Cheshire and Warrington seek Northern Powerhouse voice

CHESHIRE and Warrington are well placed to make a major contribution in driving forward the Northern Powerhouse. Both geographically and economically this part of the North West of England has plenty to bring to the table.

However, the apparent delay of a devolution deal has put a large question mark over what voice it will have in the emerging powerhouse project – and how loud that will be.

Cheshire and Warrington sits neatly between the great Northern cities of Manchester and Liverpool and is already an economic powerhouse in its own right – boasting the largest economy in the region.

The figures are impressive. The area contributes an annual GVA of more than £20bn. Around one fifth of employment in the sub region is in export-intensive industries.

At the heart of the proposed devolution deal was an ambitious plan to treble its economy to £50bn by 2040, creating 127,000 jobs.

Download the Cheshire and Warrington Economy supplement

That deal – seen by many as crucial to its role within the Northern Powerhouse – has now been put on hold.

The local authorities involved in the debate are believed to have been unable to agree to go down the elected mayor route that is being taken by its big city region neighbours of Liverpool and Manchester.

A joint statement from the leaders of Warrington, Cheshire West and Chester, and Cheshire East councils, released in June, said: “Following political discussions in Warrington, a potential consultation with the public and businesses on a proposed devolution deal for Cheshire and Warrington has been put on hold.

“We remain strongly committed to collaborative working on a number of key initiatives and we will continue to explore how best to secure more power and resources for our area.”

However, Richard Anderson, chief executive of Crawford Healthcare, firmly believes it is business, not the politicians, that need to drive the Northern Powerhouse project forward.

The Knutsford-based group develops and sells advanced wound care and dermatology products. It revealed plans in March 2015 to quadruple its turnover to £100m over three years and is targeting and seeing major growth in the US.

Anderson, a former ICI and AstraZeneca executive, says: “If we wait for all shires, all the councils to talk to each other the Northern Powerhouse it will never ever happen.

“The way it is going to happen, I believe passionately, is by industry and companies taking the lead and making it happen.”

“But to do that it has got to be real and tangible and it has got to mean something for those companies.”

He adds: “Companies have got to pick this up and run with it. It’s not necessarily money. It’s about figuring out what makes us different in this region, banging the drum and celebrating success and bringing more companies and people to follow that success in areas where we are strong.

“If we wait for various organisation and bodies to arrange it, it is never going to happen.”

James Dow is founder of corporate advisory specialists Dow Schofield Watts, based in Daresbury. Founded in 2002, the company has completed more than 170 deals with a combined value of more than £3bn.

Dow says: “We do benefit from being in the middle, between Manchester and Liverpool, and one benefit of the Northern Powerhouse initiative is to actually join up the cities.”

“It’s an initiative we should all get behind. We need a strong region behind it. We do need the initiative to be led by the public sector to provide infrastructure. I very much hope it succeeds.”

Philip Cox, chief executive of the Cheshire and Warrington LEP, placed the “devolution agenda” at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse debate. Whether that deal can now be revived remains to be seen.

If it can, the prize described by Cox is a big one. There was, he said: “Potentially a huge opportunity if we can pull that deal off.”

He added: “HS2 will happen anyway, it will just make it harder to deliver a single holistic plan if we haven’t got devolution.”

Download the Cheshire and Warrington Economy supplement

DLA piper and LEP 

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close