Good Growth Summit debates profit and purpose as likely new PM plans ‘Number 10 in the North’

Andy Burnham wasn’t in the room at the Good Growth Summit in Manchester, but somehow he hovered over every conversation.

On Monday, Britain’s likely next Prime Minister announced his vision for ‘Good growth in every British postcode’. Wednesday’s summit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester had been planned for months, but its timing was perfect.

Speakers from the North West and beyond came to talk about what good, inclusive growth meant for them – and of course, to talk about what a new Government might mean. In areas from housebuilding to green energy and from diversity to commercial property, we heard how business can and should be about more than just profit.

It all depends on what you think “good growth” actually is. In the video introducing the event, organiser Paul Corcoran said it meant business “doesn’t have to be a trade-off between profit and purpose. We can do both.”

He added: “Let’s prove why good business is actually great business.”

In his in-person intro, the smart casual-dressed Paul joked: “All eyes are on Manchester at the moment. And I even came in my Andy Burnham getup. Though I did leave my Adidas Sambas at home.”

Emma Degg, CEO from the North West Business Leadership Team, said hope was at the heart of “good growth”. Again referencing Andy Burnham’s speech, she said: “Hope in every heart and growth in every postcode really is the essence of good growth.”

And she added: “It’s not for Andy Burnham or the cabinet or the ‘Number 10 of the North’ to make a difference and make sure we properly deliver good growth – it’s for all of us.”

Juergen Maier, chair of Great British Energy, co-founder of social enterprise vocL and former CEO of Siemens UK, also enthusiastically referenced Mr Burnham’s flagship speech this week.

He said: “Genuinely I was celebrating the words ‘good growth in every postcode’ and even more, I was celebrating the word reindustrialisation.”

In his keynote address Chris Woodroffe, managing director at Manchester Airport and chair at the NWBLT, also had to mention both Mr Burnham’s good growth and his fashion sense.

The besuited Chris joked he didn’t get the memo about dressing like Andy Burnham does in Manchester, saying “I’ve turned up looking like Andy Burnham from London with my red tie and matching red socks.”

But he said that the Makerfield MP’s focus on good growth was “really quite important” for the North West and for the wider UK. Chris said he’d been at a dinner the night before the summit and mentioned it – only to be asked “What is good growth?”

He added: “What I said to the person next to me was it’s the sort of growth that, rather than making the rich richer and the poor poorer, is the kind of growth that impacts everyone”

Chris noted that Andy Burnham had been talking about place-based change, and about communities being able to make their own decisions – which he said was “Growth in a place rather than delivered from Whitehall to people to whom it doesn’t quite work.”

He added: “That’s what good growth is to me – place based work delivered by government with people like Tom (Stannard from Manchester City Council)… and all the businesses you run coming together to deliver growth, to deliver good jobs, to deliver investment. That to me is good growth. And it needs a long term perspective.”

Talking of long-term ambitions, Chris hailed Manchester Airport’s £1.5bn investment programme. He said the airport now handles 32 million passengers, serving some 200 destinations – a network that means the airport is “connected to 72% of the world’s GDP”.

Chris said the airport had the potential to grow still further, but that would need more support from Government and for a project with which Andy Burnham is all too familiar.

“There’s actually an opportunity for Manchester to be a 60m (passenger) airport. But to do that someone needs to sort out the transport infrastructure and build the Northern Powerhouse Rail …”

He said Manchester’s transport links to cities such as Liverpool and Leeds paled in comparison to the much faster connections available in the Netherlands to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

If Manchester could get 60m passengers he said, the airport would need a new terminal and other big investments. That could generate another £9bn for the local economy and another 60,000 jobs.

And he added: “It’s jobs that really matter. When we talk about good growth or growth in general what that translates to are jobs for real people who live in real places and would like to have some optimism for the future.”

The day’s first panel discussion debated skills, talent, diversity and opportunity. Lauren Rosegreen, JCI International, talked about young leaders and the pressures they are facing.

She said “we’ve never had a generation of emerging leaders that look like the one we have now” in terms of diversity of race, gender, sexuality and disability representation. But she said that generation was anxious about what the future might hold in a world of increasingly polarised views. She said: “The new generation of leaders are scared. They are nervous.. it is a really scary world we are inheriting.”

Also on the panel was Tom Stannard, chief executive at Manchester City Council, who was asked by host Paul Corcoran about what the city was doing to help those who might feel “left behind” by the city centre’s shiny tower-led regeneration.

Tom said the city had seen great success in recent years, including strong job creation. And again referencing Andy Burnham, added that the city was “soon to be home to a little known department called Number 10.”

But he said no-one should forget that there was still deprivation in the city, and work that needed to be done to make sure people are not left out. He said the high cost of living remaining a problem, and that lifelong learning could benefit people of all ages.

And he added: “It’s not just about what occurs in the city, it’s about what occurs in the towns and communities.”

Ciara Keeling, COO at Bruntwood Sci Tech, later spoke about her career in property, and about Bruntwood’s work “breathing new life into assets that other businesses might think are time-expired” as well as developing new buildings

Paul Corcoran couldn’t resist asking her: “What’s next for you? Do we see Number 10 North with a Bruntwood Sci Tech sign above the doors?”

Who knows – but what seems certain is that “good growth” will be at the heart of the Number 10 operation when it heads north.

The firm will use a six-figure facility as working capital to carry out new contracts, and as headroom as it grows

Leeds payment processing firm Iliad Solutions has secured a six-figure lending facility using its intellectual property to borrow.

The city centre firm says it will use the backing for working capital to deliver new international contracts and continue to scale its proprietary payments testing and certification technology. Iliad’s tech is used by banks, processors, fintechs and other financial institutions to test, certify and launch payment products.

Its t3 platform creates a virtual testing environment, allowing organisations to validate card systems, real-payments, open banking, APIs and emerging digital currency technologies before they go live.

The NatWest lending facility has been structured around the value of Iliad’s intellectual property. The firm’s core assets are in software, expertise and innovation rather than physical assets which can be used as collateral.

Under NatWest’s High Growth IP-backed loan, applicants’ intellectual property is independently reviewed by Inngot, NatWest Group’s specialist IP valuation partner. The assessment helps the bank understand the value of intangible assets such as software, data, technology, brands and know-how when structuring lending facilities.

Anthony Walton, founder and CEO of Iliad Solutions, said: “For growing companies like Iliad, addressing the global payments market, we occasionally need capital to maximise our exploitation of new opportunities. NatWest understands our business and the value of our IP.

“This allows them to back our ambition, leaving us to focus on growth and execution towards our aim to be the number one payment testing company in the world.”

Ben McMullan, relationship director at NatWest, said: “Iliad is exactly the kind of high-growth, innovation-led business this type of lending is designed to support. Many ambitious technology businesses do not have the traditional physical assets typically used as collateral, but they do have valuable intellectual property, proven products and strong growth potential.

“By taking the time to understand Iliad’s technology, strategy and ambitions, we were able to structure a financing solution aligned to the company’s next stage of growth. This transaction reflects NatWest’s commitment to helping innovative UK businesses unlock the value of their IP and access the capital they need to scale.”

The Case at the Center of the Story

Australian national Simon Peter Carman has been charged with murder following the death of a 17-year-old Thai girl whose body was discovered in a suitcase in Thailand’s Pattaya area. According to reporting from The New York Times, Carman was charged with homicide after the teenager’s remains were found, triggering an intensive police investigation and significant media coverage across international outlets. The case has drawn comparisons to other high-profile crimes involving foreign nationals in Thailand’s tourist areas, raising fresh questions about safety protocols in popular destinations like Pattaya.

Investigation Details and New Evidence

Australian Broadcasting Corporation has released images purportedly showing the room where the teenager was last seen alive, providing investigators and the public with visual context for the timeline of events leading to her death. Additionally, The Guardian reported that a friend of the victim visited Carman’s condominium after the teenager was reported missing, a detail that may prove significant as prosecutors build their case. Thai police are reportedly investigating whether Carman may be linked to other unsolved cases, suggesting the scope of the investigation could expand beyond this single incident. Reports also indicate that Carman appeared to have lived a normal life in the period leading up to the alleged crime, complicating public understanding of the circumstances.

Legal Consequences and Potential Sentencing

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Carman is considered “likely” to face a death sentence if convicted under Thai law, underscoring the severity with which Thai authorities are treating the case. Legal analysts note that foreign nationals convicted of capital crimes in Thailand face a judicial system with strict penalties, and this case is being watched closely as a potential test of how such prosecutions unfold when international attention is involved. Additional reporting has explored the difficult conditions Carman may encounter while in custody, offering insight into the Thai penal system’s treatment of foreign detainees awaiting trial.

Broader Implications for Thailand’s Tourism Industry

The case has placed considerable scrutiny on Pattaya’s reputation as a hub for foreign visitors, with some outlets explicitly linking the murder investigation to broader conversations about sex tourism in the region. The South China Morning Post noted that the case has raised safety fears among both residents and the tourism sector as the community mourns the young victim. This incident arrives at a moment when Thailand is actively working to reshape its tourism image, with government initiatives increasingly focused on attracting higher-spending international visitors rather than the mass-tourism model that has defined many coastal areas for decades.

Context Within Thailand’s Evolving Tourism Strategy

While this case dominates immediate headlines, it unfolds against the backdrop of significant shifts in Thailand’s tourism and hospitality sector. The country has been pursuing an aggressive strategy to court high-value travelers, with recent announcements including new luxury hotel developments and international brand expansions. For instance, Hotel101 Global recently announced binding agreements for a new development in Bangkok, reflecting continued investor confidence in Thailand’s hospitality infrastructure despite reputational challenges tied to isolated criminal incidents. Industry observers suggest that high-profile crimes involving foreign nationals could complicate these rebranding efforts, particularly in regions like Pattaya that have long been associated with a different type of tourism demographic.

Public and Media Reaction

International media outlets have devoted substantial resources to covering this case, with detailed reporting from The Guardian, ABC, The New York Times, and numerous Australian publications tracking developments in near real-time. The intense coverage reflects both the shocking nature of the crime and the broader public interest in stories involving foreign nationals accused of serious crimes abroad. Multiple outlets have highlighted the investigative timeline, from the initial disappearance report to the eventual discovery of the body and subsequent arrest, painting a comprehensive picture of how Thai authorities responded to the case.

Looking Ahead

As the legal proceedings against Carman continue, Thai authorities face the dual challenge of ensuring a thorough judicial process while managing the case’s impact on the country’s international image. The investigation into potential links with other unsolved cases suggests that this story may continue to evolve, with implications extending beyond a single tragic incident. For Thailand’s tourism sector, already navigating a complex transition toward premium travel markets, high-profile criminal cases involving foreign visitors present an ongoing challenge that authorities will need to address through both law enforcement action and broader safety messaging. The case ultimately underscores the human cost behind headlines that often intersect with Thailand’s economic and reputational interests, sy

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Hello, and welcome back to the Applied Materials Master Class series. Several years ago, we anticipated that the AI wave would drive the semiconductor industry to $1 trillion in annual sales by 2030. And through that time, we modeled the wafer fab equipment market composition to be around 1/3 leading-edge, foundry-logic, 1/3 ICAPS and 1/3 memory, with memory evenly divided between DRAM and NAND.

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A Bloomberg-compiled equal-weight gauge of eight textile exporters has climbed more than 30% this year, compared with an 8% decline in benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index, with the nation’s new trade deals and a friendlier tariff regime bolstering the industry’s competitiveness.

The sector “should see a re-rating as this is a real opportunity for Indian firms to grab market share,” said Pawan Bharaddia, co-founder and chief investment officer of Equitree Capital Advisors Pvt. SP Apparels Ltd., a supplier of garments to Tesco Plc, is a part of his portfolio. The stock has surged 60% this year.

India is set to implement its trade accord with the UK this month, is concluding one with the European Union, and is moving closer to a deal with the US, fueling optimism that these agreements will boost exports. At the same time, global brands are moving their sourcing away from China and a few Asian peers, creating opportunities for Indian exporters and manufacturers.

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Textile companies are seen as among the biggest beneficiaries of these trade pacts. That optimism is also visible in institutional portfolios, with large investors including SBI Funds Management Ltd. and Quant Mutual Fund raising their stakes in textile firms in recent months.
Arvind Ltd., which counts global retailers including Gap Inc. among its clients, has surged 74% this year. Indo Count Industries Ltd., which supplies bed linen to Walmart Inc and Target Corp., has soared 54%.
“With global retailers improving order visibility and brands consolidating toward large compliant suppliers, major Indian textile exporters are well-positioned to capture disproportionate market share in the upcycle,” Motilal Oswal analysts wrote in a note last week.
Despite being one of the world’s largest producers, India accounts for only about 4% of the global trade in textiles and apparel. The government aims to expand the textile market to $350 billion by 2030, from an estimated $194 billion in fiscal year 2026.

Achieving that goal will require fresh investments in manufacturing capacity, particularly in garments, where India lacks enough large-scale exporters, according to Prerna Jhunjhunwala, an analyst at Elara Securities India.

“Future gains will depend on companies expanding capacity, winning export orders and delivering sustained earnings growth,” said Jhunjhunwala, who holds buy recommendations on KPR Mill Ltd. and Arvind Ltd., and is among the top rated analysts for the sector.

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