The chief executive of Liverpool City Council has raised concerns that the Northern Powerhouse could suffer in the political post-Brexit landscape.
Ged Fitzgerald spoke bullishly about Liverpool and the region鈥檚 digital tech sector but admitted to having some concerns about the devolution agenda.
He was one of seven speakers who took part in 老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 鈥楾ech in the Northern Powerhouse鈥� debate at Oh Me Oh My, in Liverpool.
鈥淚 remain slightly sceptical because I think the Northern Powerhouse was championed by certain people who might not be part of the ongoing government,鈥� he said.
鈥淚f聽 the current Chancellor is no longer the current Chancellor聽and Lord O鈥橬eill is moved out and Lord Heseltine is moved聽onto other things, who is going to champion the cause of the Northern Powerhouse other than the northern leaders and other northern cities and businesses in isolation?
鈥淭he need now, more so than ever after Brexit, is to collaborate, settle our differences and agree the things we have in common that are going to make the most difference to the north.
鈥淒igital and creative is a fantastic example of that.鈥�
Fitzgerald praised the city鈥檚 relationship with neighbouring Manchester.
鈥淲e鈥檝e collaborated with Manchester for a very long time,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e had continuity and a lot of success through Sir Howard Bernstein and Sir Richard Leese. We鈥檝e had less continuity but we鈥檙e putting our showcase together.鈥�
He said Liverpool needed to lay its tech credentials out to the world. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about big ambition but realistic ambition about what we鈥檙e world class at,鈥� he said.
The 鈥楾ech in the Northern Powerhouse鈥� discussion was sponsored by KPMG and Liverpool Council and was held in association with The Edge.
The other speakers were Amy De-Balsi, owner, Herd; Andy Burton, CTO, Sky Betting and Gaming; Jon Corner, CEO, The Landing, MediaCityUK; Lou Cordwell, CEO, magneticNorth; Graham Pearce, Technology, Media and Telecommunications lead, KPMG North; and Professor Ahmed Al-Shamma, executive dean of the faculty of engineering and technology, Liverpool John Moore University.