Grimsby’s experience offers lessons for how the next government can better help other towns with shrinking or stagnating populations.
“As a local authority, we put a lot of time and effort into bidding for pots of grant-funded money,” Jackson says. “It would be far better if the Government just said ‘this is your chunk of money for regeneration, it is up to you how you spend it as long as you do so sensibly’. [We need] more devolution.”
Boris Johnson’s government set out to narrow the economic and social gap between the UK’s regions under the banner of “levelling up”. However, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) warned on Friday that progress has been “feeble”.
“It has been a policy failure,” said Adrian Pabst from NIESR.
Far greater investment, faster dishing out of funding and handing more powers to local leaders is needed for it to succeed, the think tank said.
When the political parties released their manifestos, the Conservatives reiterated their support for levelling up. However, the main vehicle for achieving this policy – the UK Shared Prosperity Fund – would after three years be redirected to pay for making 18-year-olds do national service.
Labour, meanwhile, plans to retire the term levelling up but has promised improvements to infrastructure planning, addressing regional health inequalities and greater devolution. Notably, the party wants to build new towns.
Grimsby and neighbouring Cleethorpes have received two rounds of levelling up funding alongside other investment amounting to £280m.
The town will be part of the Humber Freeport, giving it favourable tax and customs rules. Meanwhile, the high street is being redeveloped to pivot from struggling retail to more leisure facilities.
“I have been here since 1965. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time when various parts of the private and public sector are working so closely together along with government to try and move the area forward,” Jackson says.
“These things don’t happen overnight,” he adds.
One source of hope for the town is the growing renewables sector. It already employs around 2,000 people and is bringing jobs in areas like engineering and computer science.
The world’s largest offshore wind farm, owned by Danish company Orsted, is being operated and maintained from Grimsby.
A local success story is Myenergi, which has grown from two people to a 300-person operation with funding from venture capitalists.
Its core product, Zappi, is the first in the world to allow electric car owners to charge their vehicles with energy from solar panels.
Co-founder Jordan Brompton says she wants to help her hometown move from “the fishing and food industry towards becoming a green electronics hub”, a transition she describes as “from fish to chips”.
Hiring can be a challenge, however.
“It’s very difficult to employ engineers and coders, in particular for senior roles, because they all gravitate towards cities,” Brompton admits.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
