315°

THE RDA MAGAZINE FEB 2007 ISSUE 11

GLOBALWINNERAuto industry delivers model performance

Phoenix risesRebirth of east Manchester

Culture cityLiverpool unveils08 programme

Wind of changeGearing up forlow-carbon economy

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THE THIRD DEGREE

John Stageman

BUSINESS

Windfall for enterprising councils

Auto industry gears up

RDA priorities for government spending

Business support reorganised

Biocentre to develop new medicines

SKILLS AND EDUCATION

Culture campus link to creative careers

University drive to help industry

PEOPLE AND JOBS

Rising confidence in East Manchester

Liverpool builds bright future

INFRASTRUCTURE

Kingsway to conquer property market

QUALITY OF LIFE

Birthday city celebrates

Meeting the climate change challenge

Tourism awards honour role models

REGULARS

People in the region

Event highlights

Getting in touch31

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CONTENTS HIGHLIGHTS

OUR VISION:

‘A dynamic, sustainableinternational economy whichcompetes on the basis ofknowledge, advancedtechnology and an excellentquality of life for all.’

CONTACTS

Editor Trevor Batesemail@trevorbates.fsnet.co.uk

NWDAErica Boardmanemail: erica.boardman@nwda.co.uktel: 01925 400 217

visit www.nwda.co.uk &www.visitenglandsnorthwest.com

315°

PHOENIX RISESIntroducing East Manchester –a brave new world ofwell-designed housing,world-class sporting facilities,rising educational aspirationsand soon home to the UK’s firstregional casino.

CULTURE CITYAs the countdown continuesto its year as EuropeanCapital of Culture, Liverpoolhas begun a programmeof exciting taster eventsdesigned to whet theappetite for 2008.

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THE RDA MAGAZINE FEB 2007 ISSUE 11

WIND OF CHANGEThrough the Northwest ClimateChange Action Plan, the region istaking a lead nationally inestablishing a sustainable, low-carbon economy, which shouldhelp it to gain a competitiveadvantage in an emergingmarketplace.

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important part in Blackpool’s regenerationmasterplan and was a key transformationalaction in the Regional Economic Strategy. Ournext steps will be to work hard with ourpartners in Blackpool to identify a way forwardfor the resort. Our commitment to helpingBlackpool’s continued economic developmentmust now be a priority.

Elsewhere in the region, the new Universityof Cumbria opens its doors to students thisyear and will be vital to retaining talent in theregion. Partners have been working hard for anumber of years to build a stronger highereducation framework for Cumbria inparticular, and this year will see the realisationof the new University.

Finally, Liverpool begins the countdown toits European Capital of Culture celebrationswith its 800th birthday in 2007. This year’scelebrations will set a strong precedent for thecultural programme of 2008. The city’s Capitalof Culture accolade offers a unique opportunityto showcase both Liverpool and the Northwestto the UK and overseas and the Agency will beworking closely with the Culture Company toensure that we make the most of the economicbenefits it provides.

Now that everyone in the region is workingtowards the priorities identified in the RegionalEconomic Strategy, we must focus ourattention and our collective investment onmaking sure that they happen. These areexciting times for the Northwest. Let’s ensurethat we seize these opportunities and build atruly world-beating region.

2007 promises to be a watershed year formany of the Northwest’s transformationalprojects. In January, the BBC confirmed it willbe moving 1,500 jobs from London to Salford inGreater Manchester. The move is a massiveboost for creative industries in the North ofEngland. Not only will this create the largestBBC presence outside of London, it will alsobring together several departments in Salfordas the anchor tenant for mediacity:uk -employing 15,500 people and adding £200million every year to the regional economy.

The BBC’s commitment to the region markswhat I am convinced will be a year of keyprogress for England’s Northwest. Anothercritical project to get underway is thereorganisation of business support. Thebusiness base in the Northwest is strong, witha long tradition of innovation andentrepreneurship. However, if our businessesare to improve their productivity, embraceinnovation and raise skill levels, it is crucial thatbusiness support is streamlined and simplified.

The new Northwest Business Link service,which will be introduced in April, will provide ahigh-quality, consistent and targeted servicefor businesses. Importantly, it will addresstheir needs and skills gaps whilst alsoimpacting positively on the regional economythrough encouraging business developmentand growth.

As this edition of 315 goes to print, theCasino Advisory Panel has just recommendedEast Manchester as the location for the UK’sfirst regional casino, which is exciting news forthe Northwest. The casino will build on thearea’s ongoing regeneration, with theeconomic benefits felt across the whole of theregion, and the Agency will continue to offer itssupport for Manchester’s plans.

We are, however, disappointed for Blackpool.The regional casino would have played an

CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

A YEAROF PROGRESSSince the NWDA was established seven years ago, we’ve learnt a lot aboutwhat really drives economic growth in the Northwest. One of the mostcrucial lessons is that we must focus our attention and investment ontransformational projects that have the most impact on our economy.

Bryan Gray, Chairman,February 2007

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employing around 2,500 people, many ofwhom are engaged in drug manufacture – oursecond largest supply facility worldwide. TheNorthwest is also an important global base formarketing and other strategic activities.

So you have a big impact on theregional economy?

Absolutely. A recent study on the company’seconomic contribution to the UK makesfascinating reading. Allowing for the indirecteffects of the company’s activities we supporta total of 12,000 full time jobs in theNorthwest, generate a turnover of £2.5 billion,a GVA of nearly £1.2 billion and employmentincome of £410 million. We also spent£172 million on buying goods and services onthe region. It’s also worth noting that around£560 million of the company’s overall UK R&Dexpenditure of £749 million took place in theNorthwest in 2004.

Alderley Park has a distinguished history ofdrug discovery. How did all this come about?

Leaders of ICI Dyestuffs Division in NorthManchester had the bold vision just before theSecond World War to see that there was astrategic future in pharmaceutical medicinesand that led to the purchase of the formerStanley estate in 1950 to pursue that aim. Butit was the invention of beta-blockers by theNobel Prize winner Sir James Black that

really put the place on the map. Since then wehave developed a string of world-leadingcancer medicines including Nolvadex andArimidex which have become gold standardtreatments for breast cancer. Incidentally, it’s50 years this year since we established ourfirst R&D lab on the estate at Mereside.

That sounds like a good excuse for a celebration?Certainly. There’ll be a series of celebratory

events throughout 2007 themed aroundscience and innovation. We shall be looking toestablish commemorative links with outsideorganisations covering science and the arts.We’ll be marking the occasion with events thathighlight, for example, our 50 years inCheshire and a half-century of contributing topatient health.

What will be the drivers of successin the future?

Innovation, collaboration and continuedinvestment in people and highly competitive,specialised facilities. We have invested over£500 million in the Northwest in the last fewyears including £60 million on a new cancerresearch centre and £58 million on our Centrefor Advanced Lead Discovery where we identifycompounds to create tomorrow’s medicines.

It always frightens me the amount of moneywe invest every day but drug discovery is acostly, high-risk business. AstraZeneca

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THE THIRD DEGREE

“IT ALWAYS FRIGHTENS METHE AMOUNT OF MONEY WEINVEST EVERY DAY BUT DRUGDISCOVERY IS A COSTLY,HIGH-RISK BUSINESS.”

JOHN STAGEMAN

SENIOR EXECUTIVE

ASTRAZENECA

AstraZeneca has a strong presence in theNorthwest. How big is the company’sregional footprint?

It’s very significant. Alderley Park is ourbiggest Research & Development (R&D)centre worldwide. Of the 4,500 employedthere, 3,500 are scientists and one in ten ofthose has a PhD so it’s a huge repository ofscientific knowledge and expertise. It’s ourlargest global discovery centre for cancer butit’s also forging ahead with research intoinfection, cardiovascular and metabolicdiseases and inflammatory illness. Just downthe road in Macclesfield we have another site

Dr John Stageman is a senior executive (Vice-President) at AstraZeneca, a leader inthe global pharmaceuticals industry with strong roots in the Northwest. Based in aworld-class research environment at Alderley Park, Cheshire, he is currentlyspearheading the company’s move into the fast-growing biological medicines market.He is also an influential figure on the Northwest Science Council.

JOHN STAGEMAN

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accounts for one third of all private sectorR&D investment in the Northwest and aquarter of all regional investment in R&D.What concerns us is the way public researchexpenditure in this region lags behind privateinvestment. It’s completely the reverse in thesouth. The government invests a dominantshare of its R&D expenditure in the GoldenTriangle regions – London, Oxford andCambridge – with industry the smaller player.So we are lobbying Whitehall to think carefullyabout how to reverse that trend.

Is drug discovery getting easier or harder?It’s probably more difficult than it used to

be. The easier targets have been discovered.The pharmaceutical industry is worried aboutits productivity because now it’s more costlyand takes longer to develop new medicines.Some people say it’s also less innovative.That’s a major challenge for us. One of theanswers is to seek more interaction withuniversities and small bio-companies. In thepast we have been more reliant on our owninternal efforts so we are now putting moreeffort and resources into externalisation andcreating further links with outside groups.

How can regional institutions participate inthis diversified R&D model?

As a global company we can only justifyentering into collaborative agreements if our

prospective partners are globally competitive.What Manchester has done under Alan Gilbertin building a big single university with clearfocus on those key areas where it wants to beworld-class is an excellent example. There hasbeen a fantastic transformation and we arenow working much more closely with them oncancer, biomarkers and breaking areas ofscience such as systems biology, non-invasiveimaging and bioinformatics. We have alsosigned an agreement with the University ofLiverpool to fund the UK’s first professorshipdedicated to obesity research.

Do you share the concerns of the widerbusiness community about skill shortages andeducational deficiencies in the UK workforce?

We have several serious concerns. Science isnot being portrayed as an attractive careeroption as effectively as it should be andconsequently bright young people are goinginto the legal profession, finance and themedia. Ultimately, this will have a seriousknock-on effect on UK plc. Here in Cheshire,for example, we have recruited over 100Science and Engineering Ambassadors (SEAS)from our staff to go into local schools toconnect with specialist projects andcommunicate their enthusiasm for science to ayoung audience. The teaching of chemistry, orlack of it, is another worry. Alarm bells have

started ringing in the industry over the short-sighted, cost-driven closure of universitychemistry departments and loudly so over therestriction of finance for practical chemistry atdegree level. It’s not causing us a problem rightnow but we might not be able to say that in fiveyears time. Finally it is quite clear to me thatour recent expansion into biological medicineswill severely test the availability of relevantspecialists here in the UK.The company clearly has a strong socialconscience. Where does it stand onenvironmental issues?

It’s enlightened self-interest to be concernedabout the environment. R&D people tend to bea rebellious lot and would not come to workhere at Alderley Park unless we were rightlyconcerned about reducing our carbon footprintand recycling our waste. We have rolled out anumber of energy saving, waste reduction andgreen transport initiatives in Cheshire and atother sites. Recently our Cheshire sites wonthe ‘Best Environmental Practice’ award at theNorthwest Business Environment Awardsevent. We have a strong belief that personalresponsibility and local actions can reap hugeglobal benefits.

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For further information:www.astrazeneca.com

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Blackpool, East Pennine and Liverpool andSefton are among the successful areas to havesecured national government funding topromote enterprise and inward investment.

The Northwest raised its game in the secondround of the government's Local EnterpriseGrowth Initiative (LEGI) funding, winning £54.5million or 37% of the £157 million on offer fromthe government for disadvantaged areas, farmore than any other region.

In Pennine Lancashire, four local authoritiesare teaming up with the area's threeprofessional football clubs in an innovative,sport-led programme to stimulate employmentand a stronger enterprise culture.

Backed by a £22.3 million windfall from LEGIthe partnership will piggyback on the area’ssoccer heritage and infrastructure to engageresidents who would normally shun mainstreambusiness support structures.

One approach will be to convert unused spacebeneath the stands at Blackburn and Burnley,two of the clubs supporting the programme, intosheltered accommodation, or ‘enterprisehavens’, for business start-ups. The other clubinvolved is Accrington FC.

Only £4 million of the funding packageawarded to the four borough councils, Blackburnwith Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle,will go on capital build projects. The rest will beused to support the growth of small businessesin an area where self-employment is viewedas a last resort.

Elsewhere in the region, Liverpool and Sefton,who submitted a joint bid, were awarded£21.4 million and Blackpool £10.8 million.

LEGI is a joint ten-year £300 millionprogramme between the Department forCommunities and Local Government,HM Treasury and the Department of Trade andIndustry and was first announced in theChancellor’s 2005 Budget.

REGIONAL PRIORITIESThe Northwest Regional Development Agency

(NWDA) worked closely with Government Officefor the North West on formulating the bids,which reflect the priorities of the RegionalEconomic Strategy.

Steven Broomhead, the NWDA’sChief Executive, said the awards “will reallymake a difference at grass root levelby boosting employment and building

WINDFALL HELPS

“ONE OF OUR AIMS IS TO MAKESURE THAT PEOPLE AREBETTER PREPARED FORSELF-EMPLOYMENT.”

ALAN CAVILLHEAD OF CORPORATE POLICY

AND DEVELOPMENTBLACKPOOL MBC

US-owned Handleman, a leading supplierand merchandiser of homeentertainment products, is creating 400new jobs in Bolton to support anexpansion of its UK operations. Theinvestment has been secured withsupport from NWDA and partnersincluding Bolton Council.

Canadian firm Organisation Metrics,which designs and sells software used inhuman resources management, isrelocating its global head office toLiverpool City Centre, with help from theNWDA, the Merseyside SpecialInvestment Fund, the Mersey Partnershipand the DTI. The company is expected toemploy 15 staff in its first year.

Two prominent figures from business andthe trade union movement have beenreappointed to the Board of the NWDA fora further three years. They are Joe Dwek,former Chief Executive and ExecutiveChairman of Bodycote, and Dave McCall,Regional Secretary of the TGWU andChair of the North West TUC.

Rugged Logic, a newcompany that is set torevolutionise the waybusinesses predictcashflow, has receivedover half a millionpounds from the Merseyside SpecialInvestment Fund, the NWDA andBusiness Liverpool. It has relocated fromLondon to Liverpool.

Booths, the oldest family-owned and rungrocery business in Britain, has beenvoted one of the world’s top 25 foodheroes by an international academy of2000 industry experts. The Northwest-based company achieved an impressivesecond place beating all its Britishcompetitors including Harrods andFortnum and Masons.

Following theannouncement bygovernment regardingthe new licence feesettlement, the BBCTrust revealed that themove to Salford would be affordable andapproved the continuation of contractualnegotiations to deliver the project. Themove is estimated to benefit the regionaleconomy by £1.5 billion and will bringwith it 1,500 jobs.

NEWS

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sustainable communities.”The Pennine Lancashire approach builds on

the idea of football grounds as a new form of‘village hall’ to reach a target population of150,000, nearly a third of whom have an ethnicminority background.

Steve Hoyle, Assistant Director ofRegeneration at Blackburn with Darwen saida radically different approach was needed todraw deprived communities into theenterprise culture.

“We looked at how we could use football toconvey the enterprise message and talked tothe three clubs who are already engaged inextensive outreach activities with the sameaudience we want to reach.”

Football – the area was the birthplace of theprofessional game – is a strong theme ofPennine Lancashire’s ‘Ten Great Goals’ bidproposal which was endorsed by Blackburn’sManager Mark Hughes.

The other two Northwest LEGI winners havebeen equally imaginative in formulatingprogrammes to change the lives andprospects of people living in England’s mostdeprived areas.

MIGRANT ENTERPRISEBlackpool aims to launch an ‘Enterprise

Island’ competition with the winners qualifyingfor ‘Dragons Den’ type guidance and support toset up their own businesses.

The borough’s portfolio of projects includes anaviation and construction academy to trainpeople from the town’s deprived wards for theestimated 500 new jobs that are likely to becreated by the expansion of BlackpoolInternational Airport.

Alan Cavill, Head of Corporate Policy andDevelopment, said that the town once had one ofthe highest business start-ups rates outsideLondon. “There is still a high business formationrate but an even higher failure rate and one ofour aims is to make sure people are betterprepared for self employment.”

Start-up support will also be directed atenterprise minded migrants in the town, mainlyfrom Poland, to help them put down roots in thearea and improve the local economy. Many ofthem currently work in the hospitality industry.

Liverpool and Sefton’s programme (SLEGI) isbuilt around 18 projects within four workstreams – enterprise in young people, enterprise

in adults, unlocking business potential andinward investment and franchising.

The target area – six core neighbourhoods ofNorth Liverpool – is characterised by highunemployment (in some parts 6 out of 10 peopleare on work-related benefits). Self-employmentis also low in the area and business density isless than half of that of the UK.

SLEGI seeks to capitalise on opportunities inthe nearby port area, from the huge physicalregeneration of central Liverpool, the housingmarket and from the visitor economy.

Mike Taylor, Chief Executive of BusinessLiverpool and Chair of the SLEGI board,attributed the bid’s success to closecollaboration between the two councils and astrong partnership with the private sector.

“The core area is seriously lagging behind therecent resurgence of the Liverpool City Regioneconomy and there is a real danger thatcontinuing economic and social problems inthese neighbourhoods will threaten growthacross the sub region.”

For further information:email: mark.booker@nwda.co.uktel: 01925 400100 www.neighbourhood.gov.uk

ENTERPRISING COUNCILS

BILLBOARDICONSWhen mother of three Sharon Helsby andhusband Kevin joined St. Helens Chamber’sEntrepreneur Kickstart project they hadno idea they would end up starring asbillboard icons.

The couple launched their own exteriorcleaning venture Eyesore Restore afterattending a Chamber meeting about theadvice and support available for businessstart-ups.

They have since become role models in amajor advertising campaign across theborough to promote Kickstart, a core elementof St Helens’ £13.4 million LEGI programmewhich has been running since April 2006.

“It was a big step to start our own businessbut we have never looked back. We reallyenjoy working together and it’s great for ourchildren to see us making a go of it,”says Sharon.

The Chamber is working on 11 projects toboost enterprise activity in the borough’smost deprived wards. They range fromsecuring a business commitment for everyschool in the town to establishing a new-buildgraduate greenhouse for occupation by 2008.

Aidan Manley, Head of Regeneration at

St Helens MBC, said it was sensible to let theChamber, one of the most successful in theregion, deliver the programme because ”theyspeak the language of business and canprovide the most appropriate answers forpeople starting up on their own.”

Nearly 380 jobs have been created in thefirst six months (against a full year’s target of450) and 149 new businesses established with50 women becoming self-employed.

Over 80 businesses have been connected tobroadband and the support team is workingwith the University of Liverpool to set up atrading portal for the town.

For further information:tel: 01744 742000 www.sthelenschamber.com

Enterprise haven – Blackburn Rovers isone of three Pennine Lancashire clubs

supporting the LEGI programme

Big step – Sharon Helsby (left) andhusband Kevin enjoy working together

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AUTO INDUSTRYGEARS UPFOR ABETTER FUTURE

Fine trim – finishing touches areapplied to the craftsmen-built seats

With its elegant looks and state-of-the-art engineering, the Bentley is a byword for quality,a prestige car lovingly designed and built in the Northwest for the last 60 years.

Bentley is also one of the most famousnames in automotive history, with a richheritage and high standard of craftsmanshipthat comes with an exclusive price tag tomatch. Yet production staff at its Crewe factoryare working flat out just to meet demand.

In four years Bentley has seen annual salessoar from 1,000 to nearly 9,000, thanks to afamily of five new models that include thesleek Continental GT, its larger four-doorsaloon version, a GT convertible and anupgrade of the top-of-the-range Arnage.

Since it bought the company in 1998,VW has invested £500 million on factoryinfrastructure and developing new models.

Class act – the Continental GT coupeis a recent addition to the Bentley marque

This investment, says Christine Gaskill,Member of the Board – Personnel, haspaid dividends, allowing the business togrow substantially.

“Bentley is known around the world as amanufacturer of prestige motor cars,” sheexplains. “Its renaissance in recent years hasturned its Crewe base into a largelyautonomous centre for engineering excellenceand fine craftsmanship which is highlyregarded within the motor industry.”

This emphasis on craftsmanship isepitomised by the fact that there are only tworobots on the production line. Little surprisethen that since VW acquired the cherishedBentley marque the workforce has swelled by40%, to nearly 4,000.

However Bentley is far from the only successstory in a sector that is worth £9 billion a yearto the regional economy.

Leyland Trucks, part of the Paccar Group,are building over 14,000 vehicles a year at oneof Europe's most advanced truck assemblyfacilities, while nearly 130,000 Astra cars andvans are produced annually at Vauxhall’sEllesmere Port facility.

Another important milestone in the region’scar industry was reached by Merseysidefollowing the launch of the Freelander 2, whichhas started rolling off the production line atFord’s Halewood plant, the first time a Land

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Rover has been produced outside of theWest Midlands.

When Ford acquired Jaguar in 2000 theyinvested over £400 million in Halewood,transforming the production line and introducingnew ‘lean’ manufacturing processes.

GLOBAL BENCHMARKAs a result, over the last three years the plant

has received the highest score in a worldwidemanufacturing audit of all Ford-owned plants,setting a global benchmark for the company.

Now a further multi-million poundinvestment means the Freelander is beingproduced alongside the Jaguar X-type, a movethat has helped secure the long-term future ofthe factory and 2,400 jobs.

One of the region’s most progressiveautomotive suppliers has demonstrated itsworld-class performance by winning one ofthe industry’s top accolades.

Performance Springs of Lytham St Annesbeat off strong competition to secure thefirst-ever Northwest Automotive Alliance‘Company of the Year’ award at a ceremonyheld at the International ConventionCentre, Birmingham.

Based at the Queensway Industrial Estatewhere it employs over 40 people, the

company is the UK’s leading innovator in thefield of high performance spring technology.

Judges singled out the firm’sdetermination to remain at the forefront ofthe sector through a combination ofsustained investment in machinery andits workforce.

“Our industry is extremely competitive andwe have made sure we are in a positionwhere we can win new business andcontinue our expansion into key markets,”explains Managing Director Steve Williams.

SUPPLIER IS TOP PERFORMER

“Halewood's transformation was one of themost ambitious ever undertaken in theautomotive industry,” says Thomas Klein, theplant’s Operations Director.

“Halewood is unique in having two differentbrands manufactured on the same productionline and two vehicles of completely differentarchitecture and no common component - itdemonstrates Halewood's commitment toefficiency and flexibility."

The key to all these successes, saysNorman Williams, head of the NorthwestRegional Development Agency’s (NWDA)Automotive Sector Team, has been thewillingness of companies to invest in theskills of the workforce and in the concept oflean manufacturing.

“These world-class manufacturers havetaken a close look at their processes andimplemented some outstanding initiativesaround the principles of ‘lean’,” explainsWilliams. “It’s not the ‘dark art’ that manycompanies think - in the main it’s just aquestion of common sense.”

The Northwest is the second mostimportant automotive region in the UK,with over 500 companies employing some43,000 people.

As a result it’s become a base for some ofthe industry’s leading suppliers and Williamsworks closely with partners at the Departmentof Trade and Industry, the ManufacturingAdvisory Service (MAS), and Business Links, to

ensure a co-ordinated programme ofassistance for these companies too.

This has enabled suppliers to address a rangeof issues including manufacturing processes,energy costs and inefficiencies in supply chains– all factors that, if left unchallenged, will affectthe cost of manufacturing.

The NWDA has further invested in the futureof the sector by creating the NorthwestAutomotive Alliance (NAA), a clusterorganisation, which champions engineeringexcellence and provides a focal point for theregion's automotive sector.

Its industry-led approach has helped morethan a hundred companies improveperformance, launch new products, win neworders, and upskill their workforce.

Its Chairman, Stuart Heys, Managing Directorof Leyland Trucks says the region has a deep-rooted tradition in automotives and is wellpositioned from an infrastructure point of view.

“But more importantly, the Northwest hasthe right people to deliver a well co-ordinatedand concise programme of assistance forcompanies with the foresight and the desire tostay ahead of the global game.”

It’s not just the big multinationals that haveoverhauled their production processes.Accrington-based Piolax Manufacturing UK,which makes injection moulded components forthe automotive industry has seen itsproductivity rise by 75% on the back of a visit byMAS’s industry-savvy practitioners.

The MAS team highlighted high levels of‘wasted’ effort and then set to work with thecompany on developing lean processingtechniques which have since been rolled outacross the assembly area.

“The actual changes were quite simple andinvolved creating storage space for parts andimproving product flow.” says CompanyOperations Director, Tony Dewhurst, “but theimpact has been huge.”

For further information: Northwest Automotive Alliancetel: 01772 425446www.nwautoalliance.com

Lean manufacturing – Jaguars and Freelandersroll off the same production line

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RDA PRIORITIES FORGOVERNMENT SPENDING

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Regional Development Agencies (RDAs)across the North are pressing thegovernment to use the 2007Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR)to refocus policy and investment toreinforce measures that will contributeto narrowing the £30 billion productivitygap between the North and London andthe South East.

Under the banner of The Northern Way, theNorthwest Regional Development Agency(NWDA), Yorkshire Forward and OneNorthEast have collectively submitted a set offar-reaching proposals to accelerate the drivefor greater prosperity.

They include incentives to encourageinnovation, transport and connectivityimprovements, measures to improve skilllevels, and a Cabinet Committee for the North.All are designed to secure greater levels ofprivate investment, particularly in pan-regionalprojects and housing.

SPENDING PLANSThe NWDA is also working with government

to secure ongoing support for investmentdecisions such as the major BBC relocation toManchester, the creation of a national nuclearlaboratory with its HQ in the Northwest and thenew University of Cumbria. It also makes acase for greater simplification of businesssupport processes.

The CSR will set government spending plansfor three years from 2008-09. Whitehalldepartments have indicated that the pot of

money for economic development is likely todecrease, with government having largecommitments to meet in healthcare, educationand overseas aid. A final outcome is notexpected before the 2007 Budget.

INNOVATION GAPS“We are in a tighter fiscal climate and the

Treasury has indicated it will not entertain anybids for new money so we must not adopt ashopping list approach,” explained PatrickWhite, the NWDA’s Director of Policy whocoordinated the Northern Way submission andis leading the CSR input from all nine RDAs.

“We have to focus our efforts on persuadinggovernment to remove the barriers toeconomic growth that exist in the North and tosupport effective joint working at a local level.We have to maximise the resources we haveand use them efficiently.”

In its submission the influential partnershipurges the government to focus on six prioritiesto build a prosperous North. Transport andinnovation are seen to be the areas that canhave the biggest impact on the combinedregions’ future competitiveness.

Ministers are being asked, for example, tosupport the establishment of a NorthernTransport Development Fund to deliver “earlywin” projects.

The government has also been asked toadopt a three-point plan to fill gaps in theNorth’s innovation ‘ecosystem’ bystrengthening and developing the widerregion’s international research capacity,

stimulating business service innovation andbuilding on knowledge economy locations suchas Daresbury.

The Northern Way is also suggestingthat government should:• implement measures pioneered in the

Northwest to improve skills and get morepeople on Incapacity Benefit back into work

• strengthen devolution at all levels forplanning and decision making especially inrelation to City Regions

• improve the quality and variety of housing.The three RDAs also believe that efficiency

and accountability can be improved andstrengthened by ensuring that key public sectortargets are relevant to local and regional needsrather than just government departments byappointing a Cabinet Committee for the Northor a Minister for the North.

Steven Broomhead, NWDA Chief Executive,said the CSR provided The Northern Way withan opportunity to advise government on the keyinvestment locations in the North that willdeliver the greatest return.

“We want government to continue workingwith us to strengthen the North’s keyknowledge locations by building on our assetsand drawing on lessons which have beensuccessfully applied elsewhere in Europe andthe world.”

For further information: email: patrick.white@nwda.co.uktel: 01925 400100 www.thenorthernway.co.uk

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The new streamlined service will replacethe existing five Business Link operations witha new head office and contact centre inPreston – manned into the evening seven daysa week – and a large number of businessadvisers located around the region.

The changes are being introduced followinga fundamental review of Business Linkprovision by the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency (NWDA), which assumedfull management of the service in April 2005.

With an annual income of £18 million and astaff of 330, the new organisation, branded asNorthwest Business Link, will operate as animpartial, independent brokerage service andwill align itself with the internationally-competitive sectors and priorities outlined in theNorthwest Regional Economic Strategy 2006.

The sectors include biomedical, energy andenvironmental technologies, advancedengineering and materials, food and drink,

digital and creative industries and professionaland business services.

The overall aim, says Managing DirectorPeter Watson, is to raise the profile andperception of Business Link and increaseunderstanding of what it can do. “There is agreat misunderstanding about what it can doand we now have a wonderful opportunity toclarify that,” he explains.

“Restructuring will allow us to offer a robustand sustained level of service that isconsistent throughout the region with onemanagement team and one back-officefunction and it will also enable us to put moreeffort into the front-line part of the service.”

Business enquiries will be routed through a‘universal gateway’ based on the nationalInformation Diagnosis Brokerage (IDB) model,with the contact centre handling allcommunications, phone, web and email. Self-diagnostic tools will be available on line.

Another strand of the service will be thetarget brokerage, a proactive operation staffedby some 200 business advisors - called targetbrokers’ - co-located with sub-regionalpartnerships, the various cluster organisationsand possibly on science parks.

CLOSE MONITORINGWatson stresses that “anyone can walk

through the universal gateway from the schoolleaver wanting to go into self employment tothe chairman of a company that has beenoperating for fifty years. Nobody will beturned away.”

Northwest Business Link will not bedelivering products and services but willquickly and seamlessly route requests for

guidance and business support to the mostappropriate provider.

“We think the market is best able to deliversolutions,” says Watson who took up hisduties in September to prepare the newservice for launch on April 2, 2007.

“We will be working with accreditedsuppliers and they will be subject to closemonitoring according to customersatisfaction criteria.”

Wholly owned by the NWDA with a privatesector led-board, the new organisation willrun on business-led principles with the aim ofboosting business formation and makingestablished companies more competitive.

Peter Watson sees the ‘fit for purpose’restructuring as a logical necessity. “We wantto run ourselves as a lean business reflectinginternally what we want to achieve in the widerbusiness world.”

He takes on the task of developing a slicker,more focused support service with a broadlevel of experience in the private sector, havingworked in footwear manufacturing, the housebuilding sector and the European and UKprinting industry.

For further information:email: peter.watson@nwda.co.uktel: 01925 644220www.nwbl.co.uk (from April 2)

BUSINESS SUPPORTREORGANISED

Digital industries – another growth sector

High fliers – aerospace is a target sectorIT hub – a contact centre willhandle all communications

Business priority – support will beoffered to biomedical companies

“WE WANT TO RUN OURSELVESAS A LEAN BUSINESS REFLECTINGINTERNALLY WHAT WE WANTTO ACHIEVE IN THE WIDERBUSINESS WORLD.”

PETER WATSONMANAGING DIRECTOR

NORTHWEST BUSINESS LINK

11

A new revitalised Business Link service for the region, centrally managed butdelivered locally, is to be launched in the spring with the aim of improving growthand competitiveness in key sectors of the Northwest economy.

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A new ultra-clean production facility thatuses living organisms to develop tomorrow’smedicines has been officially opened inSpeke, Liverpool, further strengthening theregion’s world-class reputation forbiopharmaceutical innovation.

The National Biomanufacturing Centre(NBC) will help new and existing companiesmove good research ideas from thelaboratory to the global marketplace withinthe right regulatory framework.

Located on the Estuary Business Park, thecentre has attracted major overseas interestand has been described as a “benchmarkand showcase for British science,” by Dr

Crawford Brown, Chief Executive of EdenBiodesign, the NBC’s commercial operator.

Funding for the £34 million project, whichhas been hailed as the first of its kind in theworld, has been provided by the NorthwestRegional Development Agency (NWDA), theEU’s Objective One programme and theDepartment of Trade and Industry.

Some of industry’s big corporate playersincluding AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly and Aveciahave provided helpful advice on setting upthe facility.

Although biologics, which includesbiopharmaceuticals and vaccines, have beenaround for 25 years it’s only recently they

BIOCENTRE TODEVELOP NEWMEDICINES

BUSINESS

12

have become viable as commercial products.They currently account for 17% (50 billiondollars) of the medicines market but industryexperts predict their share could rise to 70%in the future.

MISSING LINKChemical compounds are used to make

drugs in traditional pharmaceuticalmanufacture whereas the NBC’s processesuse living cells – mammalian, viral andmicrobial-like mini factories to makebiologic products.

The centre provides a full range of servicesnecessary to take a novel biopharmaceuticalfrom proof of concept through to small batchproduction for early–stage clinical trials.

Its client focus will be small and mediumsize companies (SMEs), research and charityorganisations, the universities and the NHS.

The NBC was borne out of an idea in thelate 1990s by Professor Julian Crampton, aformer Liverpool academic, and has beenbrought to fruition largely through thededication and drive of Dr. Linda Magee, Headof Bionow, the Northwest Biotechnologycluster organisation established by theNWDA. Her contribution won widespreadpraise at the opening ceremony.

She describes the centre as the “missinglink” that should speed up the lab-to-marketprocess. “It’s a beacon for the wider

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Medical researcher Dr Stephen Richardson ofthe University of Manchester has developed atreatment for lower back pain using thepatient’s own stem cells which could replace theuse of strong painkillers or surgery.

Pre-clinical trials are due to start in 2007 andare expected to rapidly yield a marketableproduct. The breakthrough, achieved with thecollaboration of a German biotechnologycompany and renowned spinal surgeons,promises huge cost savings for the NHS.

Dr Richardson’s work earned him theaccolade of ‘Northwest Young Biotechnologist ofthe Year’ at the 2006 Northwest BiotechnologyAwards, organised by Bionow, the NWDA regionalsupport group.

The awards, which are supported bycommercial sponsors, including AstraZeneca,Avecia, Nature Publications, Pannones andAddleshaw Goddard showcase the very best ofbiotechnology in region.

Three other award winners also have stronglinks with the University of Manchester. Theyinclude Professor Mark Ferguson, 51, Co-founderand Chief Executive Officer of Renovo, who wasnamed as the ‘Bionow Personality of the Year.’

ACADEMIC SPIN OUT Renovo aims to be the first to market with

a pharmaceutical drug to prevent andreduce scarring.

Many of the new discovery companiesspringing up across the region have their roots inacademia. Myconostica, the ‘Biotechnology StartUp of the Year’ is a spin out from ManchesterUniversity specialising in fast and very sensitivemolecular diagnostic tests for life-threateningrespiratory fungal infections.

Dr. Chris Ward of the university’s School ofDentistry won the ‘Bioprocessing Project of theYear’ award for his work to develop a novelmethod of preventing human embryonic stemcells from forming into different types of cell.

Farfield Scientific of Crewe, which uses opticalmeasurement technology to manufactureinstruments for use in drug discovery and themechanisms behind diseases, was named as‘Biotechnology Company of the Year’.Farfield employs 21 and exports60-70% of its products.

The award of ‘BiotechnologyProject of the Year’ went toManchester-based DxS for‘Therascreen’, an innovative geneticanalysis product to identifypatients who will respondwell to certain cancerdrug therapies.

AWARDS FORBIO HEROES

13

pharmaceutical community in the region andwe expect it to have an influential role inattracting inward investment to the Northwest.”

An Access Fund of just under £3 million hasbeen established to support the work of theNBC and is already assisting SMEs purchaseservices from Eden Biodesign. Grants ofup to £70,000 are available for eligiblecompanies with higher allocations for thoselocated in Merseyside.

One recipient company, Onyvax, has startedwork on an ovarian cancer vaccine while asecond successful applicant, Aquapharm, isusing the NBC’s expertise to develop productsfrom marine sources.

The NBC will enhance Liverpool’s drive tobecome one of Europe’s premierbiopharmaceutical centres. Around 2,000people are currently employed in the sectorin south Liverpool, the highest concentrationanywhere in the EU.

EXEMPLAR PROJECTOpening the state-of-the-art building,

NWDA Chairman Bryan Gray, a formerchemistry graduate, called it one of the first“building blocks” in an emerging industry.“It’s an exemplar project of co-operationbetween the public and private sectors”.

Apart from offering advice and guidance toearly-stage companies about moving fromresearch into development, Eden Biodesignaims to expand training opportunities with aview to doubling its workforce to 100 over thenext two years.

It is joining forces with LiverpoolJohn Moores University to establish aBioprocess Summer School in 2007 toresolve some of the skills deficiencies in thesector. The partners hope to move towardsan apprenticeship in Bioprocessing that canbe rolled out across the UK.

For further information:email: linda.magee@nwda.co.uktel: 01925 400100www.bionow.co.uk

Centre of excellence – technicians work in anultra-clean environment

Professor Mark Ferguson –Bionow Personality of the Year

State of the art – the National BiomanufacturingCentre is a showcase for British science

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That was in 2003 when Nik, from Newcastleon Tyne, joined Mocha, a multi-mediaproduction company established by two earlierLJMU graduates.

“There were only two or three of us from mycourse who stayed in Liverpool,” says thedesigner and animator who completed asummer placement with Mocha before hisfinal year. “A few wanted to try for London butit’s a difficult time when you finish university.If people don’t find a job fairly quickly, manymove back home with their parents and startfrom there.”

This is one of the drivers behind Liverpool’snew Culture Campus, officially launched thismonth, which aims to “inspire, support andenable” the city’s top quality graduates to stayin the area to develop its cultural sector andwider creative economy.

Initially funded with £75,000 of EuropeanObjective One funding and £33,000 from bothLiverpool University and LJMU, the Campusalso sets out to help SME development in thecultural and creative industries sector.

At a time when public policy experts areacknowledging the value of ‘creativity’ in thecompetition to stay ahead in the globaleconomy, the highly-specialist web-basedCampus aims to add a new dimension to thecity’s cultural success.

Supported by the city’s Tate, Biennial andFACT, the Campus plans to assist theirgrowth and development through the provisionof new talent.

“The new Campus wants to ensure thatLiverpool is the place to be for graduates andpost-graduates who want to build a career inthe creative industries,” says Liz Lacey,Director of Culture Campus.

“Many students made the decision to cometo Liverpool because of next year’s (2008)European Capital of Culture and haveexpectations of making a career here.We want to improve the chances of themstaying in the city – as well as supportingSMEs in the same sector to develop andattract new talent.”

Concentrating initially on the visual arts, itplans to broaden its scope to include musicand other art forms, with the support ofLiverpool’s Everyman/Playhouse theatres, thePhilharmonic, Bluecoat Arts Centre, WalkerArt Gallery and the World Museum.

Two early practical projects will involvesetting up a ‘dating agency’ to link students

with work experience providers and a system ofbursaries and seedcorn funding to enableorganisations moving in to the city to supportand invest in the cultural sectors.

Professor Jennifer Latto, the NorthwestRegional Development Agency’s HigherEducation (HE) Adviser and a member of theCulture Campus Board, explains the thinkingbehind the project.

“The idea is to link together all the workgoing on in Higher Education and in the artsorganisations in Liverpool so Culture Campusbecomes the first port of call for anyone whowants to set up projects and find particularexpertise and appropriately trained staff in thevery specialist cultural and creative industries.”

LMJU, which has announced plans for theNorthwest’s first Screen School, will build oncultural education provision in the city byintroducing two new masters’ programmes –New Media Curating and Cultural Leadership –in September 2007.

For further information:email: jennifer.latto@nwda.co.uktel: 01925 400100

CULTURE CAMPUS LINKTO CREATIVE CAREERS

14

When multi-media arts student Nik Bowler graduated from Liverpool John Moores University(LJMU), he was one of only a handful of his contemporaries to stay and work in the city.

Arts hub – FACT has pledgedsupport for Culture Campus

SKILLS AND EDUCATION

Scientists, engineers andmathematicians at the University ofManchester have been given a new typeof research environment with the openingof the Manchester InterdisciplinaryBiocentre (MIB). The £38 million facilitywill enable up to 80 research groups toapply novel approaches to finding newtherapies for diseases such as cancer,meningitis and cystic fibrosis.

Princes Park in Liverpool andBirkenhead on the Wirral are the latestareas to benefit from Northern Wayinitiatives to drive down the number ofpeople claiming Incapacity Benefit in theNorth. The project, which will build on asuccessful scheme in Knowsley, willtarget 3,000 claimants in the new areas.

Macclesfield entereda new era of highquality educationprovision with theofficial opening of theEuropean Centre forAerospace Training (ECAT), the firstbuilding to be completed on the town’s£38 million Learning Zone development,which is receiving £5 million funding fromthe NWDA.

Bolton Technical Innovation Centre (TIC),the UK’s first ‘Junior Incubator’, has beenofficially opened by the Princess Royal.Developed with the support of the NWDA,the TIC has been created to nurtureinnovation and enterprise among youngpeople in Northwest schools. It is the firstof its kind in the UK.

Manchester Metropolitan University isset to expand its successful NewEntrepreneurship Scholarship schemeafter its Centre for Enterprise won£1.2 million of additional funding. It willenable up to 400people in localcommunities to attendthree-month coursesto learn how toconvert their businessideas into reality.

Professor John Wilson, a qualifiedaccountant, has joined the University ofSalford as Head of the new SalfordBusiness School, which was formed inAugust from four existing Schools. He haspreviously worked at the University ofTeesside, Liverpool John MooresUniversity and Lancashire County Council.

NEWS

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15

Pathfinder, a new skills project aimed atdeveloping higher education tailored toemployers’ needs, is giving the Northwest“another chance to stand out” for its rangeof training opportunities.

The region has been chosen by the HigherEducation Funding Council for England(HEFCE) as one of three areas to pilot the£4 million initiative.

This now means that Northwest employerscan access skills training for their workforcevia a brokerage service ranging from basicliteracy and numeracy right through to toplevel post-graduate learning.

Dr Celia Brigg, Project Manager andAssistant Director (Skills) of the North WestUniversities Association (NWUA) which isleading Pathfinder, says: “The Northwest isnow the only UK region to have the full rangeof training offered by the Learning and SkillsCouncil and Higher Education – from Train toGain through to the higher level skills.”

Supported by the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency, Pathfinder will developa database of existing HE provision toidentify gaps, and a brokerage system usingexisting regional brokers, who have beentrained in HE.

The NWUA has already started work onintelligence gathering to establish the higherlevel skills needs in four sectors: advancedengineering and materials, construction,digital and creative industries and businessand professional services.

Dr Brigg says: “We understand there is aneed for specific technical skills andmanagement and leadership qualificationswhich are not merely generic, but specific toparticular sectors.”

SPECIALISED COURSESShe says that in line with government

policy, Pathfinder will attempt to achieve astep-change in the HE sector, encouraginguniversities to deliver some courses moreflexibly, including on employers’ sites,supported by online learning.

The region’s universities are alreadyresponding to employer skills needs byintroducing specialised degree courses, oftenwith input from business and industry.Salford, for example, received help fromAdidas, Umbro and Reebok in shaping thecontent of a sport equipment design course.

A dramatic growth in digital marketingspend has prompted ManchesterMetropolitan University Business School to

launch a BA (Hons) degree in DigitalMarketing and Communications, again withsupport from industry practitioners.

NUCLEAR ENGINEERINGLancaster has become one of the first

universities to launch a degree course (MSc)in Decommissioning and EnvironmentalClean-Up, a move that should help small andmedium size firms in Cumbria exploit theopportunities created by the £70 billion clean-up process.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority islending its support by funding a number ofpost-graduate scholarships for part-timeindustry-based students, recognition ofLancaster’s excellence in nuclearengineering. The course will be delivered inpartnership with the Westlakes ResearchInstitute in Cumbria.

The Pathfinder initiative comes at a timewhen the government is driving forward itsten-year strategy for science and innovationand emphasising the need for closer linksbetween HE and employers.

For further information:email: cbrigg@nwua.ac.uktel: 0161 234 8880www.nwua.ac.uk

“THE NORTHWEST IS NOWTHE ONLY UK REGION TO HAVETHE FULL RANGE OF TRAININGOFFERED BY THE LEARNINGAND SKILLS COUNCIL ANDHIGHER EDUCATION.”

DR CELIA BRIGGPROJECT MANAGEMENT

AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR(SKILLS)

NWUA

UNIVERSITY DRIVE TO HELP INDUSTRY

Ice cool – Salford Design studentGraham Patrick with prototypeequipment for the new sport, XtremeIce.

Owzat – coaching aid for cricket

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Infrastructure to support the developmentof a business park on Edge Lane inMerseyside is set to create 150 temporaryconstruction jobs. The development of thesite, which received £4.6 million from theNWDA, is ultimately expected to generatearound 1,000 jobs with the attraction ofscience and technology based companiesto the region.

Carlisle is moving ahead with the firstphase of an ambitious renaissancestrategy after being given £1 million ofkickstart fundingfrom the NWDA toencourage businessinvestment anddevelop the city’stourism potential.

Local residents are being invited to helpshape the future of the formerBickershaw Colliery site in Leigh.English Partnerships has announcedfunding of nearly £17 million to developa country park which will complementan approved new NWDA-ledneighbourhood scheme around the canalbasin on the southern part of the site.

Construction has started on a new£3.5 million development to bringflexible, short term business space toEllesmere Port. Grant-assisted by theNWDA, the Evans Business Centre onthe Pioneer Business Park, EllesmerePort, will provide start-ups and smallbusinesses with 23 offices and18 workshops.

BakeMark UK, thecountry’s largestproducer of bakeryingredients andfrozen bakeryproducts is expandingproduction capacity workforce at itsBromborough manufacturing facilityafter being offered a package of aid fromthe NWDA and partners. The investmentwill create 20 new jobs and preventproduction being transferred overseas.

Measures to introduce more flexibleworking across the region are beingchampioned following the establishmentof the Northwest Flexible WorkingGroup. Public and private sector-led, thegroup will be charged with delivering astrategy which aims to benefit bothemployers and employees throughoutthe Northwest.

NEWS

16

PEOPLE AND JOBS

In the six years since the urbanregeneration company (URC) New EastManchester (NEM) set about rejuvenating thecity’s old industrial heartland, over £800million of public and private money has beeninvested in the area triggering atransformation as impressive as the citycentre renaissance.

Projects are underway in 15 of the 17 targetneighbourhoods with 3,400 new homescompleted and another 6,000 in the pipeline.Over 3,000 jobs have been created orsafeguarded and local schools are driving upeducational standards.

The holistic regeneration of a complex areaof 1,900 hectares in size – five times as largeas the city centre – has earned high praisefrom Professor Michael Parkinson, aninternational authority on cities, in a mid-termevaluation of NEM activities,

“The success of New East Manchestertells us a lot about how we should manageour hard-pressed urban areas in future.This is not only a fine example of bestpractice but raises the bar for urbanregeneration,” he observes.

NEM is a partnership venture betweenManchester City Council, the NorthwestRegional Development Agency and EnglishPartnerships. It was established in 2000 withan initial 10-year lifespan although the citycouncil has always regarded East Manchesteras a 20-year project.

SUSTAINED COMMITMENTThe NWDA has pledged to invest

£120 million in the area’s renaissance ofwhich £70 million has been spent. The overallcost of bringing economic and social stabilityto the area is estimated at over £2 billion.

Tom Russell, NEM’s Chief Executive, saysthe message from the evaluation report was

that good progress had been made on thedelivery of physical change and “normalising”the area’s economic profile but recovery wasfragile and still needed sustained commitmentfrom public sector partners.

“One of the threats we face is complacency.We are pleased with the progress madebut know it is still too early to regard thejob as done. It can easily slide back to itsformer state.”

In his detailed report, Professor Parkinsonhighlighted the huge challenges facing NEMwhen it began to bring the branding concept of“the new town in the city” to reality.

The old metal-bashing area had lost 60% ofits employment between 1975-85, and thehousing market had collapsed. It also had ahigh unemployment rate with 52% of people onbenefit, high crime, poor health, inadequatetransport links and a low skills base.

Building on the legacy of theCommonwealth Games, which has left thearea with a world-class sportinginfrastructure, the URC and its partners havescored a string of notable commercial andcommunity successes.

One “incredibly important” milestone,according to Russell, was securing a majorinvestment by Fujitsu in a new UK HQ on theflagship Central Park.

“It’s given the area a modern IT employmentprofile and the more of these investments we

It used to be an area of empty factories,abandoned homes, high benefits dependencyand few opportunities. Today East Manchester isa brave new world of well-designed housing,world-class sporting facilities, risingeducational aspirations and soon home to theUK’s first regional casino.

CONFIDENCERISING IN EASTMANCHESTER

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17

get the more East Manchester will be seen asa good location for modern businesses”.

The 182-hectare (450 acres) business parkis already geared up for the arrival ofMetrolink (in 2010-11) following completion ofa £36 million Gateway transport interchange.

Ask: Akeler Developments has completed275,000 sq ft (25,547 sq m) of new office spaceout of a projected 1.4 million sq ft (130,000sq m) and has begun work on a further43,350 sq ft (4,027 sq m) of speculative space.

East Manchester is a richly patterned canvasof physical, economic and social renewal withdozens of projects completed, at theconstruction stage or in the planning pipeline.

They range from new shopping centres,new schools and health facilities to major newhousing schemes and an innovative use ofheritage assets, such as Ancoats, the AshtonCanal and Gorton Monastery.

NEM has gone for very strong architecturalstatements - functional rather than iconic- to change the perception of eastManchester. House builders are being urgedto raise their design standards to provide adifferent but better type of housing than thatfound elsewhere.

IMPROVED SCHOOLSLovell and Gleason, the two main house

builders in Beswick, one of the early renewalprojects, are now selling new homes for up to£250,000. Over 9,000 new homes across the

area have been completed or are in variousstages of construction or refurbishment. Twothirds of buyers are believed to be from acrossthe city region or elsewhere.

Education is another measure of progresswith attainment levels moving up to be on apar with the Manchester average compared to10% below in 2000. Two of the area’s primaryschools were among the top five mostimproved schools in the country.

Russell is confident the public andprivate sectors are on track to deliverinvestment worth more than £2 billionover the next 10-20 years.

In its recommendation to government, theCasino Advisory Panel based its decision toaward the regional casino licence to EastManchester on the area's "great promise" asa test bed for social impact and regenerationneed. If approved by government, the decisioncould give the go-ahead for over £265 millioninvestment in a major leisure andentertainment development, creating 2,700jobs and a range of community facilities.

“Our success will be measured in ourredundancy,” says Russell, “The soonerwe can withdraw and let the private sectorand market forces take the reins thehappier we shall be.”

For further information:www.neweastmanchester.com

CONTRIBUTINGTO SUCCESSNew East Manchester is adding value tothe overall economic success of the city,according to Professor Michael Parkinson’sinterim evaluation of the URC’sperformance. Achievements in the periodup to March 2006 include:

Jobs – the area is outperforming nationaland regional trends on job growth rates with3131 jobs created against a lifetime target of10,000; NEM is performing well onsafeguarding jobs reaching 82% of its target.Land – NEM has serviced 75% of the landidentified in its lifetime targets; it has alsoachieved more than half its target for new orupgraded floor space. Housing – over 3,400 homes have beencompleted and there are up to a further15,000 anticipated new builds. At this rateNEM should reach its original target of12,500 new homes by 2010.Morale – satisfaction levels amongresidents is rising; in the Beacons New Dealfor Communities area 60% of residentsthought their neighbourhood was gettingbetter in 2005 compared to 17% in 1999.

State-of-the-art venue – Visualisation of thecasino development at East Manchester

“VITAL INVESTMENT LIKE THIS ISDESPERATELY NEEDED TOGUARANTEE A SUSTAINABLEFUTURE FOR EAST MANCHESTER.WE KNOW A REGIONAL CASINOWILL DELIVER ENORMOUSREGENERATION BENEFITS.”

TOM RUSSELLCHIEF EXECUTIVE

NEW EAST MANCHESTER

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18

Rising private sector confidence in Liverpool’sability to become a prosperous, competitivecity-region is helping to transform its retailand commercial office core, sparking abuilding boom without parallel in the lasthalf century.

Cranes crowd the skyline as developers,construction companies, fund managers andpublic agencies step up the £2.5 billionphysical and economic regeneration of thewaterfront and central business andshopping districts.

Take-up levels in the city centre officemarket in 2005 reached a record high ofnearly 500,000 sq ft (46,451 sq m), anincreasing proportion of which is new-build.Rentals have also risen from £14 to £20 persq ft over the past five years and investordemand has driven capital growth faster thanany other provincial city.

“On the basis of headline rents and yields,the capital value of new office space hasdoubled in that period,” enthuses Jim Gill,Chief Executive of Liverpool Vision, the UrbanRegeneration Company (URC) charged withcoordinating the city centre’s recovery.

Property consultants GVA Grimley reportthat Liverpool has outstripped other UK citiesin rental growth and expects 1.15 million sq ft(106,838 sq m) of new or refurbished space tocome to market in the next four years withdemand matching supply.

STRATEGIC LEADERSHIPMuch of the restored confidence, suggests

Gill, stems from Liverpool’s Vision’s broaderplanning strategy for the central businessdistrict. “Five years ago Liverpool was just noton the investment radar for nationaldevelopers or institutional investors. Now they

are taking advantage of the opportunitiesbeing offered.”

Liverpool Vision was the first URC to beestablished by the government in 1999 in itsquest for strategic leadership and betterintegration of resources to bring about anurban renaissance.

The company’s public sector fundingpartners are Liverpool City Council, theNorthwest Regional Development Agency(NWDA) and English Partnerships. The NWDAcontribution to Vision’s three-year rollingbusiness plan will peak at £31 million in thecurrent financial year.

Commercial development is now much lessdependent on public gap funding. GrosvenorEstates forged ahead with its £920 millionLiverpool One retail and associated leisure andresidential development without any publicfunding. The 1.6 million sq ft (148,644 sq m)scheme, which is due to open in Spring 2008,will double the city’s existing retail area.

Grosvenor’s willingness to invest, says Gill,has been influenced by the URC’s broader plan

PEOPLE AND JOBS

for the city centre and the commitment ofVision’s partners to seeing the regenerationplan through to completion. “Grosvenor arelong-terms investors – they can see Liverpoolhas a long-term future.”

Gill and his team are particularly pleasedwith the progress being made to reshape thecity’s commercial district, again withdiminishing pump-prime funding from publicsector partners.

In 2001 Liverpool Vision devised a three-phase strategy to kick-start speculative officedevelopment, then to create a new expandedcommercial district in the area bounded by OldHall Street and Pall Mall, to the north of thecity’s traditional commercial area. Low rentallevels had provided little or no incentive toinvest in speculative schemes and the existingstock gave only limited opportunities torevitalise the market.

Support was pledged for three stand-aloneschemes totalling 425,000 sq ft (39,483 sq m);the Beetham development at 101 Old HallStreet (let to Unisys and the Passport Office),

LIVERPOOL BUILDS

Good company – the new Museum of Liverpoolwill take its place alongside the Three Graces

“THERE IS A PENT-UP DEMANDFROM PROFESSIONAL FIRMSWANTING TO CONSOLIDATE INQUALITY SPACE AND BOOST THEIRGROWTH POTENTIAL.”

JIM GILLCHIEF EXECUTIVE

LIVERPOOL VISION

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Shepborough Developments’ City Squareproject (let to the Department of ConstitutionalAffairs) and Rumford Investments’ Unityscheme in Chapel Street, which announcedits first letting to Ernst & Young inDecember 2006.

Occupier response has been such that thegrant aid for the first two schemes has eitherbe repaid in full or was never taken up. TheUnity development, which required £10 millionof public funding (£5 million from the NWDA),largely because of adverse ground conditions,was completed in November 2006.

Gill is bullish about the market’sperformance. “We have not seen this level ofcommercial development in Liverpool for over50 years. There is a pent-up demand fromprofessional firms wanting to consolidate inquality space and boost their growth potential.”

VIABLE FUTUREThe main occupiers, developers and

investors in the new commercial district aredemonstrating their commitment to the areaby creating the Liverpool Commercial DistrictPartnership. Working with Liverpool Vision andother public agencies, the partnership willwork on improving the management andmarketing of the area.

“They are taking responsibility for the futurewell-being of the area because they believe ithas a viable future – five years ago that wouldnever have happened,” explains Gill.

Rising residential values are anothermeasure of how far the city has progressed.All the £150 million funding for the Arena andConvention Centre at Kings Waterfront iscoming from the public sector but a third ormore of that is expected to be recouped fromresidential, commercial and leisure

development of the rest of the site. The first phase residential development, a

joint venture scheme by David McLean and CityLofts is due on site in March. Hoteldevelopment for Jury’s Inn and StalybridgeSuites will be completed by Spring 2008.

Gill argues that the regeneration ofthe city centre waterfront, and the retailand commercial expansion are merelyhelping Liverpool to catch up with lostopportunity brought about by 40 years ofeconomic stagnation.

Liverpool Vision will shape more of its futureprogramme, he says, around the fundamentalsof wealth and job creation with the likely focusshifting towards the areas around the twouniversities, Hope Street and the fastdeveloping Baltic ‘independent’ district.

Together with other Liverpool agencies –Liverpool Land Development Company andBusiness Liverpool – Liverpool Vision isworking with the City Council on proposals fora new, single economic regeneration companyto drive the pace of change in the city evenfaster. It is expected to be operational byApril 2008.

“The debate now is how we rack upperformance, how we structure anorganisation to meet these challenges. Each ofthe partners is signed up for change and wewill have a much clearer idea of where we aregoing by the end of the financial year.”

Liverpool’s business growth potential hasattracted major investment from the EnglishCities Fund, which is currently building thelargest Grade A office scheme in the city forseveral decades. The first office building isalready pre-let to Hill Dickinson.

The St. Paul’s Square scheme will providea centrepiece for the new commercialdistrict and will set new standards in termsof quality design, public realm and energyefficiency. Completion of the £100 millionfirst phase (50 apartments, a car park and130,000 sq ft (12,077 sq m) building isexpected in April 2007.

The fund was set up in the aftermath ofthe seminal Urban Task Force report byEnglish Partnerships, Legal and General

and AMEC to bring institutional investmentinto Assisted Areas.

Its Chief Executive Lesley Chalmerspredicts the three-phase scheme, when fullydeveloped, will rival the quality ofSpinningfields in Manchester and BrindleyPlace, Birmingham. “It will integrate leisure,retail, living and work environments into asingle prestigious development.”

The scheme on a former Littlewoods site is office led but will include restaurants,banking and other facilities as well ashigh-quality apartments. “We expect itto have a development value of over£100 million and may well exceed400,000 sq feet of mixed floor use,”says Chalmers.

19

BRIGHT FUTURE

SETTING THE STANDARDS

For further information: tel: 0151 707 8007www.liverpoolvision.co.uk

Construction boom – Liverpool isa 21st century city in the making

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After years in the planning pipelineKingsway, Rochdale, has reached a newmilestone with the launch of a boldmarketing campaign to promote thestrategic 170-hectare (450 acre) site as aunique location for tomorrow’s industries.

Backed by a series of 11 abstractillustrations by graphic artist Andy Barker, the development partners began a nationalpromotional push as the first occupierspledged themselves to the new business park.

“This colourful interpretation of whatKingsway has to offer is a new approach tocreating a special identity for the site – it’slike a modern-day Bayeux Tapestry,” observesRob Green, the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency’s Operations Director forthe site.

“We are trying to show that Kingsway isdifferent to anything on the market in termsof size, connectivity, design, sustainability andthe package of business support on offer tocompanies moving there.”

Located between Oldham and Rochdale,the project is a joint venture between the

KINGSWAYSET TO CONQUERPROPERTY MARKET

20

NEWS

INFRASTRUCTURE

New business landscape – an aerial view of the Kingsway site

NWDA, which is the largest landowner andbiggest public investor, Rochdale MBC,Rochdale Development Agency and WilsonBowden Developments.

Kingsway, one of the region’s 25strategic sites, has retained its grant aidstatus in the recent redrawing of theAssisted Areas map.

It has outline planning permission for250,000 sq m (3 million acres) of industrialspace, 27,000 sq m (296,000 sq ft) of offices,22.000 sq m (243,000 sq ft) of quality hotel,leisure and retail and 300 homes.

When fully developed in 10-15 years thepark will have a projected employment baseof 7,500 people, many of them in targetgrowth sectors such as advancedmanufacturing, digital and media.

“We are taking a very holistic approach todeveloping the site,” explains Green. “Therewill be a crèche within a village hub,community transport provision and a greentravel plan.”

The partners are working closely withpotential employers to identify their staffing

�

NorwePP, a public private sectorpartnership, has been launched by theNorthwest Regional Development Agencyand Ashtenne Industrial Fund to manageand develop the Agency’s £140 millionportfolio of commercial premises. Thejoint venture will hold 42 estates, mostlyin Merseyside and West Cumbria.

Manchester Airport has been named asthe Best UK Airport in the British TravelAwards 2006. More than 100,000passengers and travel professionalsvoted in the awards,which were presentedat Battersea Park,London. It was theairport’s sixth awardin 2006.

More derelict and underused land atBirkenhead is to be transformed intopublic recreation space and communitywoodland after the NWDA agreed toinvest a further £2.7 million in the‘Newlands at Bidston Moss’ project. Themoney will be used to develop a further28 hectares enlarging the woodland areato 68 hectares.

Merseytravel has submitted plans for anew £10 million Pier Head FerryTerminal which it hopes will becompleted in Spring 2008. The low-risedesign has been developed inconsultation with Liverpool City Council,English Heritage andWorld Heritageofficers and preservesthe view of the city’sworld famous ThreeGraces skyline.

Urban renewal specialists the LangtreeGroup have been announced as preferreddeveloper for Kingston House inLiverpool, an NWDA-owned 1960s officebuilding. The scheme will create a 10-12storey landmark office development withactive retail or leisure uses at street level.

Funding is being made available by theNWDA to support growth at regionalairports, attract new carriers andimprove international connectivity.The new £6.5 million Air ServicesDevelopment Fund AlternativeMeasures programme will helpLiverpool, Manchester, Blackpooland Carlisle airports to marketthemselves internationally.

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challenges including uncertainty over theMetrolink extension to Oldham and Rochdale.This has now been resolved with the parkhaving a dedicated stop when the networkexpansion is completed in 2011.

WINNING FORMULAThe NWDA secured a Compulsory

Purchase Order for the site in 2004. Most ofthe Agency’s £31 million investment in theproject has been used to fund infrastructureworks with marketing and recruitmentsupport also provided.

A key 23-hectare (53 acres) site with outlineplanning permission for 69.883 sq metres(750,000 sq ft) of business space in Phase Twohas been earmarked by the Agency forstrategic investment capable of delivering upto 2,000 jobs.

Rochdale Council recently gave planningapproval for Phase Two infrastructure works

along with detailed approval for the first sixplots in Phase One. Construction work on thefirst four buildings started in January.

Jane Dobie, Development Manager forWilson Bowden Developments, believesKingsway’s design, amenities, and direct linkto one of the UK’s main distribution corridorswill prove a winning formula with a widerange of investors.

“We are extremely pleased with the level ofinterest already received and if thingscontinue as they are we would expect themajority of Phase 1 to be allocated within thenext 12-18 months.”

For further information:email: rob.green@nwda.co.uktel: 01706 868999www.kingswayuk.com

and skills needs, withlocal communities to encourage

them to take up training opportunities(bursary grants of up to £1,000 areavailable), with colleges to developappropriate courses, and with schools toraise career aspirations from an early age.

Two local companies have provideddevelopers with a confidence boost bysignalling intent to move there. VindenScientific, an Oldham-based manufacturerof test equipment for the pharmaceuticalindustry, will take one of the first fourspeculative units due to be completed bylate summer.

Rochdale-based Zen Internet has alsoindicated it will invest in a newheadquarters operation on the businesspark to cater for future expansion. Foundedby high-tech entrepreneur Richard Tang, thecompany currently employs 200 people onthree separate sites in the town.

PLANNING CHALLENGEPhase One of the £400 million project,

due for completion in April 2007, will deliverthe site utilities, a remodelled Junction 21giving direct access to the M62, and a newspine road linked to the A664 RochdaleRing Road.

It will also make available the first sixdevelopment plots, one of which is thesubject of detailed discussions related to ahotel and leisure development.

The site is a mix of former low-gradefarmland, old industrial land and marsh. Itspotential was recognised as early as 1945but it only appeared on the planning horizonin the 1980s and it was not until the 1990sthat the Kingsway Partnership was formed.

The project has faced numerous

21

�“WE ARE TRYING TO SHOW THATKINGSWAY IS DIFFERENT TOANYTHING ON THE MARKET INTERMS OF SIZE, CONNECTIVITY,DESIGN AND BUSINESS SUPPORT.”

ROB GREEN

KINGSWAY OPERATIONS

DIRECTOR

NWDA

Developers are spending £100,000 creatingnew habitats for Kingsway’s wildlife. Thework should help to ensure the survival inthe Northwest of the water vole, which hasbeen on the verge of extinction.

Over 30 voles were captured on the site andremoved to Chester Zoo where a successfulbreeding programme has raised their numberto over 200. The animals will be released backinto waterways at Kingsway in Spring 2008.

A protected species, the water vole wasimmortalised as Ratty in Kenneth Graham’sWind in the Willows. Wild mink havedecimated the native population leaving themon the edge of extinction.

“The population decline has beencatastrophic, that’s why the breeding

programme is so important, “ explains MikeJordan, Chester Zoo’s Head of Mammals andBirds. Some of the voles will be used torepopulate waterways around Chester andother parts of the Northwest.

Mud snails found on the site have beenremoved to Martin Mere for protection and willeventually be reintroduced into the marshyareas found on the site when it is safe to do so.

RATTY TAKES A HOLIDAY

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MAJOR EVENTS FROM LATE 2007/2008...DECEMBER 07:The Liverpool Nativity, a BBC liveproduction from a variety of locationsaround Merseyside

JANUARY 08:Opening ceremonyat the city’s new10,000-seaterarena on theKing’s Dock.

FEBRUARY:European Senior Boxing Championships inthe new 10,000-seat Liverpool Arena

APRIL: Two Viennese-style balls, with music by theRoyal LiverpoolPhilharmonicOrchestra; openingof Gustav Klimtexhibition at Tate,Liverpool

Three iconic works of Northwest art willreceive grant support from The NorthernWay as part of a £14 million culturalprogramme to change people’sperceptions of the North. The fundingincludes £1 million to help keep AntonyGormley’s cast-iron statues on theforeshore at Crosby, £300,000 forRichard Wilson’s‘Turning the PlaceOver’ at Liverpool and£153,000 for The Haloin East Lancashire.

New visitor facilities are being providedat Grizedale Forest, Cumbria, as part of a£5 million partnership programme toupgrade and expand the park’s visitorcentre. Improvements include ITfacilities for training and community use,new craft activity areas and moreoutdoor sculptures.

Burnley’s tourism sector has beenboosted by the opening of ‘SingingRinging Tree’, the latest of thePanopticon sculptural landmarks, whichare being sited at strategic vantagepoints in East Lancashire. Funded by theNWDA and the Lancashire EconomicPartnership, thelandmark has beenmade from galvanisedsteel pipes carefullytuned to provide itsown musical sound.

Marketing expert Sue Nelson is the newChief Executive of North West FineFoods, the body set up by the NWDA tochampion the region’s specialist foodproducers. Career posts have includedDirector of Marketing and BusinessDevelopment of the University of Walesin Wrexham.

Four higher education institutions –Lancaster University, MetropolitanUniversity, the University of CentralLancashire and St. Martin’s College,Lancaster – have joined forces to launcha new initiative to offer help to theregion’s tourism and leisure businesses.

Dhruva Mistry’s distinctive 2.8 metrehigh Sitting Bull sculpture, voted themost popular piece of art at the 1984Liverpool Garden Festival, is beingrestored to its former glory and given anew home at Otterspool as part ofMersey Waterfront’s Pride in OurPromenades scheme.

NEWS

QUALITY OF LIFE

Gustav Klimt, Portrait ofEugenia Primavesi 1913-14

Royal LiverpoolPhilharmonic

Municipal M

useum of Art, Toyota

Royal Liverpool Philharm

onic

BIRTHDAY CITYCELEBRATES

Launch pad– guests were given a preview ofthe 08 programme at St. George’s Hall

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APRIL – JULY:Monet to Hopper – The Artist and TheRailway exhibition at Walker Art Galley

MAY:The Liverpool Sound concert, beamedlive across theworld from thecity’s waterfront

JULY:Maritime festivaland start of The TallShips Races 2008

AUTUMN:Artist Richard Wilson begins his commissionentitled ‘Turning the Place Over’, to reshape theformer Yates’s Wine Lodge, set for demolition

OCTOBER:RIBA Stirling Prize forArchitecture andbiggest exhibition for20 years on designerand architect LeCorbusier in the Cryptof the MetropolitanCathedral.

The whole region is

also joining in the 08 festivities withCheshire celebrating the Year of theGarden, Lancashire focusing on itsculinary heritage by hosting the Yearof Food, Manchester’s Yearof Sport and Cumbriachampioning its Yearof Adventure.

In a timely coincidence, this year Liverpool isalso celebrating the key birthdays of some ofits famous sons, buildings and events.

The Cavern was 50 years old on January 16and Sir Paul McCartney will celebrate his 65thbirthday on June 18. It is hoped that he andRingo Starr, the two surviving Beatles withwhom The Cavern will forever be associated,will agree to appear in a Mersey Soundconcert, to be held on a floating stage offLiverpool’s waterfront on May Bank Holiday asone of the high points of 2008’s, programme.

This year (2007), the first of the city’swaterfront Graces – the Port of LiverpoolBuilding – will be 100 years old on July 15 andthe QEII, whose arrival on the Mersey onSeptember 21 marks the official opening of thecity’s new £15 million cruise liner facility, iscelebrating its 40th anniversary.

But 2007 is about much more than ‘manyhappy returns’. The Liverpool CultureCompany, which has a budget of £95 millionover four years (2005-09), is unveiling newpieces of art, music and dance which highlightthe year’s three key themes of celebration,exploration and reflection.

COMMUNITY PARTIESSupported by a £2 million investment from

the Northwest Regional Development Agency(NWDA) for national and internationalmarketing, the 07 cultural programme willinclude the gala re-opening of St George’s Hallafter a £23.5 million refurbishment, the launchof a new £10 million International SlaveryMuseum and Liverpool 800 Day, celebratedwith community parties, a pageant processionand Europe’s largest firework display.

Jason Harborow, Chief Executiveof the Culture Company, who has alwayssaid that Liverpool ‘is more than theBeatles’, adds: “The impressive calendarof events for 2007 manages to strike abalance of thought-provoking art mixed

with major populist celebrations.“I am delighted that it also reflects the

diversity and heritage of all our communities,which is a great testament to the continuingculture of tolerance that being a worldport cultivated.”

HERITAGE CENTRESt George’s Hall is central to many of the

celebrations. In November it was chosen asthe venue for the launch of the 2008 Capital ofCulture programme, an event attended by over450 guests who dined on dishes of Scouse,Liverpool’s traditional version of stew.

Inside the city’s architectural masterpiece,artists Stuart Bastik and Maddie Nicholsoncreated an artwork consisting of 60 eight-footmetrological balloons anchored by two tonnesof sugar, courtesy of Tate & Lyle.

On April 23, St George’s Hall will be officiallyreopened after a refurbishment that includesthe creation of a new heritage visitor centreand a fully operational small concert room.

It will also display a new large-scale paintingthat re-interprets the Liverpool Coat of Arms,by internationally acclaimed artist twins Amritand Rabindra Singh, official artists in residenceduring Manchester’s 2002 CommonwealthGames. Liverpool is their hometown.

The re-opening will also be marked by‘Colourscape Church Bell Symphony’,masterminded by Catalan bell tower composerLlorenc Barber, which will involve ringing thebells of the city centre’s two cathedrals and itsmunicipal clocks.

August 23, International SlaveryRemembrance Day, will see the opening of anew museum, to mark the 200th anniversaryof the abolition of the British slave trade andAugust 28 is Liverpool 800 day, which willmark Liverpool’s first Charter issued by KingJohn in 1207.

Peter Mearns, Director of Marketing andCommunications at the NWDA, says the

programme of events to mark Liverpool’s800th anniversary offers an excitingprecursor to 2008.

“By bringing together such a diverse andexciting programme, 2007 will set theprecedent for the cultural legacy that2008 will create.

The Capital of Culture celebrations have animportant role in showcasing both Liverpooland England’s Northwest to the UK andoverseas, and the programme for 2007 is justthe beginning.”

The programme will include two majornational prize-giving events: the 2007 TurnerPrize, sponsored by the NWDA, being held atTate Liverpool, the first time the prestigiousevent has been held outside London, and theRIBA Stirling Prize for Architecture, to be heldin October 2008.

International events in 2008 will include avisit by Sir Simon Rattle and his BerlinPhilharmonic Orchestra and exhibitionsfeaturing Austrian artist Gustav Klimt andSwiss architect and designer Le Corbusier.

For further information:Liverpool Culture Companytel: 0151 233 2008 www.liverpool08.com

Happy Birthday Liverpool, 800 years old in 2007. As the countdown continues to its year as European Capital ofCulture, the city has begun a programme of exciting taster events designed to whet the appetite for 2008.

Claude MonetThe Gare Saint-LazareTall ships arrive July

Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye,Poissy 1929-30.

National G

allery, London

Ralph Lieberm

an

Young audience – the programmecaters for all age groups

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QUALITY OF LIFE

Measures to speed up the transformationare outlined in a three-year climate changeaction plan for the region – ‘Rising to theChallenge’ - unveiled at a key conference atthe City of Manchester Stadium attended byProfessor Sir David King, the government’sChief Scientific Adviser.

“This plan is based on the simplepremise that investment and innovation nowwill lead to economic and environmentalreturns in the future,” Bryan Gray, Chairmanof the Northwest Regional DevelopmentAgency (NWDA), told nearly 400 delegates atthe launch event.

PRECIOUS COMMODITYThe debate on how to combat the effects

of climate change has taken on a newurgency with publication of the Stern report.This suggests that by not acting now theworld risks losing 5% of GDP every year –the combined effect of two World Wars andthe Great Depression.

Sir David mapped out the seriouschallenges facing the region, the nationand the international community onclimate change urging those attendingthe conference to “treat energy as aprecious commodity.”

He praised the Northwest’s pioneering

stance in producing England’s first regionalaction plan, and insisted that “the first to thetable is going to be the first to see all thebenefits economically.”

Endorsed by four key organisations, theNWDA, the North West Regional Assembly,Government Office for the North West andthe Environment Agency, the plan requiresthe region to work on two fronts, a reductionin greenhouse gases and adapting tounavoidable climate change.

Of the 27 measures outlined in the plan, 12are deemed to be priority actions. Theyinclude the development of a low carbonfund for research and commercialisation oflow carbon technologies and low carbonfuels, and introducing new grant conditionson public sector capital spend projects.

Other actions range from identifying andhelping the largest public, private anddomestic sector emitters of greenhousegases to reduce their emissions to promotingbest practice in personal and workplacetravel to reduce reliance of private cars.

AMBITIOUS TARGETSThe plan, one of the 46 ‘transformational’

priorities of the Regional Economic Strategy(RES), identifies a number of ambitioustargets that the NWDA and its partners wantto see achieved by 2010 in the drive towardsestablishing a low carbon economy.

Among the aims is an increase in thepercentage of the population taking action onclimate change from 58% to 75%, a doublingin the take-up of low carbon building projectgrants to 272, an increase in installedCombined Heat and Power (CHP) capacity to1.5 GW and zero growth in the annualnumber of trips by private car.

Bryan Gray outlined the role of regionalorganisations in delivering the Action Planand how the Northwest could realise theeconomic potential that climate change - “amake or break issue for the region” -presents to UK companies.

MEETING THE CLIMATE

“THIS IS OUR PLAN.THERE IS NO PLANET BSO WE HAVE NO PLAN B.”

BRYAN GRAY

CHAIRMAN

NWDA

Wind of change – the Barrow offshorewind farm generates enoughelectricity to power 65,000 homes

The Northwest is taking the lead nationally in establishing a sustainable, low-carboneconomy, a move that should help it gain a competitive advantage in an emergingmarketplace that could be worth £30 billion to UK business over the next ten years.

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The NWDA was preparing to put “realmoney” into helping people in the regiontackle climate change but he warned that theAgency would not be subsidising them.

Other pivotal actions outlined in the planinclude the promotion of best practice, theuse of Business Link to advise businesses onresource efficiency, improving regional datato assist investment decisions anddevelopment of a clearly wordedcommunications plan to raise awareness ofclimate change.

Bryan Gray ended his speech with a starkmessage. “This is our plan. There is noplanet B so we have no plan B.”

For further information: email: damian.burton@nwda.co.uktel: 01925 400220 www.nwda.co.uk

E CHANGE CHALLENGE

SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE...Companies, house builders, energy suppliersand even football clubs across the region areembracing the low-carbon revolution with arange of exemplar projects.

The CIS has clad three sides of its 25-storey office tower in central Manchester with7,244 photovoltaic panels, the largest solararray in the UK. The panels generate 180,000units of electricity every year, enough to make10 million cups of tea.

Offshore wind farms are set to have amajor impact on the region’s energy supply.One is already operating four miles off theSouth Cumbrian coast generating power for65,000 homes from 30 turbines.

Another at Burbo Bank at the mouth of theMersey will be generating enough electricityfor 80,000 homes on Merseyside after itscompletion later this year (2007). The twoprojects will save a total of over 500,000tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The City of Manchester Stadium, home toManchester City FC and the venue for theNorthwest Climate Change conference, is setto make history by becoming the first in the

Energy pioneer – the CISTower has the largest solararray in the UK

world to be powered by renewable energywhen its own wind turbine is installed.

Designed by Sir Norman Foster, the120 metre high turbine will produce enoughelectricity for the stadium and a further1,250 homes.

House builders are also boosting theirgreen energy credentials. Barratt’sEcoSmart Show Village at Chorley, forexample, boasts a range of renewable andlow energy features including wind, solar,geothermal and micro CHP.

It is estimated that adapting to climatechange could yield business opportunitiesworth £30 billion for UK companies over thenext decade whilst the global market inlower carbon technologies could be worth anestimated 500 billion dollars by 2050.

BEST PRACTICEThe plan, said the NWDA Chairman,

provides “a clear direction and commitment”on the contribution the Northwest needs tomake in helping the government meet thenational target of a 60% reduction in CO2

emissions by 2050. He pledged support, for example, for the

installation of micro generation projects andenergy efficient technologies, and the useof financial mechanisms to reduce theupfront costs for commercial and householdproperty owners.

Redhills Business Centre – surplusenergy is sold to National Grid

Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency is a modelplayer when it comes to energy use. Thenewly opened £1.2 million extension to itsRedhills business centre at Penrith boaststhe latest in renewable technologies.

It uses an underground heat exchangesystem to heat the building. Photovoltaicsgenerate the electricity to drive the pumps,solar panels heat the water in the cloakroomsand windcatchers provide passive ventilation.

The energy saving devices added £150,000to the cost of the project but when the officeis not in use the electricity produced is soldback to the National Grid.

MODEL CONSUMER

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QUALITY OF LIFE

Lucky mystery shoppers have been living itup at some of the Northwest's finest hotels,restaurants, country house attractions andluxury self-catering cottages – all in thename of promoting excellence in theregion's tourism offer.

Though the identity of the fortunateshoppers must remain a mystery, the rigourthey bring to the annual England’sNorthwest Tourism Awards is vital to therespect that award winners command,explains Felicity Goodey, Chair of theNorthwest Tourism Forum.

“Winning one of these awards really doesmean you are an exemplar and a role modelfor others to follow,” she says. “They verypublicly set a standard, and it’s also anopportunity for some people to becomenational exemplars. For individualbusinesses, there's no doubt winning is thebest marketing they could get.”

Organised by the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency (NWDA) and hostedby BBC North West Tonight presentersGordon Burns and Dianne Oxberry, the 2006awards ceremony was held at Manchester'sglamorous, newly opened Hilton Hotel, thelatest jewel to be added to the region’svisitor infrastructure.

SERIOUS LUXURYThe quality of contenders left nobody in any

doubt that the visitor experience of theNorthwest is changing fast – and that’simportant, because there are 28 millionvisitors who turn up each year, contributing£7 billion to the region’s economy.

Nowhere is the improvement moreapparent than in Blackpool, where theresort’s hoteliers and visitor attractions arestriving to fashion a new visitor identity.

Regeneration schemes are transforming

TOURISM AWARDS HONOUR ROLE MODELS

the town’s seafront, promenades andtransport gateways generating an inflow oftourists that may never have consideredvisiting Blackpool before.

So it’s just as well there’s now a classy bedand breakfast for them to stay at wherequality and warmth of welcome are nevercompromised. The three-bedroom NumberOne Blackpool is situated in a quietresidential part of Blackpool’s South Shore.Thrilled to be named as ‘Bed and Breakfastof the Year’, owner Claire Smith upholds thatit’s the personal touch that counts.

Having owned and run Blackpool’s onlyfive-diamond hotel for 14 years, she andhusband Mark realised that their moreexpensive and best-equipped rooms werealways the first to be booked.

They realised there was clearly an appetitefor serious luxury in Blackpool, and as thecouple had achieved every accolade possibleat that establishment, they decided two yearsago it was time to look for a smaller bed andbreakfast where they could give guests acompletely new experience of staying in the town.

“I want people to feel completely pamperedand relaxed when they come here. We get alot of business people who are fed up ofimpersonal hotels as well as pre- and post-children couples, and surprisingly perhaps,some very young people who live at homeand have high disposable incomes,” she says.

“We want to offer exceptional value, andmake it a principle not to have any hidden costs.I’m totally delighted to get the award becauseit’s not just good for us, it's good for Blackpool.”

Gourmets delight – Kay Matthewscollects an award for the Three Fishes

Regal charm – Chester Grosvenor and Spawas named Large Hotel of the Year

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A good dinner, of course, is just asimportant as a comfy place to lay your headfor the night, and the ‘Taste of England’sNorthwest’ award was won this year byCraig Bancroft and Nigel Haworth ofThe Three Fishes in Mitton, Lancashire.

REGIONAL DISHESBoth have been in the hospitality business

for over two decades and already own theacclaimed restaurant with rooms, NorthcoteManor in Lancashire. With the experiencegained in running this gourmet’s delight, theydecided to find a pub where they coulddeliver regional dishes and British classicsthat would champion local food.

“Winning this gives us serious credibility,and as a business it also gives us an appetitefor expansion,” says Craig Bancroft.Determined that the business would give asmuch value as possible to the surroundingcommunity, he and chef Nigel Haworth havemade it an article of faith to source all foodfrom suppliers within a 40-mile radius.

“This country has some of the best gamein Europe, we’re great producers ofvegetables, our orchards are superb andwe’re surrounded by water so we can getgreat seafood,” Bancroft enthuses. “We’rechampioning the regionality of the produce,and if you get this type of establishment

right, it becomes the hub of the communitybecause people’s businesses have a realstake in its success.”

None of the winners are resting on theirlaurels, and it’s this determination to improvethat Felicity Goodey is keen to promote.“Across the region as a whole we still havelots more to do,” she says. “It’s aboutconvincing local authorities that it’s worthinvesting in stylish public realm.

“We need to train people: we are far tooreliant on the influx of young people fromPoland and eastern Europe, but we can’t relyon that because at some point they’ll want togo home and start their own businesses.As an industry, we have to get better atmeasuring our impact – without that it’svirtually impossible to get the Treasury to putserious money into it.

“Our transport infrastructure has toimprove. We have to develop serious careersin the visitor economy that have bright,exciting and well-paid prospects. But thegreat thing is, you know, I think we’re on thecusp of it!”

For further information: email: nick.brooks-sykes@nwda.co.uktel: 01925 400100www.visitenglandsnorthwest.com

“WINNING ONE OF THESE AWARDSREALLY DOES MEAN THAT YOU AREAN EXEMPLAR AND A ROLE MODELFOR OTHERS TO FOLLOW.”

FELICITY GOODEYCHAIR

NORTHWEST TOURISM FORUM

Large Hotel of the Year The Chester Grosvenor Hotel and Spa

Small Hotel of the Year Stanley House Hotel, Mellor, Lancashire

Bed and Breakfast of the YearNumber One, Blackpool

Self-Catering Holiday of the YearBridge End Farm Cottages, Boot, Cumbria

Holiday Park of the YearSkelwith Fold Caravan Park, Ambleside, Cumbria

Large Attraction of the YearImperial War Museum North,Greater Manchester

Small Attraction of the YearArley Hall and Gardens, Cheshire

Tourism Website of the Yearwww.english-in-chester.co.uk

Excellence in Business TourismLow Wood Hotel, Windermere, Cumbria

Taste of England's NorthwestThe Three Fishes, Mitton, Lancashire

Excellence in Customer ServiceAveril Dawson and Ann Cook, TheBeacon, Whitehaven, Cumbria

Tourist Information Centre of the YearCongleton TIC, Cheshire

ENGLAND'S NORTHWESTTOURISM AWARDS 2006

Imperial War Museum North –Large Attraction of the Year

New experience – Number OneBlackpool is a stylish upmarket B&B

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NOTEBOOK

PEOPLEIN THEREGION

GREENWOODTO DRIVECUMBRIAGROWTHCumbria Vision, the organisation set upto provide strategic leadership for thecounty’s economic development, hasappointed Richard Greenwood, formerArea Director of the Learning andSkills Council in Gloucestershire, as itsChief Executive.

Richard has commercial backgroundhaving spent eight years with nationalretailers, four years as a marketingdirector and then as managingdirector of three companies in themanufacturing, distribution and steelstockholding industries.

In his new role he will work with theChairman and Board of Cumbria Visionand key partners to implement theemerging Cumbria EconomicRegeneration Action Plan. This focuseson growth priorities such as businessenterprise, nuclear activity, advancedmanufacturing and education.

OMEGA, the £5 million governmentinitiative to help the aviation industrymeet the environmental challenge, hasappointed senior civil servant RogerGardner as its Chief Executive. He will bebased at the Centre for Air Transport andthe Environment (CATE) at ManchesterMetropolitan University.

Mr. Gardner joins CATE from theDepartment of Transport where he wasHead of Air Quality and EnvironmentalTechnology with responsibility for UK andinternational policy advice on noise,emissions and air quality.

The OMEGA project will link theuniversities, government, industry andpressure groups in a common goal tofoster knowledge transfer from researchcentres to industry to ensure aviationcan grow in an environmentallysustainable way.

BOXING CLEVERAnne Farrow, a 21-year-old Product Design student at theUniversity of Salford, has been crowned the UK’s MostEnterprising Student.

After winning the regional award in the prestigiousShell Step programme, a unique placement scheme toprepare students for the world of work, she went on toclaim the national title.

She spent eight weeks working at United Aluminium(Unibox) in the summer researching and designingdisplay stands, opening up new areas of business for thecompany. Her stay there produced £49,000 in extrasales and an offer of a job.

TOP AWARDFOR ALANGILBERTProfessor Alan Gilbert’s work intransforming the University of Manchesterinto the largest higher education institutionin the UK earned him the title of ‘BusinessLeader of the Year’ at the CBI’s 2006Northwest Business Awards at the MidlandHotel, Manchester. The awards weresponsored by the NWDA.

Since the President and Vice-Chancellorcame to the city from Australia in 2004, theuniversity has been named the SundayTimes ‘University of the Year’ in 2006.With 24 academic schools and 35,000students it now has a £590 million annualincome, making it Britain’s first half billionpound university.

Warburtons Ltd, of Bolton, the country’slargest family owned bakery, which hasestablished itself as one of the UK’s top tenconsumer brands, was the ‘Board of theYear’. Renovo, the recently listedManchester-based biotech companydeveloping wound-healing products, took the‘Best Emerging Company’ award.

HIGH FLIERFOR OMEGAPROJECT

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MORE FAME FORBETH TWEDDLEWorld champion gymnast Beth Tweddle kept up her winning streak by snatching theBBC North West Sports Personality 2006 award. The 21-yr-old, from Bunbury in Cheshire,is studying at Liverpool John Moores University to be a physiotherapist.

World-renowned physicist ProfessorSwapan Chattopadhyay has been namedas the Inaugural Director of TheCockcroft Institute, a new acceleratorfacility that is expected to open up newhorizons and opportunities for science.

He has also been appointed to the firstChair of Accelerator Physics in the UK,a new academic post created jointly bythe Universities of Liverpool, Lancasterand Manchester.

Professor Chattopadhyay is currentlyAssociate Director at the ThomasJefferson National Accelerator Facility inthe US and has a distinguished reputationfor his work in the physics and technologyof particle beams and photon science. Hewill take up his new post in March.

The Cockcroft Institute is located on theDaresbury Science and Innovation Campusin Cheshire and has been established withan initial investment of £27 million,including £10 million from the NWDA.

RENOWNED SCIENTISTHEADS FOR DARESBURY

STEP UP FORJOHN KELLY

Rachael Wignall, a 22-year oldemployee at Wigan-based electronicsmanufacturer C-TEC, has become agender role model by being named asthe ‘Young Manufacturer of the Year’in The Manufacturing Institute’s 2006Business Awards.

She joined the company as an apprenticein 2001 and has gone on to become a key

SHOWING THE WAY...contributor to C-TEC’s developmentand growth. She was involved in theoriginal design of a flagship productthat is now worth £500,000 tothe company.

Other main award winners werePZ Cussons (UK) Ltd (Business of the Year)and Knowsley-based ColorMatrix EuropeLtd (Small Business of the Year).

Liverpool City Council has appointedJohn Kelly as its new Executive Director forRegeneration. He played a key role inpreparing the winning Capital of Culturebid and has played a major part in drawingpublic and private investment into the city.

Aged 47 and married with one daughter,he is a graduate of Manchester Universityand before joining the city council in 2001 asAssistant Director for Regeneration Policyand Programmes, he worked for theDepartment of the Environment andTransport and the NWDA.

His portfolio will include overseeing one ofthe largest regeneration capital programmesin Europe.

Its aim is to provide the intellectualfocus, the educational infrastructure andthe essential scientific and technologicalfacilities to enable UK scientists andengineers in research centres and industryto take major roles in global acceleratordesign, construction and operation.

Beth who trains at the City of LiverpoolClub in Toxteth also swept to victory in thebars in the 2006 European Championship,the first British senior gymnast to wingold at the event. She is also a six timesnational champion.

She received her latest award at the BBCNorth West Sports Awards at Manchester’sHilton Hotel. Now in its eighth year, the eventwas organised with the support of the NWDAand has become one of the highlights of thesporting calendar.

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CUMBRIA FOREXCELLENCE AWARDS

Showcasing Cumbria’s besttourism businessesCastle Green Hotel, Kendal

2MAY

NORTHWEST REGIONALCONSTRUCTION AWARDS

A celebration of the high calibre constructionprojects currently underway in the regionThe Hilton, Manchester

18MAY

MANCHESTER SQUARE, LONDON

Profiling the region’s cultural offerto the London cognoscentiManchester Square, SW1

5JUNE

GRAND NATIONAL

Annual meeting culminating infamous SteeplechaseAintree, Liverpool

12-14APRIL

NORTHWEST SCIENCESTRATEGY LAUNCH

New ideas on how to enhance theregion’s science base.Speaker: Edward de BonoAstraZeneca, Alderley Park, Cheshire

17APRIL

ST. GEORGE’S HALL GALARE-OPENING

Celebrations for a newly resplendentarchitectural iconSt. George’s Hall, Liverpool

23APRIL

FEBRUARY

MERSEYSIDE PROPERTYGALA DINNER

Celebration of Merseyside’s achievementsin the property sectorSt. George’s Hall, Liverpool

1MAR

TRANSFORMING LIFE,WORK & ORGANISATIONS

Full-day national management conferencewith Tom Peters and Charles HandyHilton Hotel, Manchester

7MAR

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

MANCHESTERINTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

World’s first festival of new and original workVarious venues, Manchester

28JUNE-15JULY

NORTHWEST FOOD AWARDSRecognising excellence from the

regions food and drink industryMidland Hotel, Manchester

28JUNE

JUNE

VISA PARALYMPIC WORLD CUPThe global event for elite athletes

with a disabilityVarious venues, Manchester

7-13MAY

EVENTS

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

30

Food heroes – regional accolades

For further information www.nwda.co.uk/events

UKTI INTERNATIONALBUSINESS DAY

Exploiting the benefits of doing business inhigh growth markets. Speaker: Sir Digby JonesManchester Utd FC

14MAR

GREATER MANCHESTER CHAMBERANNUAL DINNER

Speaker: Carphone Warehouse founderCharles Dunstone Manchester Central (formerly MICC)

15MAR

MANCHESTER TOURISMAWARDS

Showcase of best visitor attractionsHilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester

26APRIL

2012 BENEFITS CONFERENCE

How the Northwest can benefit fromLondon OlympicsManchester Utd FC

28FEB

St George’s Hall – architectural icon

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GETTING IN TOUCHAt the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA),we value your views and feedback.

Visit www.nwda.co.uk & www.visitenglandsnorthwest.com

KEY CONTACTS

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The NWDA’s ExecutiveTeam are based at itsHeadquarters inWarrington.

STEVEN BROOMHEADChief ExecutiveTel: 01925 400 133Email: Steven.Broomhead@nwda.co.uk

BERNICE LAWChief Operating Officer,Deputy Chief ExecutiveTel: 01925 400 548Email: Bernice.Law@nwda.co.uk

IAN HAYTHORNTHWAITEExecutive Director,Finance and Corporate ResourcesTel: 01925 400 116Email: Ian.Haythornthwaite@nwda.co.uk

MARK HUGHESExecutive Director,Enterprise, Innovation and SkillsTel: 01925 400 531Email: Mark.Hughes@nwda.co.uk

PETER WHITEExecutive Director, Infrastructure and DevelopmentTel: 01925 400 299Email: Peter.White@nwda.co.uk

JAMES BERRESFORDDirector of Tourism Tel: 01925 400 472Email: James.Berresford@nwda.co.uk

PETER MEARNSDirector of Marketing and CommunicationsTel: 01925 400 212Email: Peter.Mearns@nwda.co.uk

FIONA MILLSDirector of HR, OrganisationalChange & DevelopmentTel: 01925 644 422Email: Fiona.Mills@nwda.co.uk

PATRICK WHITEDirector of Policy Tel: 01925 400 274Email: Patrick.White@nwda.co.uk

HEAD OFFICE PO Box 37, Renaissance House,Centre Park, Warrington WA1 1XBTel: +44 (0)1925 400 100Fax: +44 (0)1925 400 400e-mail: information@nwda.co.uk

The NWDA manages alloperations from itsHeadquarters at:

HEAD OFFICE

PRINT STOCK:Cover: Challenger Laser Matt is totally chlorine free and acquired only fromsuppliers operating sustainable forest reserves.

Text: Cyclus offset is manufactured using only 100% recycled post consumer waste.

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