Transport is one of those issues that affect the decisions of businesses and by its very definition, is a question of connectivity.

Whenever I travel anywhere – in the UK or overseas – and have a great experience, it’s invariably because the transport element is ‘easy’. It works, seamlessly and intuitively.

Good connectivity is at the forefront of economic growth potential, impacting visitor experience, tourism, talent mobility and business generation & relationship management. The ease with which connect through our transport can have a huge impact upon our experiences and perceptions of places. JFK Airport’s multibillion dollar transport project taking place without disrupting existing services, connections in Milan being integrated with a train ride to access a cross-lake ferry headed to somewhere spectacular on Lake Garda.

Those who’ve ever travelled to London on Avanti West Coast, caught a short tube ride to St Pancras and travelled directly on to France via Eurostar can attest to its relative ease (Brexit issues aside!). Multiple operators, but when the connections work, your journey flows and you start or end your trip on a high.

It’s a fact that international transport hubs serve places and people well beyond their locality, dispersing social and economic opportunity in a very wide radius.

That is certainly the case with Heathrow Airport. It may not be the slick, friendly and highly-effective short-haul airport we have on our doorstep at Liverpool John Lennon, nor does it offer a range of international connections within an hour’s drive from here, as Manchester does, but it is one of the most widely-recognised airports in the world and the number one portal through which overseas leisure and business travellers access the UK and everything it has to offer.

Liverpool, of course, is always high on the list of foreign visitors, and there can be no doubt that Heathrow is responsible for large numbers of travellers who use it as an entry point to embark on trips around our country. As we bid to attract greater inward investment into our city region, it’s fair to assume that Heathrow will have an important role to play in that regard too, given its location next to one of the world’s largest financial centres.

As a Chamber that serves the interests of businesses in the Liverpool City Region, naturally our support for Heathrow’s third runway is conditional on the proviso that it can and should support economic growth here as well as nationally. Unlocking capacity, boosting cargo values, expanding route options for our businesses should be enhanced alongside supply chain investment or greater direct transport links to the region. Put simply, if the goal is to create greater opportunity, then we must be connected to that.

Of course, Heathrow cannot deliver that promise on its own, and the wider infrastructure needs to be in place to create that type of seamless, instinctive experience I lauded earlier.

From a Northern perspective, there is seemingly endless transport investment in London and the South East, contrasted with more fragmented plans north of the M25, albeit with some glimmers of light around projects such as the Liverpool-Manchester Railway. Remedying that north-south divide remains a huge challenge for government and transport bodies. Moreover, it’s crucial that any infrastructure investment, whichever part of the country it takes place, is focussed on the wider impact and what it does for the UK’s connectivity.

For a relatively small group of islands in geographical terms, the UK punches well above its weight in global economic terms and maintains a strong reputation for investors and tourists alike, so it’s unacceptable that our transport infrastructure continues to lack the investment needed to make it truly world-class. If an expanded, better connected Heathrow helps to spark long-term improvements, then let’s make it happen.