside advanced manufacturing, life sciences, the creative industries and low-carbon. This makes it one of the five frontier sectors around which GMCA has built its <a href="https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/news/mayor-sets-out-plan-to-reindustrialise-birthplace-of-industrial-revolution-with-five-global-clusters/">(re)industrialisation strategy</a>.</p>
<h2>Not just growth</h2>
<p>What makes this “Manchesterism” rather than simply growth is the machinery bolted around it. The cluster is coupled to a £1 billion <a href="https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/economy/greater-manchester-good-growth-fund/">Good Growth Fund</a>, to the <a href="https://www.gmgoodemploymentcharter.co.uk/">Good Employment</a> and <a href="https://www.gmgoodlandlord.org.uk/">Good Landlord charters</a>. It’s also linked to the <a href="https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/education-work-and-skills/technical-education-city-region/the-greater-manchester-baccalaureate-mbacc/">Greater Manchester Baccalaureate</a>, a skills route designed to give young people a direct line into the jobs these sectors create. </p>
<p>The planned relocation of <a href="https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/manchester-digital-campus-civil-service-groundworks-begin-ancoats">nearly 9,000 civil servants</a> into a new Manchester digital campus will deepen this cluster further. The idea, according to Burnham, is that the proceeds of growth should be <a href="https://www.centreforcities.org/blog/what-does-andy-burnham-think-good-growth-is/">recycled into communities</a> rather than syphoned out of them. </p>
<p>He also maintains that digital connectivity and the ability to participate digitally is a <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/economic-growth/regional-development/2022/02/andy-burnham-digital-connectivity-is-a-basic-human-right">basic human right</a> driving positive economic change. Burnham sees closing the digital divide as a key driver for a new model of economic growth that is citizen-led and inclusive. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable"> <a aria-label="Zoomable image" href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/748436/original/file-20260716-57-6nmkqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="exterior view of manchester piccadilly station." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/748436/original/file-20260716-57-6nmkqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/748436/original/file-20260716-57-6nmkqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/748436/original/file-20260716-57-6nmkqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/748436/original/file-20260716-57-6nmkqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/748436/original/file-20260716-57-6nmkqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/748436/original/file-20260716-57-6nmkqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/748436/original/file-20260716-57-6nmkqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.1&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a> <figcaption> <span class="caption">Around 9,000 civil service jobs will be transferred to Manchester as part of the planned digital campus.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/manchester-piccadilly-railway-station-frontage-lancashire-2593167549?trackingId=c96a226f-84b9-4834-9a05-e7440ee67205&listId=searchResults">John Lazenby/Shutterstock</a></span> </figcaption> </figure>
<p>But does any of this survive the journey from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston? Parts of it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2026/jun/29/bank-of-england-inflation-warning-ai-stock-markets-oil-burnham-bond-yields-live-news-updates">travel quite well</a>. Linking growth to place, concentrating on a region’s strengths, planning <a href="https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/what-we-do/education-work-and-skills/technical-education-city-region/the-greater-manchester-baccalaureate-mbacc/">education and skills around employers</a>, and linking <a href="https://www.gmgoodemploymentcharter.co.uk/">public investment to employment standards</a> are all moves that a national government serious about significant economic devolution could replicate. </p>
<p>The Whitehall-driven <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/manchester-digital-campus-confirmed">Manchester digital campus</a> is national policy already. And it is a key example of playing to a place’s strengths. </p>
<p>Other parts travel badly. Clustering is stubbornly place-specific, and no prime minister can promise every region the largest AI sector outside London, because there is only one of those to allocate. </p>
<p>The digital growth story also omits some harder economics. <a href="https://manchesterdigitalstrategy.com/resilient-ai-adoption-in-greater-manchester">Research</a> on the places exposed to the AI sector across Greater Manchester shows that the job benefits fall very unevenly between boroughs and occupations. So a cluster that lifts the city centre can have no effect on surrounding towns, rather than enriching places equally. </p>
<p>AI jobs can leave a borough exposed to risks – those jobs, the investment and infrastructure built around them can disappear if the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-could-burst-the-ai-bubble-267136">AI bubble bursts</a>. The public sector, increasingly a significant buyer of AI products, carries a pricing and procurement risk that a mayoralty has never had to resolve at a national scale.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/287626/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/richard-whittle-257891">Richard Whittle</a>, Professor of AI and Public Policy, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-salford-878">University of Salford</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/manchesters-digital-transformation-could-be-a-blueprint-for-other-parts-of-the-uk-287626">original article</a>.</p> </div>
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