Wayne Jones OBE: "A successful, well-connected and ambitious airport strengthens the whole city-region"
Launching a new series of blogs looking at how Manchester Airport's global connectivity benefits businesses and organisations all around the area, we hear from Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce Chair Wayne Jones OBE.
Manchester Airport is one of Greater Manchester’s most important economic assets. It is far more than a transport hub: it is an international gateway to our city region that connects businesses, people, skills, investment and ideas. For companies across Greater Manchester, particularly those trading internationally, access to a major airport on their doorstep is a significant competitive advantage.
The airport’s extensive international connectivity enables businesses to reach customers, suppliers and partners around the world without routinely travelling through London or other European hubs. This matters particularly to Greater Manchester’s strengths in advanced manufacturing, professional and financial services, digital and technology, life sciences, education and the visitor economy. Direct, point to point connections make the city-region more attractive as a location for inward investment which is well supported by Invest Manchester and help locally based companies grow overseas. The airport aids Greater Manchester’s wider ambition to compete internationally as a place to invest, work, study and visit.
The scale of that connectivity is substantial. Manchester Airport has recently been handling around 32 million passengers annually, following major investment in its facilities, while Greater Manchester’s own investment material has long presented the airport as being at the heart of the city-region’s transport infrastructure. Continued development of routes and capacity therefore matters directly to the future competitiveness of the regional economy.
Its economic influence goes well beyond passengers and flights. The airport and the businesses around it create employment, generate demand through extensive supply chains and support sectors including logistics, hospitality, tourism, retail, construction and professional services. The World Freight Terminal is itself part of the region’s commercial infrastructure, reinforcing Manchester’s role as a trading city. Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) have identified that skills are equally important: collaboration between employers, education providers and initiatives based around the airport can help create pathways into employment and ensure that local people benefit from future growth, which is fully in line with the goals of the Local Skills Improvement Program (LSIP).
For Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Manchester Airport is especially significant because connectivity, international trade, skills and economic growth are central concerns for our members. As the UK’s largest Chamber, connected to over 50,000 businesses across the city-region, we consistently hear how important reliable domestic and international connections are to business confidence and investment decisions. Our policy and research work, including the Quarterly Economic Survey and the LSIP gives us a strong evidence base from which to represent those business needs.
The relationship is also tangible: the Chamber currently trades from the World Freight Terminal at Manchester Airport. That physical presence underlines how closely the airport, international commerce and the Greater Manchester business community are connected.
GMCC therefore has an important role in championing the airport while constructively representing the priorities of businesses. That includes supporting continued investment and better surface transport connectivity, promoting international trade opportunities, helping develop the skills pipeline and ensuring that growth is sustainable and delivers benefits across all ten Greater Manchester boroughs. We are currently in discussions with overseas locations who are keen to connect with our city.
Manchester Airport is ultimately part of Greater Manchester’s proposition to the world. A successful, well-connected and ambitious airport strengthens the whole city-region. For the Chamber and the business community we represent, its continued success is not simply an aviation issue; it is fundamental to trade, investment, productivity, employment and Greater Manchester’s long-term economic prosperity.