Confident Cheshire and Warrington ready to take next steps

Philip Cox and Christine Gaskell

Cheshire and Warrington have grown in confidence over the last 12 months, according to the chair of its Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

As the organisation begins to assess the impact of attending MIPIM in Cannes last week, Christine Gaskell says she believes the region’s outstanding investment propositions are being understood and it is learning quickly to find its voice in the international stage.

It was only the second time that Cheshire and Warrington has exhibited at MIPIM, the flagship festival of the international property sector, with the LEP forming a partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cheshire East Council and Warrington Borough Council.

The festival was used to promote the Cheshire Science Corridor, Cheshire’s energy assets, investment opportunities in Warrington, the £250m Chester Northgate regeneration scheme and to continue to raise the profile of the Constellation Partnership, which is aiming to take advantage of huge investment in high speed rail in Cheshire and Staffordshire.

Gaskell said: “A year on we are more confident and bold and we know we can move further and faster in raising the region’s international profile, to forge new connections at home and abroad and to tell our outstanding stories.

“Ahead of MIPIM our confidence was bolstered by some outstanding economic numbers – Cheshire and Warrington’s economy growing by 6.1% during 2016 and about to break the £30bn per annum barrier; outputs per head more than 20% higher than the UK average and the second highest of any sub-region outside of London.”

Philip Cox, chief executive of the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, added: “Following the success of our debut year we attracted twice as much support from the private sector than previously, which leads me to believe that this is becoming as much a private sector push as a public sector pull which is crucial if we are to continue our upward trajectory.

“The private sector was particularly engaged at MIPIM our stand was busy and we have made new friends and contacts. One of the highlights was the Cheshire and Warrington Investor Forum where civic, political and business leaders were forthright in their views on how our partnerships can be made stronger, work harder and be for the long term to achieve our ambitions for sustainable growth.”

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