Sir Howard Bernstein latest tributes as Manchester remembers a true hero

Sir Howard Bernstein, the man who changed the face of Manchester, has died at the age of 71. He served as the chief executive of Manchester city council from 1998 to 2017 and is widely credited with spearheading the city’s 21st Century renaissance

During his time at the town hall, Sir Howard helped secure a string of extraordinary breakthroughs for the city, including the post-IRA bomb rebuild, the Commonwealth Games and the regeneration of Hulme.

Born into a Jewish family in Cheetham Hill in 1953, he was the elder of two brothers. He joined the town hall in 1971 as an 18-year-old office junior, before working his way up the ladder during a time of huge transformation for the city.

READ MORE: Sir Howard Bernstein, Manchester legend, dies

He took on the top job in 1998. Alongside former council leaders Graham Stringer and Sir Richard Leese, he oversaw Manchester’s remarkable transformation from the post-industrial doldrums of the 1980s to the bustling, modern city of today.

The many projects to bear his stamp include the regeneration of Hulme, the Commonwealth Games, the success of Manchester Airport, the rebuild after the 1996 IRA bomb, the Metrolink, Bridgewater Hall and devolution.

Sir Howard, who was knighted in 2003 New Year’s Honours list, stood down from his role as chief exec in March 2017 after 46 years as a council employee. He went on to hold advisory roles at Deloitte, Manchester University and Manchester City’s parent company City Football Group, among others. He was also named an honorary president at City and president at Lancashire Cricket Club.

We will bring you the latest tributes to Sir Howard in the blog below...

The chief executive of Bury council - the borough in which Sir Howard lived - has