Managing Partner John Joyce has been appointed to Board of The Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP), an independent think tank established to represent the voice of major business and civic leaders across the North.

The NPP will be chaired by the Rt. Hon George Osborne MP, who first outlined the Northern Powerhouse concept in 2014 and was a key exponent of the vision. The overriding goal of the partnership is to ensure that the vision continues to be developed and delivered.

John Joyce's role will allow the firm to play an important role in providing insight and evidence to drive the Partnership forward. John will be supported by Partner Michael Birchall.

Significant strides have already been taken towards the creation of a Northern Powerhouse, with several key projects underway. Our involvement in the NPP will enable us to support economic growth and continue to play a vital role in some of these projects:

• Transport – Making the case for and supporting: HS2 Phase 2, Transport for the North as a Statuary Body and its investment programme in transport connectivity across the North, the introduction of new rolling stock into the North, Airport City and Manchester Airport's £1bn Transformation Programme
• Devolution – Manchester leading the way on agreeing the first devolution deal with central government and Station devolution to Greater Manchester
• Science and Innovation – Manchester Science Park, CityLabs, ESOF, Royal Liverpool major rebuild and Life Sciences Accelerator and our newly formed Life Sciences offering
• Culture – our involvement in the North's cultural offering from Opera North to Manchester International Festival. Advising on iconic schemes such as MediaCity and HOMEMCR.

An initial series of roundtable events will be hosted over the coming weeks, chaired by Rt. Hon George Osborne MP. These roundtables will start to develop consensus amongst prominent business and public sector organisations on the issues and priorities that will enable the NPP to drive transformational change throughout the Northern economy.

John Joyce, Managing Partner at Addleshaw Goddard, said: “As lawyers, our day-to-day work is focused on helping businesses find solutions for challenges they face. We see the Northern Powerhouse in the same way. It’s a solution that will enable us to better coordinate resources and investment. This can only happen with the full weight of private and public sector coming together. The role of professional services firms like ours must be to leverage our wider networks, ensuring that the many global investors we work with daily recognise the myriad benefits of deploying capital in the North, helping Britain build a more balanced and sustainable economic future.” 

John and Michael will work alongside other Chief Executives of major Northern companies such as Associated British Ports (ABP), Barclays, Bruntwood, EY, HSBC, Mace Group, Manchester Airport Group (MAG) and Siemens. In Addition, there will be civic representation across the region.  

The Rt Hon George Osborne MP, said: "Since the Northern Powerhouse Partnership was launched in September this year I have, frankly, been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response we have received from business and civic leaders right across the North. We've made more progress than I could have possibly hoped for." 

"In the next two months, I'm going to set out, with the Partnership, to visit cities across the North - from Liverpool to Leeds, Newcastle to Sheffield and Manchester - to listen to businesses and local leaders. It's just a start of the engagement with communities right across the region."

"Chairing this Partnership is now the major focus of my political energies. These roundtable events will enable the Northern Powerhouse Partnership to begin to develop a consensus."

Following these roundtables a report will be published in mid-December and further engagement will be planned across the North in 2017.