When the BRIT Awards announced they were swapping London’s O2 for Manchester Co-op Live, some might’ve been shocked. But for many of us in the North, it felt long overdue.

Manchester is, after all, a city that has shaped the music industry - from Joy Division to The Stone Roses, from Oasis to my personal favourite, Take That. Rather than follow culture, Manchester has long been a birthplace of innovation and influence.

And as the city gets its (musical) flowers, the BRIT’s bold move is a call to all creative industries to embrace talent and cultural leadership further North.

 Embracing all of Britain

 For too long, our industry, like many others, has defaulted to London. Since I was young, there’s been an unwritten rule that the most ambitious grads will move South, that London is where big agencies are, where the briefs are sent, the talent is chased, and assumptions are made.

But this presumption just isn’t true. It overshadows the wealth of innovation happening elsewhere. New Advertising Association data reveals that 60% of advertising and marketing jobs are now located outside of London, with Manchester playing a major role.

And herein lies the challenge. Creative talent - one of Britain’s strongest exports - is thriving across the UK, especially in the North. Outstanding work has never been confined to the capital, but if we believe it is, we don’t give the rest of the UK the resources to shine. And to attract new, brilliant talent, we need to show it. As Billy Jean King said, if you can’t see it, you can’t be it.

This is why the BRITs blueprint is so critical. It’s not a one-off event that dives in and out of the North; the move to Manchester comes with investment and infrastructure for talent across the music industry. Not just musicians, but producers, event organisers, crew. And in our industry, we need to echo this model.

We need to commit to new sites with real resources. Joining Wavemaker North 15 years ago, I was relieved I didn’t have to move to London to carve a career. It wasn’t just a preference. Most people aren’t in a position to live in the capital. Employers making that genuine investment ensure that new talent is supported, championed, and committed to doing their best work.

Hitting the right note

One of the best ways to take the leap into a truly national industry is to reframe how we see ‘non-London’ in the first place. The rest of the UK isn’t a secondary location, and one of our industry’s favourite words, “regional”, misses the complexity of modern Britain, lumping all but London into the background and undervaluing so many new and exciting voices. WPP Media’s Shaping the Nation report captures this tension well, highlighting both how proud young voices with a strong sense of local identity struggle to have their voices heard in an industry that is all too often London-centric.

Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Glasgow. These places aren’t ‘regional’. They’re cultural hubs rich with fresh perspectives. And it’s not just metropolitan cities - as a proud Wakefield girl, I know that any town or city with a bit of spirit has the ability to contribute creatively.

When our job is to communicate effectively with the nation, the language we use to describe 86% of the UK’s population is a bellwether for how our London bubble might be holding us back. 

Empowering outsiders

If there is to be one silver lining of our industry’s London-tinted glasses, however, it’s the challenger mentality that non-London talent has cultivated for itself. Challenger brands emerging from the North are redefining the landscape, with both underdogs and well-established names leading the charge for northern representation and innovation.

Morrisons, proudly founded in Bradford, works closely with local communities and British farmers to exemplify how a strong local identity can fuel national success. Similarly, Vimto’s Mancunian roots are at the heart of its marketing strategy. But its position as a non-London brand allows Vimto to understand how to engage new regions authentically. In a campaign that was recently highly commended in the OMA’s Cross Format category, the drink company dared audiences to ‘Love the Taste’, allowing consumers around the UK to truly connect with the famous Northern drink, expanding Vimto’s influence.

These are not “regional” success stories. They’re national and in some cases, global powerhouses that think differently, act boldly, and often move faster than their big city counterparts. And when the BRITs launch their first show from Manchester next Spring, I guarantee it’ll be an even bigger party as the tent-pole event is reimagined with fresh perspectives and energy. 

The North’s creative potential should be a business imperative. It’s not just about fairness, it’s about future-proofing our industry. Creativity, empathy and cultural insight are born in communities, shaped by lived experiences, and fuelled by pride. As an industry we shouldn’t helicopter in and out.

To paraphrase Gary Barlow, we never forget where we came from, and we shouldn’t have to. So let's take inspiration from the BRITs and build an industry that truly reflects the breadth, depth, and brilliance of the UK.