Summary
Greater devolution presents an opportunity for Manchester's established tech base, but success depends on public bodies understanding ecosystems beyond their formal structures. Combined Authorities must make better decisions on skills, infrastructure, procurement and innovation support by grasping how technology adoption works in practice across businesses.
The planned Digital Campus in Manchester exemplifies the practical benefit: a larger concentration of public sector digital capability should create new routes for startups and scaleups to access government procurement, data and problem-solving partnerships that smaller companies can navigate.
Gallagher argues that No.10 North should integrate national programmes—including Innovate UK, ARIA, AI Growth Zones and Tech Towns—with regional ecosystem organisations rather than operating in silos. The North comprises distinct clusters (Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Newcastle and Hull) with different strengths; connectivity between them, rather than flattening them into a generic offer, would help businesses scale without relocating to London.
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This is a summary written for the Manchester Business Services register. The full article belongs to Manchester Digital — read it at source.
Common questions
- What is this article about?
- Katie Gallagher, managing director of Manchester Digital, has said that devolved powers could help align policy and funding with the tech sector's needs, but only if Combined Authorities understand the depth of local ecosystems. She argues that AI policy must keep pace with business adoption, and that No.10 North should connect regional clusters rather than centralise support.
- When was this published?
- This article was published on 20 August 2026.
- Who published this article?
- This article was published by Manchester Digital.