Focus: North West
Lying at the geographical center of the
British Isles, England’s North West encompasses
the five counties of Cheshire,
Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire
and Merseyside.
Home to 6.8 million people and with a bigger
economy (£111bn) than Denmark or
Finland, it is large enough to be the 12th
biggest state in the US. Forty per cent of
all investment in the North West comes
from the US, making it the biggest investor
in the region and a major contributor to the
regional economy.
The region offers a dynamic and competitive environment for businesses. The region excels in a wide variety of sectors and is home to over 350,000 companies, of which 3,000 are overseas-owned organizations and 900 are US-owned subsidiaries. It has a growing reputation as a prime investment location and excels in several internationally competitive sectors.
The Northwest has one of the UK’s strongest biomedical clusters and is home to over 230 biomedical companies and multinationals including Aventis, Eli Lilly, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline. AstraZeneca’s largest global R&D centre is based in the region while Merseyside is home to the National Biomanufacturing Centre, set to be Europe’s leading biopharmaceutical design centre.
The region is also home to a world class creative and digital industries sector, set to be further boosted by the development of mediacity:uk based at Manchester’s waterfront on Salford Quays. The project will see the creation of a media city for the world’s leading creative and digital businesses and will deliver £1bn to the British economy over five years when complete.
Hosting the BBC as one of its anchor tenants, mediacity:uk will provide employment for over 15,000 people and will see the Northwest rivalling Seoul and Dubai for creative output around the world. Over 321,000 people are employed in creative and digital industries in the North West, with leading technology companies including IBM, Hewlett- Packard, Brother, Sharp, ICL, Phillips, Photronics, Sony and Siemens. As the second-largest digital cluster in Europe, the region also has a proven track record as a winning location for leading software projects.
The North West’s 12 universities have a strong technology base, providing over 25,000 science and technology graduates. The National Advanced Robotics Research Centre is based at Salford, the National Computing Centre is in Manchester and Merseyside is home to Liverpool Digital, an ICT center of excellence and major knowledge-based center. The region offers one of the most deregulated telecoms markets in the world. It has an excellent telecommunications and e-business infrastructure, along with high coverage levels for wireless technology. Service providers such as BT, Telewest, and Cable and Wireless Communications have ensured massive investment in the region so technologies such as broadband, ISDN, video-conferencing, frame relay and ATM are all readily available.
Manchester is a center of excellence and the UK’s pre-eminent regional centre for financial, professional and business services. It is thought to be the largest and fastest growing financial services sector outside London, employing around 172,000 people contributing more than £9bn to the regional economy. Manchester is also home to one of the four regional centres for the National Skills Academy for Financial Services.
Northwest universities attract a total of 250,675 full and part-time students in 2006/07. This makes up 10% pf all students at UK HEI’s. In 2006.07 67,670 students graduated from NW Universities, representing 10% of the UK total. In 2005/06 70% of graduates going into employment were retained n the region. Our strategy of clustering businesses with academic centers of excellence ensures the perfect environment for R&D and an excellent supply chain. Around 70% of people in England’s North West work in service industries. A combination of above-average staff retention, multilingual and IT skills has made the North West a top location for contact centers. The region is also home to over 80 banks and companies such as Royal and Sun Alliance, MBNA Europe Bank, Bank of New York and Capital Bank.
England’s North West is home to major car plants from the world’s two largest automotive manufacturers: General Motors (Vauxhall) and Ford (Jaguar/Land Rover); and 450 automotive organizations (including Bentley and Leyland Trucks) are based here, 200 of which are major automotive supply chain companies. The North West is the UK’s largest single center of aerospace manufacturing and production, and a leading center of excellence in Europe, boasting a large number of major players in the aerospace industry including BAE Systems, Airbus, Aircelle, Rolls-Royce and TRWLucas.
Traditional industries have also evolved to maximize the opportunities
of a changing world. Chemicals, textiles, aerospace, mechanical
and civil engineering, automotive and aerospace, food and drink,
and energy, including nuclear, still provide the economic bedrock.
The region has excellent transport links to the rest of the UK and
worldwide. Manchester is home to one of Europe’s prime airports,
carrying over 23 million passengers per year, and Liverpool John
Lennon Airport handles over 5.5 million passengers a year. The
North West also sits astride the UK’s primary rail artery, and it is
well served with 10 ports, including a deep-sea port and Freeport,
and has the highest concentration of motorways in the country.
Our highly-skilled and productive workforce, our centers of academic excellence and our strength in innovation and R&D make the North West the perfect location for dynamic businesses. A cost-effective base, the region also offers high levels of UK mainland financial assistance to support capital expenditure, staff recruitment and on-going training needs.
For more information, visit: www.nwda.co.uk
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