![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_unnamed-1_result.jpg\")
(Image: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council)<\/p>\nA Japanese speaker who ‘fell’ into public service, she now is one of Greater Manchester’s most powerful<\/p>\n
07:32, 20 Jul 2025Updated 10:36, 20 Jul 2025<\/p>\n
(Image: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council)<\/p>\n
If you were to make a list of the most powerful women in Greater Manchester, two immediately spring to mind.<\/p>\n
Kate Green is the deputy mayor for policing and crime. Bev Craig is the leader of Manchester city council.<\/p>\n
But while Ms Green\u2019s influence is limited by her remit, and Coun Craig\u2019s is curtailed by geography, there is one woman who is less well-known.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s not a politician, and nor is she party-political. You may have never even heard of her.<\/p>\n
Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s Caroline Simpson, the \u00a3240,000 chief executive of Andy Burnham<\/a>\u2019s office, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).<\/p>\n She is ultimately responsible for running two public organisations with billion-pound budgets that millions of us interact with every day, and works closely with whoever\u2019s elected as mayor to deliver their manifesto.<\/p>\n Another task is to promote Greater Manchester\u2019s interests overseas. Under her tenure, the city signed deals with Japanese firms, sent a trade mission to Tokyo and Osaka, hosted a Japanese delegation, and will hold the 50th \u2018Japan Week\u2019 in September.<\/p>\n A small part of that is down to one of Caroline\u2019s hidden talents.<\/p>\n \u201cI did welcome two Japanese mayors to go to Manchester a couple of months ago where I did practice my Japanese,\u201d told the Local Democracy Reporting Service in her first major interview since becoming GMCA boss.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not so sure it was convincing,\u201d she added, laughing. Her foreign language skills come from a degree in Japanese and business studies from Liverpool John Moores University.<\/p>\n Liverpool is where Caroline\u2019s career began, initially in organising \u2018community-based regeneration projects on work and skills\u2019. But remarkably for someone who has spent her entire career in the public sector, it wasn\u2019t a natural calling.<\/p>\n \u201cLike most young people, I fell into my first job which happened to be in the public sector. It was when I started to really work hard and feel very committed to what I was doing.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a proud public servant. I\u2019m absolutely an advocate for a rewarding career in public service where you can end a very, very busy day genuinely knowing you\u2019ve made an impact.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds a bit twee, but you have had an impact on people\u2019s lives. That\u2019s massively rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n From Liverpool, Caroline\u2019s career has always stayed relatively close to the M6. First came the regeneration jobs in the Black Country and Warrington, before a move to a Staffordshire housing association, and then on to Cheshire East council. In 2016, she became Stockport<\/a> council\u2019s economic growth director. Six years later, she was named its chief executive.<\/p>\n Last summer, she was named the GMCA\u2019s second-ever chief executive, taking over from Eamonn Boylan who held the post when the Greater Manchester mayoralty began.<\/p>\n Like Mr Boylan, Caroline\u2019s relationship with whoever the mayor is remains crucial to the success of the city-region. She says Andy Burnham has been \u2018brilliant to work with\u2019, praising his \u2018energy\u2019 and \u2018ambition\u2019, the latter of which she says she shares.<\/p>\n But unlike her predecessor, Caroline has a much greater degree of freedom. Earlier this year, Greater Manchester received the first \u2018integrated settlement\u2019 from the government.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_1a79af709c01467d8544e5482811a94b.jpg\")
(Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/p>\n