THE MANCHESTER PHOENIX INITIATIVE LIMITED

Four years ago there assembled in the Manchester Club a hundred people representing the construction industry, along with those concerned with development both public and private. The North West Regional Group of Eight who promoted this half‐day conference posed the question ‘What can be done to increase demand for the construction industry's services in the North West?’. Begging bowls to London were out of the question, any revival had to be promoted from within the region; these were the clear conclusions of the conference. A Working Party was set up to develop the theme and this resulted in the publication of a report, ‘Renaissance North West’, in May 1987 produced on behalf of the Group of Eight by the North West Civic Trust and financed by the Interbuild Fund, the Building Centre Trust, the National Council of Building Material Producers, the Manchester Society of Architects, the Building Employers Confederation and the Builders Merchants Federation. Two thousand copies of this report are already in circulation — it draws attention to the history of the region, its massive contribution to the country's wealth, the high quality of life; and, above all, the prospects for those who will live, work and play in the region in the future.