So the initial pandemonium of Brexit is slowly starting to simmer down as the repercussions of a nations decision begins to settle in.  With still a degree of uncertainty lingering in the air, it is easy to allow the voices sceptics to dictate the potential mood and activity of investors, shooting down potential opportunities as they arise.  But those savvy investors would have more recently spotted a glaring opportunity which has been birthed from the economic happenings of late.  And although there are plenty of prospective ventures which could be perused within the area of London, it is the more recently formed ‘Northern Powerhouse’ exciting both local and foreign investors.

So the question now arises, what is this ‘northern powerhouse’ the Chancellor and many ministers have been promoting of late? – And what will it actually mean for the rest of the country?

Well, it can be duly noted that as opposed to being a newly formed specific region of the UK – the powerhouse is more a concept which brings together cities and counties up north as a means to stimulate economic activity outside London.  The aim being to address the north-south economic imbalance in the UK by redirecting investment and creating greater level of activities in other sectors.  Capital is perceived to be driven by financial services, northern economies boast strong manufacturing, science, technology and service sectors.

Of late, economic specialists have been predicating close to 1.56 million new jobs in the Northern Powerhouse by 2050, with England’s North already being crowned “The Brexit Winner” already.

It is no secret that London is more than just the capital, but the central hub for all economic activity in Britain, thus creating a strong need to provide even more confidence to businesses and investors to go outside of the capital, encouraging the government also to invest in the infrastructure to grow our economy

These recent views being shared by many timely coincide with the recently published Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review. The report has a closer look at the major gap in productivity through generating more jobs and enhancing competitiveness.

From the report Digital technologies, health innovation, energy and advanced manufacturing are the sectors celebrated to have the biggest potential to transform the North for good.  Forecasts even predict them adding £97 billion and 850,000 jobs to the region.

The chancellor said: “One clear message from the referendum was that there were parts of our country which felt left behind and one of the reasons that I said two years ago that we needed to build a Northern Powerhouse was to make sure the whole country shares in our economic prosperity.”

As part of the report, the Manifesto for transforming the northern powerhouses focuses on removing the disparity and with the aims of progressively moving things forward.  One of the more stand out focal points was the aim to create private rented sector funds. The North’s great cities – Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle – need a high quality, thriving private rented sector to attract and retain the highly skilled workforce they need to flourish. Retention of the Government’s new stamp duty levy for Buy to Let would provide seed funding to attract institutional investment to boost quality and supply in this vital part of the housing market.

So what does this mean for investors, there is something exciting happening up north, and those who are in the south need to jump on the opportunity train before it leaves the station.