And it will doubtless endure for a long time yet.
Arguably with good reason: from health outcomes and house prices to incomes and educational attainment, London and the regions in its bountiful orbit outperform the upper half of the UK by wide margins.
Unsurprisingly, a huge proportion of fire and security manufacturers are based in the south, although some of the UK’s most innovative firms – such as Tyco, GJD or C-TEC – are based north of the Watford Gap.
What about installers, integrators and engineers based north of this symbolic dividing line? Whether in terms of infrastructure, the talent pool or the regional commercial ecosystem, what challenges do they face that their southern counterparts avoid or experience to a lesser degree?
“While London is the fastest-growing city for a number of businesses than any other UK city, the North West is the fastest-growing region,” says Simon Stokes, MD of Assured Fire & Security, which has its head office in south Yorkshire but has outposts in London and Milton Keynes too as well as Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. “However, operating outside of the London area presents its own challenges for installers.”
Many families are now fleeing the capital because of rocketing house prices. However, a major driver for soaring property prices – high population density – is actually a boon for businesses.
Conversely, says Stokes, “travel time is the major challenge outside of London. Any other comparable area to London doesn’t have the concentration of businesses that the capital has, and so opportunities are more widely spread.”
London-based firms that pay the congestion charge and navigate the worst congestion in the country might not necessarily have too much sympathy though.
Nevertheless, transport infrastructure is demonstrably inferior in the northern regions, Stokes believes. “The road infrastructure between major cities in the UK, for example Sheffield to Liverpool, can also present challenges due to the travel time involved.”
The imbalance in transport infrastructural investment between London and the rest of England is expected to get even worse, according to a study by think-tank IPPR North. The capital accounts for 54% of transport spending across the country, with £1,943 being spent per head in London versus just £427 in the North, the research reveals.
“Businesses outside of London tend to be more insular, preferring to deal with companies from their own region.” Simon Stokes, MD, Assured Fire & Security
The gulf is just as stark where education is concerned. Last December, during his time as chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw said that if schools north of the Wash performed as well as those south of it, 160,000 more pupils would benefit from a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ education.
This can only exacerbate the problem of finding talented engineers – widely described as a crisis for the UK as a whole – in the north.
“The second challenge is engineer resource,” continues Stokes, whose firm installs CCTV, access control, fire alarms and a wide range of other fire and security systems. “Securing multi-skilled, reliable engineers to cover wider regions is a common frustration – as is being able to get engineers to site both on-time and cost-effectively.”
He may be reassured by the Chancellor’s commitment in last week’s Spring Budget speech to spending half a billion pounds reforming England’s technical education system.
Stokes also believes firms based in the north tend to be less ambitious when casting their net for new business.
“The final challenge to installers is that businesses outside of London tend to be more insular, preferring to deal with companies from their own region. When trying to expand your business, this is one area where having a niche or being able to differentiate yourself somehow can work favourably.”
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