Unlocking the North’s Potential: What New Transport Funding Means for Our Regions
By Chris Founds, Managing Director, CJ Founds Associates
I welcome the recent announcements on transport funding across Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, and Bradford. These commitments represent more than just overdue investment — they’re a clear signal that well-connected, future-ready transport systems are finally being recognised as essential to the North’s economic renewal.
This is more than a headline. It’s an opportunity to deliver meaningful, lasting change in the places I live and work — and where CJ Founds Associates has proudly partnered with local authorities for over a decade. From highways and digital infrastructure to transport strategy and placemaking, we’ve helped secure over £200 million of funding for our clients and seen first-hand how bold ambitions can be translated into real-world results when there’s the right focus on delivery.
Momentum Over Milestones
Projects like the Metrolink extension to Stockport, Bradford’s integration into a regional mass transit system, Greater Manchester’s 5GIR programme and smart interchange upgrades across Liverpool City Region have the potential to redefine how people move, connect, and access opportunity.
But we must act with pace. Funding alone doesn’t build infrastructure — leadership and delivery do. To make this funding count, we need to:
- Empower regional authorities to act decisively and locally.
- Hold delivery bodies to account for outcomes, not just outputs.
- Streamline processes and remove avoidable bureaucracy that stalls progress.
In short, we must prioritise momentum over milestones.
Building Infrastructure that’s Truly Connected
To me, future-ready transport goes beyond rails and roads — it’s about creating public spaces that are both physically and digitally connected.
That’s why I believe digital inclusion must now be standard. This means:
- Reliable mobile coverage and high-quality public Wi-Fi along major routes and hubs.
- Smart interchanges that double as digital community spaces.
- Real-time data, integrated ticketing, and accessible design that make every day travel seamless and intuitive.
We can’t afford for digital to be an afterthought. It must be embedded from the outset — enabling equal access to opportunity and unlocking the full value of physical investment.
A Turning Point, Not Just a Talking Point
This £15.6 billion commitment marks the largest-ever investment in local transport for city regions. But its success will be defined not by the size of the number — but by what we do with it.
If we get it right, this investment will:
- Connect people to opportunity, especially in under-served communities.
- Expand labour markets, improve commutes and grow productivity.
- Narrow the regional divide between the North and South — and between towns and cities.
- Drive inclusive, place-based growth that’s sustainable for the long term.
At CJ Founds Associates, we’ve been helping local authorities across the North plan and deliver exactly this kind of change for years. And we’re ready to do it again — working alongside our partners to make sure this opportunity translates into tangible, lasting benefits.
This isn’t just about catching up. It’s about setting the benchmark for how investment can genuinely transform people’s lives and the places they call home.
