Downtown Birmingham in Business hosted an exclusive Leaders Lunch event with Sir Howard Bernstein at Opus restaurant on Thursday lunchtime.
Sir Howard, who rose through the ranks of Manchester City Council to become one of the most influential chief executives in the country, discussed the state of the nation, Brexit and more.
Sir Howard, who now works as a consultant to a number of leading UK businesses, including Deloitte, also reflected on Manchester’s experience as the host city of the Commonwealth Games in 2002, and how Birmingham might benefit from being the Games host in 2022.
The Northern Powerhouse initiative of which he was one of the chief influencers along with former Chancellor George Osborne, and the devolution agenda that now includes the West Midlands Engine project were on the agenda too, as he responded to the questions of event Chairman Kevin Johnson from Urban Comms.
Speaking after the event Sir Howard commented: “It’s always great to discuss matters that affect the country and I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to speak in Birmingham by Downtown in Business”.
