Under new leadership

When Manchester last elected a new council leader, Alex Ferguson had just been told that he couldn’t win anything with kids, Oasis were set to perform their recordbreaking Knebworth gigs, Manchester Met was only four years old as a university – and Bev Craig was still at school.

Fast forward from 1996 to 2022, and Craig has taken over the council leadership from Sir Richard Leese, who retired late last year. It’s one of the biggest civic leadership jobs in the country, and Craig is one of only four people to take the top job in the authority’s history.

A native of Belfast, Craig first came to Manchester as a university student in 2003, and has called it home ever since, working in local government, higher education and for a trade union. She has risen up the council ranks since first being elected in 2011, serving in Sir Richard’s cabinet with health and social care and then deputy leadership portfolios – and seeing first-hand the regeneration of the city.

“If I compare the Manchester of 2003, with the city nearly 20 years later, I think it’s fair to say it’s dramatically different,” she said.

Met Magazine caught up with Craig a few months into her leadership tenure to find out what her ambitions are for Manchester, how she intends to work hand-in-hand with its universities, how Manchester Met’s teaching, research and industry links can provide the digital jobs of the city’s future – and her memories from working at the University.

Vision

Craig’s in-tray is a complex one – grappling with the COVID fallout, how Manchester benefits from the ‘levelling up’ agenda and the longerterm challenges of climate change. Plus, voters will want to know what a Craig-led administration will do for them.

Craig told Met Magazine that some of her immediate priorities are tackling the health inequalities that the pandemic has exposed, as well as building up to 10,000 new social and affordable homes over the next ten years, and helping Manchester meet its net zero commitments.

On the economy, Craig is proud of Manchester’s regeneration, most visible in the transformation of the city centre, but clearly wants to refocus on how to share the proceeds of that economic growth more evenly throughout the city and its residents.

If I compare the Manchester of 2003, with the city nearly 20 years later, I think it’s fair to say it’s dramatically different

“For me, it’s certainly about building on Manchester’s successes – as a city, we’re much more confident. We know where the areas of success lie. We know what we’re good at. And I want to make sure that we keep building those exciting areas of our economy that have attracted so many people to come and call Manchester home.

“But I also want to make sure that as we enter our next phase, Manchester’s growing economy is an inclusive one….the priority is to make all of what we do in terms of our inclusive economic strategy meaningful, so that the Manchester that we’re growing and that we’re creating is something that’s not just relatable, but it delivers direct benefits to people growing up here today, and makes sure that they are able to access the top jobs of tomorrow. That’s a massive priority for me.”

Those young people growing up in Manchester today could well be future Manchester Met students before they go into those top jobs. Craig is an example of how the city can persuade talented young graduates to build successful careers here – and she says this is becoming an easier task all the time.

“A student coming to our city 25 years ago could love Manchester, but not feel like they were able to progress their career locally. And it has been a very intentional piece of work over the last decade or two to create and attract businesses and organisations into the city to make sure that we have good quality jobs where people can progress,” she explained.

Manchester was recently voted third best city in the world by Time Out, behind only San Francisco and Amsterdam. “That’s because we’ve created great neighbourhoods,” said Craig. “Ancoats and New Islington get rave reviews across Europe. We’re the fastest growing digital and tech city in Europe. We compete globally on lots of these fronts.”

She continued: “It’s about opportunities, but it’s also around some of the broader liveability questions. Investing in green spaces, the very intentional resourcing of cultural activities and things to do. We have a really vibrant and rich cultural sector – I’ll be honest, when I was a student, probably I didn’t experience much life beyond the corridor and the city centre. But there’s so much more vibrancy now in Manchester. So I think attracting people after graduation is really important. But what we know then is that they will stay after that.”

Civic Agreement

Last September, Manchester Met signed the Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement, a flagship initiative between the five higher education institutions, ten local authorities and GMCA to drive forward social and economic change in the region.

For me, it’s certainly about building on Manchester’s successes – as a city, we’re much more confident. We know where the areas of success lie. We know what we’re good at. And I want to make sure that we keep building those exciting areas of our economy that have attracted so many people to come and call Manchester home

It promises to deliver collective action on six priority areas of education and skills; reducing inequalities; jobs and growth; the digital economy; net zero; and the creative and cultural economy.

These commitments have been made following consultation with political and civic leaders and polling of Greater Manchester residents, which found that people understood the role of universities as helping to train professionals to work in public services, creating jobs and opening up access to higher education for young people from across Greater Manchester and beyond.

For Craig, who will sit on its board, although the Agreement is new, it continues a rich tradition of Manchester City Council and its local universities working closely together – something which she is keen to build on.

“There are multiple reasons as to why it’s important. The first is not losing sight of the aspiration point, so Manchester universities should be places where Manchester students aspire to study and to go on and get good jobs.

“So some of the work that you do at Manchester Metropolitan, as well as the work of the University of Manchester is particularly important in raising aspirations in our schools. Work in FE colleges is really important too.

“The second is around areas of excellence in research. We’re really lucky in the city to have such great universities with such clearly defined areas of expertise. There’s health innovation, or tackling climate change or particularly some of the really exciting stuff coming out of Manchester Metropolitan on creative, digital and tech.

“And then the final thing is something I’ve long been passionate about, and that is being a good neighbour. I was the first Off Campus Affairs Manager to work across both Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester. The purpose of doing that with both universities was to make sure that we got it absolutely right in terms of welcoming students into the city. We’re a massive student city, but [it was about] making sure that communities were cohesive and that students landed into communities that they felt they supported and complemented.”

After Craig’s stint as Off Campus Affairs Manager she returned to Manchester Met as Public Engagement Manager in 2014, supporting with the opening of the Brooks Building and development of Birley Fields.

“The thing that really stood out to me was the real investment in the quality of the estate at Manchester Met. To see that investment into the new Business School, to new buildings, I think really kind of lifts a sense of pride. If you’re going into work and study in something that is architecturally beautiful or is well designed, then that automatically lifts you up and raises your aspiration. That’s a really positive thing.”

Craig’s experience working on the Birley Fields development reflects her approach to governing in close partnership with Manchester’s universities, and also the ambitions of the Civic Agreement to bring civic organisations and people together to make the city better for everyone.

The thing that really stood out to me was the real investment in the quality of the estate at Manchester Met. To see that investment into the new Business School, to new buildings, I think really kind of lifts a sense of pride. If you’re going into work and study in something that is architecturally beautiful or is well designed, then that automatically lifts you up and raises your aspiration. That’s a really positive thing.

“There was just a willingness to listen and collaborate. Birley Fields happened through collaboration with Manchester Met and the City Council, but also with local communities. I think it’s a really good example of blending your principles, your environmental credentials, and working with communities.”

Digital Strategy

Met Magazine spoke to Craig on the day she unveiled Manchester’s new Digital Skills Strategy, outlining the city’s plans to continue to grow its thriving digital sector. Manchester is Europe’s fastest-growing ‘tech city’ with an economy worth an estimated £5bn, employing 58,000 people in more than 10,000 businesses, and yet there is an acknowledged digital skills gap which is inhibiting its fullest potential.

Manchester Metropolitan is helping to plug that with its agile and innovative new £35m School of Digital Arts (SODA) – built in partnership with GMCA – which will provide skilled, industry-ready graduates ready to enter the local digital workforce.

“Manchester is already leading the way on this in terms of this part of the economy being a real priority,” said Craig, citing the number of global businesses basing themselves in Manchester, to the relocation of parts of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the venture capital investment in digital start-ups.

“But I think over the next five to 10 years, it will really kick off as people are embedded. I lead on skills, employment and digital for Greater Manchester, and that’s really why interventions such as SODA are so important, because it will bring an extra pipeline of talent through into that ecosystem of jobs.

"And I know – I speak to businesses on a regular basis that are crying out for fantastic graduates. So, I’m pretty confident that when people graduate, there’ll be jobs that they’ll get snapped up for, because we’re seeing more and more companies make Greater Manchester their home. It’s really quite exciting.”

Sustainability

Manchester Met – ranked the most sustainable university in the country for the second year running by People and Planet – is ideally placed to help to shape Manchester’s carbon net zero by 2038 ambition.

Craig has pledged “clear and decisive” action on carbon reduction, cutting the council’s own emissions, planting trees, improving air quality and promoting sustainable travel among other plans.

She also believes it can be part of Manchester’s economic and industrial future – supported by the local universities.

“Where there are economic opportunities for growth, for innovation, for new ideas, I see Greater Manchester being at the heart of this. There are real opportunities from advanced manufacturing – those scientific approaches to the interventions we need to make – right the way through to some of the creative work that’s happening in our universities around climate change.

“I work closely with Malcolm (Press, Manchester Met’s Vice-Chancellor) and I feel that the university and city council are very aligned about what it is we want to achieve. From a Manchester Metropolitan perspective, I feel like everyone’s going in the right direction.”