Regional Growth and the Net Zero Transition: North West

How the North West can accelerate sustainable growth and the net zero transition.

Read time: 8 mins  Added: 28/07/25

Buildings in Manchester

Ambition meets action

The second of Lloyds Corporate & Institutional’s regional roundtable series in partnership with edie, turns the sustainability spotlight on North West England, exploring the unique drivers, challenges and opportunities faced by local businesses when it comes to accelerating the net zero transition.

As our first roundtable discussion in this series concluded, taking a ‘place-based’ approach to net zero is imperative for driving regional growth and reaching sustainable goals in a resilient manner. To explore the potential of such an approach, Lloyds and edie convened a high-level discussion, bringing together a range of North West business leaders – from heads of policy, to sustainability managers and finance directors, from some of the most significant organisations in the region.

While meaningful movement has been made in the North West towards climate goals – including Greater Manchester’s Five-Year Environment Plan to retrofit over 10,000 homes and deploy zero-emission bus fleets – ultimately, the ambition of some of the goals set by local councils (achieving net zero by 2038 and 2030 respectively for Greater Manchester and Liverpool City Regions) has meant that organisations in the region need to work highly efficiently and collaboratively in order to accelerate their decarbonisation progress.

Achieving these ambitions will create significant opportunities; investment in the region is already increasing, and early benefits are coming forward. However, in the face of this progress, structural barriers remain – including funding shortfalls, capacity challenges and difficulties in addressing some of the harder-to-abate sectors, such as domestic heating and retrofitting older buildings.

During the discussion, participants shared their specific challenges and explored new opportunities for engaging stakeholders internally and accelerating growth in their area.

Is it the end of the ‘theatre of ESG’?

The roundtable began with a broad question of sentiment: given the alleged ‘sustainability winter’ being felt around the world (from geopolitical events to the ongoing skills pressures), where does sustainability rank in the North West business hierarchy right now?

The answer for many experts around the table was positive: while they noted that some of the politicisation of “ESG” was seen as a challenge for sustainability leaders, customers have not relented in asking for increasingly sustainable business operations and products.

It was agreed that more differentiation was needed between the “media noise” around sustainable business practices and the day-to-day function of ESG. While, as some noted, the “theatre of ESG” might be dead, ultimately the science and data behind the need for – and benefits from - sustainable practices is here to stay; and the increasing demand for sustainable, purpose-led products and services shows no signs of abating.

A group of senior North West regional leaders from business, civil society, law, housing and finance at an exclusive roundtable conducted by Lloyds and edie.

In the image above, a group of senior North West regional leaders from business, civil society, law, housing and finance at an exclusive roundtable conducted by Lloyds and edie.1

While pressure mounts to integrate ESG practices into business, a number of challenges remain for the business leaders around the table, particularly relating to funding and collaboration. One participant noted that within several sectors, including housing, collaboration has stalled and there is no clear direction towards zero carbon. This was compounded for some by conflicting priorities in their business, all of which required budget that could not be stretched to cover every competing need.

One solution suggested by the experts was to build more support by using clear evidence of sustainability progress and business benefits, instead of simply referring to broad sustainability goals. Where businesses can see the proven benefits of a sustainable project, the attendees noted, they are more likely to support it.

One expert said her company now relies on the “Four Rs” when considering sustainable projects: Will it drive revenue? Will it reduce client risk? Will it make the business more resilient? And will it enhance the company’s reputation?

This acted as a focus to create buy-in: rather than selling a project purely on the basis of ESG compliance, it could instead be reframed as reducing risk, increasing revenue, or enhancing reputation.

The consumer bottleneck

Here, the conversation turned to education around sustainable issues – and the challenge of engaging consumers.

Many participants highlighted the challenge of educating a wide range of consumer markets. “A single ‘city-centre’ approach to sustainability and net zero simply won’t work across the North West”, one expert stated, as each community has its own needs and priorities. To engage people effectively, he said, businesses must first understand those local needs and tailor their education efforts – “whether that’s encouraging public transport use, promoting the recycling of clothes, or addressing other local issues”.

Engaging with small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) is a particular challenge for those present, despite being one of the most important communities to engage in order to reach zero carbon in the region. The question of who should lead on engagement was then raised – and the consensus was that everyone has a role to play. This includes publicly funded organisations running community education, banks supporting SMEs, and businesses working with their suppliers to improve sustainability.

Ultimately, companies were seen as key to creating spaces where smaller businesses can come together, share ideas, hear from experts, and learn from each other in a collaborative environment.

The need for reporting refinement

The conversation moved to the effects of government policy on the region. In general, the participants agreed that the impact of any further regulation and disclosure should be considered for its impact on business costs and willingness to engage as a result.

What’s needed, the participants agreed, is interconnectivity and consolidation between regulations – to standardise processes and reduce duplication of effort. Improved procurement processes, better assessments and refinement in reporting systems would help bring SMEs along on the sustainability journey, one expert noted.

There was positivity around the future of regulation, however, with one professional noting that the new Procurement Act would go some way to strengthening and standardising procurement, improving transparency and reducing the burden of reporting in the near future.

Every job is a green job

The session concluded with a discussion around the role of business and local government in upskilling the workforce and engaging the younger generation in green roles. Ultimately, the experts agreed, this process takes a significant amount of time. Now, they said, those targets need to be met but businesses lack the skilled workers to meet them – with business skills hubs and dedicated trainers working too slowly to alleviate this skills gap.

Suggested solutions included starting sustainability education earlier, ensuring children could build understanding and interest in green careers from a young age. Training should also be decentralised, one expert suggested, with local authorities leading education efforts to better reflect local needs and challenges.

While carbon literacy was once seen as the key to workforce education, this is now too narrow. One attendee stated there is a need for a mix of sector-specific skills and broader training in areas like collaboration, systems thinking, and long-term sustainable planning.

As one expert put it, “Every job is going to be a green job.” To make that a reality, the next generation must see sustainable careers as aspirational and meaningful. This means framing green roles as positions of real responsibility and impact, and not symbolic ‘green champion’ roles.

Chris Yau, Director of Housing & Sustainability, Regional Head of North West, Lloyds Corporate & Ins

This aligns with Lloyds’ approach to regional sustainable growth – our partnership with the Manchester-based Regeneration Brainery, for example, is focused on tackling social mobility and equality, diversity and inclusion in the region and across the UK, to inspire college and school-leavers from disadvantaged areas to enter careers within property, construction and regeneration.

Chris Yau Director of Housing & Sustainability, Regional Head of North West, Lloyds Corporate & Institutional

View Chris Yau's LinkedIn profile.

Importantly, one professional added that this approach shouldn’t be limited to young people. Businesses can inspire and retain older workers by giving their roles new purpose within the shift to sustainability, ensuring they remain relevant and valued as industries evolve.

The session wrapped up with optimism and purpose, despite the skill and engagement challenges that remain. The participants were clear that ESG is not on the decline – but is instead becoming increasingly important to every role in every local business, and to stakeholders who continue to call for greater sustainability from the organisations they interact with. Issues, where they remain, can only slow the progress of sustainable business: they cannot stop it altogether. 

‘Unique opportunity’

Commenting on the roundtable outcomes, Chris Yau added: “It was clear from this discussion that the North West has an opportunity to act as a beacon for other regions around the country when it comes to accelerating sustainable growth and achieving net zero. 

“There were three clear discussion points that stood out for me – the need for bigger businesses to engage more effectively with SMEs on decarbonisation; the need to close the green skills gap through government, education and training programmes; and the need for stronger public-private partnerships to drive the sustainability agenda forward.”

Gabriella Carden, Head of Voluntary Carbon and Nature Markets, Lloyds Corporate & Institutional

Through our investments and business support throughout the region, Lloyds is on hand to accelerate the UK’s net zero transition and support North West businesses through our financing and expertise – and also through convening experts as we did here with the support of edie in the North West.

Gabriella Carden Head of Voluntary Carbon and Nature Markets, Lloyds Corporate & Institutional

View Gabriella Carden’s LinkedIn profile.

What’s next?

Both Lloyds and edie look forward to the rest of our programme of roundtables in cities across the UK, before presenting the full results of this collaborative series later in the year.

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1 From A to Z:

  • Amelia Woodley, ESG Director, Speedy Hire
  • Cathryn Higgs, Head of Food Policy, Co-op
  • Cathy Fearnhead, Partner, Real Estate, Addleshaw Goddard
  • Chris Yau, Director, Housing & Sustainability, Regional Head of North West, Lloyds Corporate & Institutional
  • David Connor, Founder, 2030hub
  • Gabriella Carden, Head of Voluntary Carbon and Nature Markets, Lloyds Corporate & Institutional
  • Helen Nicholson, Executive Director of Finance and Assets, Irwell Valley Homes
  • Jenna Hughes, Director of Finance, Risk & Assurance, Irwell Valley Homes
  • Josh Neil, Intelligence Editor, edie
  • Luke Nicholls, Publisher, edie
  • Michael Wilton, Director & Manchester Office Leader, Arup
  • Neil Stinson, Group Finance Director, EMR Group
  • Sophie Stephens, Head of Sustainability and Environmental, OCU Group