NORTHERN Powerhouse Minister Andrew Percy has called on the North to come together to tackle the “massive” challenges facing the region.

He made his rallying call at a conference on the Northern Powerhouse in Manchester on March 2.

And he spelled out those challenges, pointing to the need to increase productivity, boost skills levels and retain graduates in the region.

The Minister also spoke of the need to improve east-west transport links in the North. And he said the Government was committed to improving that connectivity to open up economic opportunities.

He said: “It is intolerable that it takes commuters longer to get from Cheshire to Doncaster than it takes to get from London to Cheshire in the first place. That’s a check on investment in the North.”

Mr Percy told the UK Northern Powerhouse International Conference and Exhibition that the Government remained fully committed to the powerhouse project.

And he said that there had been strong successes, including new investment and transport in the region.

And he also highlighted the creation of a new Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund which was launched in Manchester earlier today and gives SMEs in the region access to £400m.

The Minister told delegates at Manchester Central: “There are massive challenges when it comes to productivity, skills levels; graduate retention is still a big issue. The government is determined to address that.”

But he said government did not have all the answers: “There is a lot more to do and I look forward to that challenge. More importantly I look forward to us working together.”

He said the Northern Powerhouse message was finding an audience and gaining traction globally. He added: “We will continue the quite aggressive work overseas to attract inward investment, which is essential for creating jobs.”

The Minister also spoke of “significant” devolution deals for Manchester, Liverpool and the Tees Valley and said he wanted to see more of them in other parts of the region, including the North East as they “took powers away from Westminster”.

Mr Percy said that the North’s cultural offering could also play a role in helping graduate retention, pointing to the success of Hull’s city of culture.