Join Downtown in Business in Manchester on Tuesday 24th September 2024 for another fantastic ‘In Conversation With’ event featuring Caroline Simpson, the new Group Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
This latest event in our popular ‘In Conversation With’ series will bring together professionals from across the Manchester City region and beyond to discuss the challenges facing the region and look ahead to the future.
Over recent years, the Manchester City region has faced significant challenges and changes. In 2023, Greater Manchester was one of the first city-regions to sign a trailblazer devolution deal with the government, granting the region more power and responsibility to develop policies and programmes around skills, transport, and housing, and securing a commitment to a single funding settlement, which will be introduced in 2025.
Caroline Simpson, previously the Chief Executive at Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council, has overseen numerous major projects, including a £1bn transformation of the town centre. Her vast experience makes her the perfect choice to speak on the most pressing issues facing the region today and how various sectors can work together to overcome challenges. Her aims align with the ambitions of the Greater Manchester Strategy at large: to create a place where everyone can live a good life, growing up, getting on, and growing old in a greener, fairer, more prosperous city-region.
As the new Group Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Caroline will share her in-depth insight on the most important issues and changes happening within the Manchester City Region and how these developments are impacting different businesses and sectors as well as individuals.
Drawing on her wealth of public sector experience, with a career spanning local government, housing, and regional development agencies in the Northwest and West Midlands, she will provide unique and empowering insights into the support needed for both businesses operating in Greater Manchester and those working within it to thrive in our ever-changing economy.
Caroline’s career in the public sector in Greater Manchester and across the UK started in the City of Liverpool delivering community-based regeneration projects, with a particular focus on work and skills. As the new Group Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), she is also in a leadership position of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). Having taken up the role earlier in the summer, she will lead TfGM into the next phase of the city-region’s devolution journey. She was selected as the new CEO by an appointment panel comprising the Mayor of Greater Manchester and seven local authority leaders, following an intensive recruitment process.
Attendees will benefit from Caroline’s invaluable insights, particularly anyone looking to contribute to economic change in the area and develop strategies for the future. This event is a must for anyone working in or with an interest in the Manchester City region. Additionally, it offers a fantastic opportunity to network and connect with influential figures in the Greater Manchester business world.
If you are interested in attending this event, please email beth.mckenna@downtowninbusiness.com.
