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Contents

Section Page no.

Foreword (ii)

Introduction 1

Our vision 1

Economic context 1

Economic footprint and partnership landscape 3

Summary of local economic base 5

Call to action 9

Strategic framework for growth 10

Strategic objectives:

Enterprise and business 12 o Economic infrastructure 14 o Employment and skills 18 o Enabling behaviours for growth 20

Performance, monitoring and evaluation 22

References 23

Appendices

Annex A – Summary of economic actions and rationales Annex B – High level implementation plan Annex C – Local economic swot analysis Annex D – Dashboard of indicators Annex E – Statistical annex

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Foreword by Councillor Stuart Parker, Executive Member for Culture and Economy

West Cheshire is a great place to invest and do business, with a unique and high quality business and lifestyle offer, blending both high tech and heritage, urban and rural – a genuine microcosm of the nation. Working with the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, we have a clear ambition to be the destination of choice for business, by combining a business friendly culture with a comprehensive package to support investment and growth. We know that we can go further faster here by building on our strong, vibrant and diverse economy and working in a new collaborative model of leadership, in which the private and public sector work hand in hand to deliver sustainable economic growth.

The private sector will be supported to do what it does best – creating wealth and jobs, whilst the public sector will create the climate for growth by providing the necessary leadership and the right can-do attitude to allow the economy to grow and prosper.

We recognise that the current global economic climate is challenging, and is likely to stay so for some time, which makes it even more important that the public and private sector work collaboratively to help our local economy to grow in difficult circumstances. We are also aware that the fiscal challenges facing the public sector over the coming years will result in economic shrinkage unless we can grow our private sector to fill this gap. A significant effort will therefore be required from all partners, both public and private, if West Cheshire is to maintain or improve on the level of economic prosperity and performance that we have become accustomed to.

This will be a challenge, but one that we are able to rise to in West Cheshire, given our business and skills base, and entrepreneurial spirit. Importantly, we are less reliant on the public sector’s economic contribution than many other places, being part of one of the better performing economic areas in the North – Cheshire and Warrington.

Altogether Better for Business will complement the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership’s Business Plan, by both supporting its implementation and focusing on those activities that locally, we are uniquely placed to address.

It will mean working together in new and smarter ways. It will mean taking a whole place approach to our public assets, our infrastructure, our support for business and employment and skills, to create the conditions for businesses to start, grow and invest. It will mean working at locality level in Chester, Ellesmere Port, Northwich and Winsford, and our rural areas to build on our local distinctiveness and high quality cultural, recreational and housing offer. It means the public, private and voluntary sector working together to drive growth and improve the lives and opportunities of all our residents.

Altogether Better for Business: A Growth Strategy for West Cheshire outlines how we are going to achieve this by focusing on the strategic objectives of Enterprise and Business; Economic Infrastructure; Employment and Skills and Enabling Behaviours for Growth, which are taken forward by a series of actions, projects and interventions which will address the local drivers of growth.

Implementation of the four strategic objectives will be through a number of transformational projects, policies and coordinated actions that engage all stakeholders. Stakeholders include large and small businesses, unions, major academic and health institutions, workforce and community development agencies and the public sector.

The West Cheshire Public Service Board will set out a structure and process through which it will continue to identify, promote, monitor and measure performance of projects, investments and actions that further the aims and objectives of this strategy.

Councillor Stuart Parker

Executive Member for Culture and Economy

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Introduction

Altogether Better for Business is a clear statement of our commitment and ambition and demonstrates our seriousness about growing the local economy. It aims to respond to the issues that are currently challenging our businesses locally and outlines how this is going to be achieved. It brings together a wide range of public, private and voluntary sector stakeholders and partnerships to work together in a strategically coordinated way to prioritise interventions and investment to deliver sustainable economic growth.

The philosophy underpinning this approach is that the role of the public sector is as a facilitator and enabler for businesses, rather than regulator and controller. The public sector will focus on creating the conditions for sustainable economic growth, e.g. by using its assets and resources in innovative ways, and by providing the right leadership and intelligence to let the private sector create wealth and jobs.

Our aim is to provide the strategic vision that will galvanise and direct local action, targeted at the areas that will achieve the required impact. Through collaborative leadership we will signal priorities for investment to give confidence to business that this is a great place to locate and expand. Our shared framework and whole system approach for business growth and development will ensure we all work to the same objectives. We will jointly encourage a focus on innovation and creativity to achieve better solutions, and to enable excellence through managed risk and reward. We will act as the champions of business, to elevate our local business ‘voice’ back into government, other relevant organisations, and policy and decision makers.

Our vision

West Cheshire is an ambitious location which is seeking to grow business opportunities, create a varied and thriving economy and support its communities. We wish to ensure that the area remains a great place to live, work and invest and Altogether Better for Business will ensure that this is at the centre of the work programmes carried out.

This vision builds on Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership’s Vision which aims to increase annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by at least £11.1 billion to some £30 billion, develop 70,000 new homes to meet the current and future needs of the population and create at least 30,000 jobs with a key focus on manufacturing and exports by 2030. In West Cheshire we will support this ambition through a package of targeted activity over the next five years designed to facilitate the creation of:

5,000 new jobs

1,100 new homes per annum

£500m worth of private sector investment These outcomes are informed by evidence about the needs of our borough as well as an assessment of what is in the pipeline in order to secure the economic impact that we require in West Cheshire. We have analysed the trends in our local economy (annex D and E) and will continue to monitor these to inform our programmes of activity. We recognise that ultimately the majority of our targets will be delivered by the private sector, for example through investment decisions by existing and new businesses and that these will largely be dependent on macro-economic factors i.e. tax regime, national regulations, corporate headquarter decisions and global market forces. We are however committed to working alongside

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our private sector partners to maximise growth opportunities by ensuring that our actions – through regulatory services, planning, procurement and others – are geared towards creating the conditions to facilitate business investment and growth.

Economic context

The UK economy faces two significant challenges, recovering from the current recession in the short term while working towards a higher and sustainable rate of economic growth in the longer term.

It continues to be affected by the current global economic and financial crisis, further weakening the economic and fiscal outlook. The Euro-zone crisis continues to show little sign of abating, with growth forecasts for this year, and for the rate of recovery in years to come, being downgraded. This is the context in which all parts of the country are operating and one which will require local areas to rise to the challenge of a contracting public purse, while delivering sustainable economic growth, in parallel.

At the same time, the role of the public sector is changing - entering a period of shrinkage where the focus is on increasing efficiencies and reducing demand for public services. This requires the public sector to change the way it operates – promoting greater personal responsibility, community resilience and to think seriously about its role in enabling growth, as localities take increased responsibility for this.

Note: Our assessment of the potential impact of a reduction in the size of the public sector resulting from a 15% reduction in Government funding on West Cheshire indicate that we would require 7.5% growth in the private sector to maintain the current size of the West Cheshire economy. Growth is currently below those levels indicating real risk of economic shrinkage.

West Cheshire faces significant challenges and risks as we embark on this journey - a number of threats to the incomes and opportunities of West Cheshire residents as a result of demographic changes, the shrinkage of the State and a low growth economy, with competitive advantage eroding over the past decade.

A Balanced Economy

Total GVA approx. £18billion. Based upon a 15% reduction in public

expenditure

Private sector growth of 7.5% required to maintain

existing GVA.

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Overall the growth in sub regional economic output (GVA) per person has fallen below the national average and output per head is now only marginally above the national average. For the period 1998 to 2008 our sub-regional economy grew by 3.9%. Only three other sub-regions in the UK grew at a slower pace than ours. The changing dynamics in West Cheshire’s economic output are driven by measures such as levels of active businesses per head of population; business start-up rates; and levels of self-employment all of which are gradually starting to fall below the national average. The overall wage levels of those businesses in West Cheshire are also below the national average – higher wage earners living in West Cheshire typically work outside of the area. Against this pattern there are opportunities for the future. The population is typically more highly skilled than the national average and more likely to be employed. This suggests that the population is attractive from an employment perspective. In addition, where businesses are established, they typically have a survival rate that outstrips the national average. In terms of sectors, the area has particular strengths in advanced manufacturing; automotive, aerospace (resulting from the proximity to Deeside), energy as well as chemicals and processing. West Cheshire is also a strong base for financial and professional services. Within these sectors there are some long-established and large employers who may be considered strategic to the local economy. Conversely the area has some shortcomings in terms of the growth sectors of ICT, software and creative industries. SMEs make up 99% of the economy, are key to employment creation and are amongst those considered critical to the revival of jobs growth in the UK economy.

Economic footprint and partnership landscape

West Cheshire lies between the two urban centres of Manchester and Liverpool and industrial belt of North East Wales and the Wirral. These all exert significant economic influences on the borough. This economic geography has resulted in complex economic and labour flows i.e. a substantial number of West Cheshire’s residents, particularly the more highly skilled commute out to the surrounding economic centres as they can on average earn more outside of the area than they can locally. There is also an associated inflow from bordering areas driven by the high volume employment sectors of retail and the visitor economy. This economic footprint is a vital consideration when designing policies and programmes to drive economic growth.

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Fig 1 Geographical Context of West Cheshire

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Fig 2 Operating and Organisational Landscape

Responsibility for different elements of delivering growth are vested with various organisations and partnerships. Altogether Better for Business supports th aims and plans of these organisations and partnerships and draws them together to ensure a coherent approach in West Cheshire.

Primarily, and at sub-regional level, Altogether Better for Business supports the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in the delivery of its business plan, ensuring that its strategic priorities and

The Landscape

Central Government

North Wales

Economic

Ambition Board

Mersey Dee

Alliance

Cheshire and

Warrington LEP

Liverpool City

Region LEP

Greater

Manchester LEP

West Cheshire

Altogether Better

Partnership

Chester

Renaissance

Ellesmere Port Weaver Valley Rural

Regeneration

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mutually desired outcomes are aligned across the Council and partners, to maximise resources, investment and growth.

The Mersey Dee Alliance provides a framework within which strategic cross border issues on the functional economic geography with North East Wales and Wirral are dealt with, for example on issues of economic resilience and sectors, which are core issues for this strategy.

Progressing other wider strategic economic issues such as the local aspects of the Atlantic Gateway strategy, for example the potential Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Corridor, sustainable transport schemes (e.g. Halton Curve), and skills and knowledge economy/sector plans, will need to be addressed with the relevant economic partnerships on an issue by issue basis, including the neighbouring Local Enterprise Partnerships in Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester.

Altogether Better for Business provides the common thread between sub-regional and strategic aspirations and local delivery of Council schemes through private sector-led, locality focused, regeneration boards within West Cheshire:- Ellesmere Port Development Board, Chester Renaissance, Weaver Valley Partnership and the Rural Regeneration Board, and in partnership with other organisations (for example University of Chester, Chamber of Commerce).

The locality regeneration boards have made good progress over the last two to three years both in delivering the economic infrastructure to support growth and the resulting inward investment and jobs.

Altogether Better for Business will build on the good practice identified here at the various levels and apply it systematically where relevant.

As the implementation phase of Altogether Better for Business rolls out, the Public Service Board will evolve, and the Working Well Thematic Board will become an overarching strategic partnership that coordinates this activity.

Summary of local economic base

West Cheshire is home to just over 326,500 people and approximately 12,000 active enterprises. The City of Chester is the commercial and tourism centre of the borough attracting over 8 million visitors a year.

Box 1: Visitor economy – Key facts

The visitor economy is worth £1.2 billion and supports 14,000 jobs.

Chester attracts 8m visitors out of Cheshire’s 25m per year

Chester Zoo is the biggest zoo attraction in the UK, attracting 1.4m visitors per year

Warrington is a designated 'host destination' during the Rugby League World Cup in 2013

Our food and drink visitors contribute over £350 million annually

Business

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West Cheshire is a diverse economy with the important business locations of Chester, Ellesmere Port and the towns within the Weaver Valley as well as several important businesses across the more rural areas.

Retail makes up over 13% of our business stock; a higher percentage than the national average. This equates to over 1,700 businesses. Activities of head offices and management consultancy activities are also significantly above the national average, representing over 6% of the business stock.

The visitor economy generates approximately £1.2 billion in local revenue and employs about 14,000 people. Similar comparative strengths are observed in architectural and engineering activities and food and beverage services.

As the economy has become more fragile since 2008, unemployment has risen whilst business start-up rates and entrepreneurialism have not matched those generated elsewhere. Overall, the growth of the West Cheshire economy has not kept pace with economic growth elsewhere and as a result the area is becoming relatively less successful.

If sustained economic growth, employment opportunities, and a broader and more vibrant business base are to be achieved there is a need to encourage more business start-up activity whilst at the same time supporting micro businesses to survive and reach their full potential. The energy and creativity of those business locations in the most dynamic cities must also be encouraged in our economy.

SMEs are likely to generate the largest numbers of jobs in any economy but nothing creates the single largest impact in terms of private sector job creation as a large scale inward investment project. The UK has repeatedly been the most successful economy in Europe in securing foreign direct investment (FDI) and West Cheshire has historically benefited from inward investment success with investments from companies such as MBNA, General Motors and Quinn Glass. Studies repeatedly show that inward investors are likely to bring higher salaries, greater levels of productivity, new ideas and innovation as well as the potential for the supply chain.

West Cheshire has under-performed relative to larger city regions in securing investment in recent years and this represents an area of opportunity since the location has many of the aspects sought by investors and has a track record of success in securing investment.

It cannot be assumed that those investors that did locate in West Cheshire will stay forever. The pace of change in the world economy is rapidly altering business and production processes and changing demands for products. Few companies continue to operate for many years in exactly the same way. This can represent a particular challenge for West Cheshire where the future of the larger companies in the area is often determined by a boardroom decision outside the area. It is possible to impact on the fortunes of resident companies through the introduction of new opportunities; helping to solve business issues such as workforce recruitment and training or links to innovation; or removing barriers to growth such as access to employment land or planning permission.

In fact, many businesses do not recognise that this is the type of support that can be offered by public agencies and do not seek help in unlocking the potential for further investment from within their wider company. There is an opportunity for public sector agencies to proactively engage with the larger employers to ensure that all their business issues and opportunities are recognised and addressed where possible.

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Box 2: Advanced manufacturing and industrial innovation corridor - Atlantic gateway

Ellesmere Port sits at the heart of an exciting linear industrial, science, innovation and technology corridor, stretching from Deeside, General Motors Ellesmere Port, through Stanlow - Shell Technology Centre Thornton, SciTech Daresbury and Manchester Airport. It encompasses a diverse range of high value sectors ranging from aerospace and defence, automotive, petrochemicals and energy, applied R&D (Daresbury) and potentially offers a significant foundation and springboard to drive up advanced manufacturing, low carbon economy, innovation, higher level apprenticeships and skills, and ultimately significant growth in sustainable high value jobs. It would also act as inward investment zone and FDI draw, particularly from the US, building on the proximity of a truly international airport.

Working with partners, we aim to create a functional existing technology and FDI attractor ‘asset grouping technology corridor’ around the Atlantic Gateway region in North West England and North East Wales. This asset grouping is provisionally entitled the Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Innovation Corridor (IIC). It will group together key assets in the functional economy area to ensure competitiveness, technology, innovation and skills development, collaboration and avoidance of duplication, and will use low carbon tools such as industry led district heating networks. It will also utilise the critical mass of indigenous expertise and the enviable, global scale of industrial R&D in the region to attract inward investment and further FDI.

One of the keys to growth for the whole of the UK economy and West Cheshire included is to reduce the reliance that the economy places on the domestic market and seek opportunities from export markets. Despite the global slowdown, there are many economies around the world that continue to record strong growth (notably within the Middle East, Asia and South America) whilst many economies are undertaking large scale projects that can benefit the West Cheshire economy. By providing opportunities for internationalisation the West Cheshire economy will have a greater chance of recording stronger growth.

A key positive trend in the UK economy at present is the increase in the number of new start-up companies. The dominance of SMEs in the economy, the fast pace of change, uncertainty in labour markets and the technology shifts that allow an ease of establishing companies all means that start-up businesses as well as a portfolio working style are genuine career options for greater numbers of people than ever before. In West Cheshire we need to recognise the wide opportunities that exist in key industry sectors where start-up companies are most viable – such as software, creative and digital, telecoms and e-commerce.

To date these sectors are somewhat under-represented in West Cheshire but start-up activity has been generated in these areas elsewhere. To encourage such activity in West Cheshire we must work towards developing more of an entrepreneurial culture. Starting up your own business must be encouraged more at all stages – amongst young people in schools and colleges as well as mid-life career changers.

Infrastructure

In any location the provision of effective infrastructure is an essential component of a successful economy and community. From a business perspective, the provision of effective infrastructure is essential to attract new investment. Most business investment in the modern economy can be

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located almost anywhere and the provision of effective infrastructure is an essential component in the attraction of companies.

Most of the business areas of West Cheshire have reasonable or good road connections. There are rail links from the area and Manchester Airport in particular provides good air connections for business, alongside Liverpool Airport. Of course, infrastructure for business also includes access to broadband and mobile connectivity as well as transport. Access to high quality telecommunications infrastructure is a pre-requisite and wider provision of telecommunications infrastructure can support businesses across more areas.

Immediate access to infrastructure is an important aspect of attracting business, but business typically makes investment decisions for the long term and as a result needs to have the confidence that infrastructure is not only available for operation in the immediate term but also will be continuously be upgraded and support the operation of the business into the immediate term. Confidence that the area is supportive of business and will ensure that investment is made to support business in the long run is therefore an important consideration.

West Cheshire will need to identify those areas where business infrastructure is being upgraded – particularly those areas where businesses can gain expansion space. Companies based in Chester and the Weaver Valley towns in particular (but not exclusively) will need to see opportunities for growth or renewal.

Communities also rely on high quality infrastructure. This can be a challenging task to deliver across an area as wide as West Cheshire with a mixture of different types of communities. One feature of West Cheshire which is common across almost all of its communities however, is the ageing demographic. West Cheshire has an older age profile that the UK and the area appears to lose young people after education but attract older workers who perhaps continue to gain their employment in the neighbouring urban areas but move to locations in West Cheshire.

The result of this shifting demographic is that communities with large levels of out commuters and increasing numbers of people no longer economically active is that local centres lose income and vibrancy and tend to have a less broad retail and leisure offer. This limits the attractiveness of these centres and there is a risk that a negative spiral is created. A disproportionate number of people who are no longer economically active also reduces the economic output and economic potential of the area.

As a location with a population ageing faster than the UK this is a particular issue for the area and will require work to be undertaken addressing housing availability and housing mix.

The Council and public sector partners can play a role in the delivery of infrastructure. The public sector collectively retains ownership or control of a large number of assets often in strategic locations and may have a number of assets in a similar location. This collection of assets could be sold; used to form part of a joint venture to unlock a development scheme; leased to facilitate a high value private sector opportunity; or amalgamated between agencies to better use space and free up other buildings. There are many options, but the opportunities need to be examined against the potential opportunities.

Employment and Skills

Raising skills levels is a key part of the process of improving both national and local economic performance and prosperity. West Cheshire does benefit from a workforce which is more skilled than the national average in terms of overall educational attainment. However, there are national trends in the economy which place more and more emphasis on the need for specific skills. For

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instance, technical skills to support ICT, engineering and advanced manufacturing continue to be in demand across the country and the region, despite the overall fragility of the labour market.

Businesses in West Cheshire must make certain that they are keeping pace with such technical advances and ensure that relevant skills exist in their companies, both to ensure skills are replaced from natural wastage and to allow growth. This is vital if our businesses are to continue to compete and grow in their respective sectors. This should be considered to be particularly crucial in companies which have a longer established technical base which may have a disproportionately ageing workforce. The growth of areas such as the Ellesmere Port chemical cluster during the 1970s is likely to have resulted in a workforce that at least partially still reflects the period when the expansion took place creating a potential spike in skills requirements in the near future.

There is therefore a need for the relevant agencies in West Cheshire to improve their work with businesses to ensure that their current and future skills needs are being met. We need to better facilitate the dialogue between businesses and the education and skills sector to fully inform learning and development needs, activities and future trends. This will enable a better flow of skills into work.

Youth unemployment is a particular issue across the whole of the UK economy and West Cheshire is no exception. In a fragile labour market, there are few companies seeking to take on large numbers of young recruits with a depth of training needs, leading to a widespread concern that such levels of youth unemployment may lead to a whole “lost generation” of unemployable young people. Unemployment of the fifty-plus age group is also a concern, and one that could be addressed through routes to self employment and awareness work with employers.

In the longer term, businesses will be looking for skilled younger recruits, but without training, the current entrants into the labour market will not be ready to take on those roles when they become available. The West Cheshire economy needs to make sure that this gap can be filled when it becomes necessary and also to help counterbalance any natural gravitation of young people towards the larger urban centres where there are likely to be more opportunities. This is important as such a migration would represent a further shift in the West Cheshire ageing profile.

Call to action

Given this assessment of the local economic base, and the challenges that West Cheshire needs to meet to maintain and improve local economic performance and prosperity, we need to ensure that we operate in a way that encourages and facilitates business activity in West Cheshire. Action is needed to ensure that:

Businesses get the right support to prosper and grow;

Transport, housing, business development sites and other physical infrastructure that businesses and the population will need is delivered;

We build on the skills base of the West Cheshire population, providing the opportunities to develop the specific skills needed by businesses, and ensuring opportunities for young people and fifty-plus to learn and develop work skills, to grow the productivity of the workforce; and

We are growth focussed – in the way we operate our own businesses and organisations, in how we interact with private sector businesses, and in the decisions we make.

Therefore our strategic objectives are:

1. Enterprise and Business - providing targeted advice to support business start-up, investment and growth;

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2. Economic Infrastructure - providing the right infrastructure to maximise business

investment and growth;

3. Employment and Skills – providing business with a skilled workforce and people with jobs ;

4. Enabling Behaviours for Growth – promote and foster a pro-growth culture and values

within Cheshire West and Chester Council and the wider public sector family within West Cheshire and beyond, including adopting innovative ways of working across the public, private and voluntary sectors to get the most out of our resources.

Strategic framework for growth

Delivering growth will require focus on the local drivers of growth, and action to address the specific issues most important to growing West Cheshire’s economy. This focus will help support the transition to a locally driven economy, underpinned by private sector growth and opportunity, with a leaner, more focussed public sector. Many of the strategic actions identified will be achieved by re-focusing activity and re-deploying resources across our organisations in support of sustainable economic growth, rather than by setting up new activity.

Figure 3 sets out the link between our strategic objectives and actions and the outcomes required in the wider economic and business environment. This is also complemented by Annex A which outlines the logic chain to the specific actions identified.

Figure 3: The relationship between strategic objectives, actions and outcomes.

Enterprise and Business

Employment and Skills

Economic Infrastructure

Enabling Growth Behaviours, Culture and Processes

Business Hub

Inward investment

Connectivity

Apprenticeship Hub

Sustainable, resilient and diverse business base

Generate jobs

Business led employment and skills

Creating the conditions for growth

Strategic objectives Actions Outcomes

Sites and premises

Local Place Infrastructure

Housing

Account management

Business start-up and entrepreneurship

Meet current and future skills needs

Employment and skills strategy

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Increase exports

Asset Strategy

Promote STEM

Box 3 below sets out the criteria for public investment and the drivers of growth.

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Box 3: Criteria for investment and the drivers of growth

Economic impact Wherever we are considering investing public resources, priority projects, actions or interventions will be dependent on their economic impact and will be assessed against:

Job creation, direct and indirect, with priority for jobs that offer better compensation and workforce progression;

The ability to leverage private and other public funding to support growth;

Catalytic industrial sector or cluster activity, particularly in those sectors which will drive future growth;

The ability to strengthen or build upon innovation and knowledge economy assets, including research universities, entrepreneurial and investor networks, and in advanced manufacturing;

The ability to provide employment and skills progression for economically inactive communities and neighbourhoods.

Sectors The sector strengths of West Cheshire, alongside the sectors which are driving growth, will be an important consideration in all of the work undertaken. Rather than lead to an action in itself, the strategy will need to ensure that work on skills, account management and business start-up as well as the provision of infrastructure is provided in a manner that supports existing sector strengths and opportunities. In addition an inward investment strategy will provide the opportunity to showcase existing strengths and attract further businesses linked to the skills, markets or supply chain opportunities presented by the area. An Economic Policy and Intelligence Unit alongside a Business Growth Service will inform this assessment. West Cheshire has notable strengths in specific sectors. The area has particular strengths in:

advanced manufacturing including: o automotive o aerospace O energy / low carbon o chemicals o processing

financial and professional services

These sectors may create opportunities in terms of new investment in UK energy and infrastructure projects. The area has demonstrable strengths in terms of engineering skills across multiple disciplines. From a service sector perspective West Cheshire has strengths in financial services and whilst this is an industry which has suffered problems and major employers in the area may face immediate threats, the skills and experience that has been gained may also provide opportunities for growth. The balance between opportunity and threat is also true of manufacturing. Advanced manufacturing and the re-balancing of the economy are recognised as priorities alongside the transition to a low carbon economy, and exploiting the economic opportunities presented by the green agenda. It will also be important to recognise and encourage emerging sectors and technologies.

Strategic objectives

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Strategic objective one: Enterprise and business - providing targeted advice to support business start-up, investment and growth. Rationale The long term increase in rates of business formation and attracting new business investment is a crucial element in achieving the target of creating 5000 private sector jobs over the next five years. However, we also need to recognise that existing entrepreneurs and businesses with growth potential will, in the short and medium term, offer greater potential for employment growth. Government has reformed the way business support is delivered in England, focusing less on general business support and moving to a more targeted approach. This means there is a need for better coordination at the local level and for new providers to come forward, particularly from the private sector, business and trade organisations and from the third sector. Additionally, a number of social problems are associated with weak ties to the local economy. Supporting businesses to grow, creating jobs and helping people find work helps reduce social problems and inequalities.

Box 4: A branded business growth service

The Business Growth Service will be a single gateway to all publicly funded business support services and products to eligible businesses in West Cheshire, and will broker access to private business support where possible. It will have a single, well recognised brand for business support and engagement, accessible to all businesses through a variety of channels including a single website, new media channels and face to face through various delivery locations around the borough. Our aim will be to accelerate the growth of our economy through targeted support in our key strategic sectors.

Actions 1.1 Deliver a Business Growth Service offering integrated information, advice and guidance. This

will offer a single, consistent access to all public funded business support products and services including private sector provision where possible and will include providing assistance and advice on navigating the local authority’s managed regulatory and statutory landscape businesses have to comply with. The products will be drawn from a menu of national and regional products to improve business growth and competitiveness and may be augmented with local provision. It will provide a trusted, high quality, and confidential engagement, signposting and brokerage service to local businesses to ensure that the best levels of service are secured within managed timescales. The service will be driven by clear outputs in order to increase the numbers of businesses taking up support to grow or maintain their business in West Cheshire. Key areas of focus to drive business growth and performance will be:

Access to finance

Account and relationship management [see 1.3 below]

Export and trade [see 1.5 below]

Innovation

Leadership and management

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Business start-up, enterprise and entrepreneurship [see 1.4 below] Additional local provision and brokerage will be available including: – skills and apprenticeships, business intelligence, business premises information, access to markets via public procurement channels and supply chain events, and access to both general and sector focused networks. A programme of events and activity will be rolled out across West Cheshire and its localities.

1.2 Inward Investment Strategy – focused on attracting and encouraging investment from abroad and other areas of the UK where firms may wish to relocate building on our comparative advantage/strengths and location. Our approach will seek to work with our existing companies with significant international or national profile to align emerging opportunities to their requirements and embed and strengthen our supply chains.

1.3 Account Management function – implement an account and relationship management

function to ensure that we are on the front foot when it comes to understanding and responding to the needs of business at both the local, sub-regional and national level. This work should also be able to enable us to anticipate and manage potential economic shocks and will include a local economic shocks task group. This group will be a virtual group, include all relevant stakeholders and will meet as and when the need arises.

We will implement a stratified approach to account management drawing a distinction in the way we interact with for example our major global firms and micro and small businesses. A relationship management plan will be put in place with senior level public service representatives assigned to major employers, to provide senior level input into issue resolution, particularly around planning, infrastructure, skills and recruitment, and working in partnership with UKTI. We will operate an account management approach in relation to our significant and relevant SMEs to support their growth aspirations and ensure we understand their business needs.

1.4 Accelerate rates of business start-up and entrepreneurship - with current trends in the labour market and the changing demographic profile we need to promote self-employment as a realistic and viable career option both to young people in schools, those retraining at college and mid-life career changers or those who need to extend their working life. Working through our business growth service we will tap into national and sub-regional programmes designed to promote self-employment and enterprise and build on the local approaches being implemented in the borough by the University of Chester, our Further Education Colleges and schools and the business and voluntary sector. This will help stabilise and increase the rate of start-ups within West Cheshire, which has recently slowed, as well as providing an additional route particularly for the target groups of young people and over 50s.

1.5 Increase the number of companies which export and the value of those exports. UKTI has a

large number of commercial Posts around the world which offer export services. The network has capacity to assist more high quality businesses and there is an opportunity to get more West Cheshire businesses in to the programmes offered.

Targets

Business Growth Service launched.

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Targeted inward investment strategy developed.

Account management arrangements in place and operational with Top 50 businesses. Measurement:

Increase rate of new business start-ups

5000 private sector jobs created over next 5 years.

Double the number of businesses exporting by 2015 (UKTI target).

Strategic Objective Two: Economic Infrastructure - providing the right infrastructure to maximise business investment and growth Rationale: For West Cheshire to remain competitive and be a destination of choice for inward investors or create the right, sustainable, conditions for new businesses to start up or existing ones grow, high quality economic infrastructure is essential.

Investing in infrastructure has a stronger positive effect on GDP per capita than other forms of

investment and also has a direct positive impact on business performance, growth and jobs. We

will need to ensure West Cheshire’s infrastructure is fit for purpose, by putting in place measures

and a coherent strategy to facilitate, coordinate and plan public and private investment in our

economic infrastructure. We will also need to ensure that we coordinate some of our investments

with those of our neighbours for example through the MDA, Atlantic Gateway, if we are to fully

harness the economic opportunities presented by our unique economic geography.

The current tough economic climate and tight public purse means support for investment in

infrastructure projects to drive growth is low. We therefore need to explore innovative, low risk

and affordable ways of funding economic infrastructure.

There is potential for public sector land and other assets to become available through

rationalisation and co-location opportunities delivered through the assets strand of the Altogether

Better (Community Budget) programme. This provides an opportunity for taking a strategic growth

driven approach to the realisation or extraction of value from those assets e.g. with receipts from

sales used to create a revolving local investment fund to support growth or defer receipts from

sales to enable public land to be used as a catalyst for development projects. This will require a

different way of working and a review of the way we have traditionally treated, accrued,

attributed costs and benefits from the utilisation or disposal of public sector assets.

Against this context, West Cheshire has a vision to implement a collaborative public sector asset

strategy where public sector assets are considered holistically, both to provide a common public

sector integrated and seamless service to the public and by using public assets in a manner which

supports growth, and takes into account the wider and longer term social, environmental and

economic benefits and not just the immediate monetary returns.

Actions

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2.1 Sites and premises for business investment - Work will be undertaken to accelerate growth on major sites for development and to identify the opportunities to support development of the next tier of employment sites and premises, alongside progressing the local plan. This work will be supported by the creation of new financial mechanisms to help unlock growth, including exploration of the potential to reinvest some of the proceeds from public sector reform into infrastructure; and developing an infrastructure package to attract investment.

Box 5: Chester Central Business Quarter

The area immediately adjacent to Chester Railway Station is identified as a major strategic employment site for West Cheshire and has the potential to support economic growth across the sub-regional area. The Business Quarter is currently being brought forward for development by the private sector but facilitated and supported by the public sector – it is a prime example of true collaboration to achieve a shared vision.

The site has the potential to deliver approximately 450,000 sq ft of Grade A BREEAM Excellent office space – served by a major rail hub. It will be complimented by residential and other commercial uses that will create a vibrant and distinctive new commercial hub in the city centre. The potential value of the development is over £150 million and will create up to 3,500 jobs. Delivery will be over a series of phases in the next 10-15 years.

2.2 Housing: We will deliver housing of the right type, quality and cost in the right locations in line

with current and future needs of the population to ensure that West Cheshire remains an attractive location to live and help ease affordability pressures. This will be delivered by working in partnership with communities, registered providers and developers to identify how developments can be accelerated.

Actions will include:

Progressing the Local Plan - putting in place a new Local Plan to facilitate further development and ensuring there is a good supply of land for new housing together with affordable home requirements.

Enabling the supply of new homes - Development and implementation of a housing investment plan as part of the Council’s wider Growth Investment Plan, ensuring a pipeline of investment projects and initiatives

Best use of assets – identifying public sector landholdings that will be unlocked for housing development via the creation of innovative financial and delivery mechanisms working in partnership with registered providers and the private sector.

Maximising the use of existing properties – working with partners at a sub regional level to develop innovative models to bring empty properties back into use.

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Box 6: Neighbourhood planning

Local communities are now able to contribute to the future planning of their area through the

preparation of Neighbourhood Development Plans (NDP). NDP’s enable communities to guide

and promote new development and once legally brought into force will become a primary

consideration in the determination of planning decisions as they form part of the statutory

development plan. NDP’s can embrace greater levels of growth than that identified within the

emerging or adopted Local Plan for a particular area. They will provide greater certainty in

how local communities want to grow.

Cheshire West and Chester Council is actively embracing NDP’s. The areas of Winsford,

Tattenhall, Neston and Tarporley all secured front runner status for the preparation of their

Plans. Other communities are also considering the preparation of Plans for their

neighbourhoods. The authority actively supports the preparation of NDP’s and the benefits

this brings in promoting growth and reducing risk.

2.3 Connectivity and infrastructure plan for growth – We are working with Cheshire and Warrington LEP to implement the West Cheshire specific elements of the infrastructure and investment plan for growth, alongside developing the Local Plan’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). This will focus on identifying the necessary infrastructure to unlock growth from a sites, connectivity and transportation perspective and clarifying the actions necessary to deliver these.

Complete roll-out of superfast broadband network to ensure that 100% of West Cheshire businesses are physically enabled for Superfast Broadband. A business support programme will also work directly with businesses to ensure they are able to maximise the potential that Superfast Broadband will bring. delivering on the following key economic objectives:

– 1: Provide Superfast Broadband connectivity to 6,485 eligible SMEs in market failure areas in Cheshire, Halton and Warrington (C, H and W), accessed at a minimum speed of 30Mbps and delivered by June 2015.

– 2: Provide an integrated business support programme open to 25,984 eligible SMEs, resulting in 830 eligible SMEs receiving 12hrs+ of intensive business assistance and/or grant support to produce 478 gross jobs, with further 119 jobs indirectly to generate £19.5M increase in Gross Value Added (GVA) to C, H and W.

Transport infrastructure: A key priority is the development of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Transport Board (LTB) which will identify the strategic transport priorities; including the constraints and opportunities outside the area including into the Merseyside, Manchester, North Wales and Staffordshire catchments. It is also likely to have responsibility for major transport funding and West Cheshire will work up its major transport requirements to ensure that it is in a position to benefit from this.

2.4 Deliver capital investment in local place infrastructure – that creates the right conditions and confidence for further private sector investment, and adds value to the West Cheshire business and lifestyle ‘offer’.

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Box 7: Local place infrastructure

The Culture and Recreation Department within Cheshire West and Chester Council are currently developing a range of capital infrastructure projects, including:

· Chester Theatre and Library · Lion Salt Works - Northwich · Memorial Court Leisure and Entertainment Centre - Northwich · Ellesmere Port Sports Village

Of these, both Lion Salt Works and Memorial Court Leisure and Entertainment Centre are in, or rapidly moving towards, the construction phase. In line with Council policy, the contracts for these projects make provision for locally sourced labour and for the provision of apprenticeship opportunities.

The feasibility study and options appraisal for the Chester Theatre project provided an economic impact assessment looking at increases in gross and net jobs and GVA at both the regional and area level.

2.5 Develop a pro growth asset strategy – where public sector assets are considered holistically, with the traditional barriers removed with assets used to support growth; where funding and investment decisions are informed by an assessment of the wider social, environmental and economic benefits and not just the narrow monetary return.

Single shared investment plans – public, private, strategic and local;

Property reinvestment programme/joint ventures/recycling/evergreen;

De-risking: pump-priming, gap funding to address viability gaps.

Box 8 – Barons Quay

Cheshire West and Chester Council has ambitious and deliverable plans for the regeneration

of Northwich. At the forefront of this is Barons Quay which will provide a new leisure and

shopping opportunities in the heart of the town centre.

Barons Quay will deliver the major change needed to make the town centre more vibrant

and attractive to residents, businesses and visitors. The Barons Quay development will

comprise a new food store, cinema complex, restaurants bars and cafes, new shopping

streets, residential units and hotel accommodation, together with all associated

infrastructure and parking provision. The scheme also incorporates generous provision of

high quality public realm which will ensure that the new development blends seamlessly

with Witton Street and the existing high street.

Cheshire West and Chester Council is acting as the developer for Barons Quay and has made strategic land acquisitions to add to its current asset base to ensure that the Council controls all the land to execute the development. The pro-active approach of the Council has helped to kick-start the scheme in current market conditions. It has given the Council confidence to submit a planning application in Autumn 2012, and seek a funding partner during 2013.

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Targets

Local Transport Board established.

Strategic transport infrastructure priorities for West Cheshire identified.

Innovative asset backed funding mechanism in place to help pump-prime major catalytic investments and pro growth asset strategy developed and operational.

Measurement

Enable 1,100 new homes per annum over the period of the strategy.

£100 million of public services finance invested in capital infrastructure that enhances the business and lifestyle offer.

£500mworth of private sector investment.

Over the Councils’ Local Plan period (2030) identify a minimum of 280 ha of employment land.

100% of businesses fibre broadband enabled.

Ensure an on-going supply of affordable homes to appropriate levels of all new development within the borough.

Additional number of commercial and public sector premises supplied with renewable or low carbon sources from direct supplies facilitated or owned and part owned by the Council.

Strategic Objective Three: Employment and Skills – providing business with a skilled workforce and economic opportunities for people

Rationale West Cheshire performs better than the regional average in terms of skills and qualification levels overall. However, there are underlying vulnerabilities which threaten to upset this positive picture including early signs that increases in Level 2, 3 and higher level qualifications are slowing compared to the national picture, at a time when employers are requiring higher level skills, and a worrying decline in the number of Apprenticeships.

In order to reverse this trend we are proposing a new delivery model to strengthen the link between the supply and demand for skills by:

Enabling local business to shape and influence local skills provision to meet current and future skills demand in accordance with local sustainable economic growth priorities.

Supporting increased ‘employer ownership’ of the skills agenda and providing improved access to the skills they need.

Providing the best possible support for individuals to become ‘work ready’ through joint, cost effective action between key partners and closer links to local employers.

Ensuring that the value of Apprenticeships is recognised by both individuals and employers, particularly SMEs, and local take up is maximised.

Raising the profile and importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects through increased opportunities for young people to work with local companies and successfully make the transition from learning to the workplace.

Our proposals reflect and take forward Government policies on local accountability and employer led demand for skills. West Cheshire plans to move quickly to make the most of these changes and provide a model which is scalable to a sub regional geography. In terms of employment we

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recognise that more needs to be done to assist all people to access employment opportunities - this is being dealt with through a sister Altogether Better project to address these issues via the establishment of Employment and Skills Hubs. Actions 3.1 Deliver the current and future skills needs of business – by ensuring that business fully

informs the commissioning of learning and development activity. This will be delivered by developing a whole systems approach, and an Employment and Skills Board (Mutually Accountable Partnership) will be developed to oversee and coordinate the local skills support system and identify the demand from the local economy. A separate business board linked to the Business Support Service will be established to develop a well-informed view of private sector need, to mutually set out the requirement for publicly funded skills provision. It will also take an active role in influencing curriculum development in the education sector to ensure that this is responding to current and future employment requirements.

Implementing this approach will require the delivery infrastructure to be aligned with the emerging strategic skills priorities. Critical to this will be the development of an executive support team drawn mostly from existing partner resources, and linked to the economic intelligence and policy unit, to provide robust economic intelligence and labour market information.

3.2 An Employment and Skills Strategy will be developed so that both the supply and demand side for skills have a shared understanding of the key priorities and how finance will be directed to deliver these. A revised employment and skills offer will be developed to allow take up of the opportunities created by businesses. This will be delivered via a network of newly created Altogether Better employment and skills centres, which will integrate the activities of all public sector agencies involved in the provision of employment and training. Individuals will be provided with faster access to skills and employment opportunities via a tailored package of support.

3.3 Develop an Apprenticeship Service across Cheshire and Warrington to support employers especially SMEs wishing to take on Apprentices and champion vocational pathways in schools and promote Apprenticeships as a valuable career choice. Given the direct link between training and a job which Apprenticeships offer, the Apprenticeship Hub must work closely with the Employment and Skills Hubs and the Business Support Service to provide job brokerage linking job ready individuals to employment opportunities in the local economy. The programme of activity for the hub will focus on three key themes:

Raising the Status of Apprenticeships – including campaigns targeting young people, employers, parents and schools to challenge the assumptions around apprenticeship myths and raise the profile and status of the modern apprenticeship opportunity.

Streamlining the Process – developing employer support mechanisms such as an Apprenticeship Training Agency that employs and sub-contracts apprentices to small businesses.

Championing Young Adults in the Local Labour market – a high profile campaign to remind employers that young people are a scarce asset given the ageing population. This will be complemented by a programme of activity to help young people, particularly those further from the labour market, to become apprenticeship-ready.

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3.4 Promote STEM subjects to cohorts of students in partnership with our schools through an expansion of the:

Discovery programme into West Cheshire (currently running in Warrington);

Cheshire Fab Lab (based in Ellesmere Port with outreach), and;

Make It in Manufacturing campaign with the Manufacturing Institute.

Targets

Launch the Employment and Skills Board with the LEP.

Publish sub regional employment and skills strategy with the LEP.

Launch apprenticeships service.

Launch Fab Lab. Measurement

Increase take up of apprenticeships by SMEs by April 2014

Raise participation and grades in STEM subjects in schools

Strategic Objective Four: Enabling Behaviours for Growth – promoting and fostering a pro-growth culture within the council and the wider public sector family within West Cheshire and beyond, including adopting innovative ways of working across the public, private and voluntary sectors to get the most out of our resources.

Rationale The current economic climate means that growing the economy will be more challenging, with intense competition for investment both globally and nationally. Success will therefore be reliant on the public sector developing the most effective, efficient and intelligent processes and systems to best deploy and target effort and resources where they will have the most impact and generate optimum public benefit. In other words localities need a better and well informed understanding of local economic performance and the opportunities and threats associated with this and how the decisions they make impact on the business environment. The business community generally cites regulatory burdens resulting from some of the statutory processes business have to go through as a drag on growth – due to both the time it takes for the public sector to respond to business needs or the effort, time and cost it takes to navigate the regulatory system. Additionally, there is a need to ensure that all decisions made are considered against achievement of the overall growth ambition. The following actions are designed to address the systemic and cultural aspects necessary to support growth. Actions 4.1 Set up an economic policy and intelligence unit – with the right capabilities and skills to

formulate economic policy, analyse the potential impact of policy on the local economy, economic performance assessments, monitor progress and identify future opportunities and challenges. This will provide the basis to make well informed investment decisions, based on knowing what works. The unit will develop and implement a performance framework for monitoring the economic growth strategy’s effectiveness.

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4.2 Economic impact assessments (EIA) to inform key policy and investment decisions. Where the public sector has to make decisions which may have a significant impact on businesses and growth prospects, we will undertake an economic impact assessment, on a consistent basis, which will inform all the options under consideration to ensure that decision-makers are fully sighted on the economic implications of their decisions on the West Cheshire economy.

4.3 Implement West Cheshire Progressive Procurement Strategy - which supports investment and job creation in the local economy, in a way that is compliant with procurement rules. Our approach will be designed to move away from a transactional approach to one that is more strategic with greater focus on delivering capability in the supply chain, including improving visibility by publishing forward pipelines of public sector contracts from April 2013; working with industry to identify supply chain capabilities needed to meet future demand, and enabling a more meaningful dialogue between suppliers and the public sector at the pre-procurement stage. We will seek to use the public sector’s purchasing power to support the things that matter to West Cheshire - growth, skills/apprenticeships and general sustainability by ensuring that decisions are informed by intelligence and evidence which allows us to support the local economy

4.4 Implement the Going for Growth programme – delivering systems and processes that enable

growth related activity within the Council initially. The programme will contain the primary features listed below. These are designed to promote increased awareness within the Council, at all levels and in particular with key decision makers. It aims to ensure that the interface with growth opportunities is effective and that decisions made have clearly considered their impact:

Facilitating growth – completing a system level review of the processes that help deliver growth and identify whether there is opportunity to deliver these with increased pace and greater investor confidence, in a way that remains compliant with regulatory and propriety requirements.

Decision making for growth – following the review of relevant systems, consider and develop a programme for all decision makers to have a shared understanding of the activities that will support growth and their role in implementing these.

Matrix teams – the transformation of the organisation to one that can operate in detail at the local level, understanding issues and challenges that impact on all communities. In turn also operating strategically to ensure that the borough can influence and facilitate the growth agenda at a strategic level, working across all our communities and beyond, including sub regionally. This will be delivered through creating locally based matrix teams that bring together all the necessary expertise and knowledge, with linked performance appraisals, and consistent training, working together to facilitate growth and create a seamless and constructive experience by investors.

Growth Champions – we will identify and mentor business and growth champions in all our key service areas. They will understand and instil the objectives of a business orientated Council that is aware of the need for timely and consistent decision making and the impact those decisions will have on investment and growth. This will be infused into all our key areas of activity.

Planning - working to ensure that all tools at the disposal of the planning system are considered and deployed as appropriate. This will include the potential use of Local

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Development Orders (LDO’s) to create greater certainty for investors, developers and occupiers so that they know what will be acceptable in planning terms, thus reducing the cost and risk of development.

Targets

Economic policy and intelligence unit operational.

New performance framework established.

Economic Impact Assessment process developed and operational.

Progressive procurement strategy in place and operational.

Going for growth programme specification developed and implemented.

Performance, monitoring and evaluation

Altogether Better for Business will be underpinned by detailed annual implementation plans for the duration of the strategy, which will outline the specific activities that will be undertaken to deliver the strategic objectives. This will capture the specific projects and programmes which will drive sustainable economic growth and assess the contribution that each will make to the overall action and the performance measures underpinning these.

The economic policy and intelligence unit will develop and implement a performance framework for monitoring the economic growth strategy’s effectiveness. Performance against this quantification will then be reviewed and monitored regularly by the Working Well Thematic Board. Progress will be reported on a regular basis.

References

Annual Business Inquiry (ABI)

Business Engagement – Report to Cheshire West and Chester Council, August 2011, Mickledore

Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES)

Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Business Plan 2012-2015, 2012, LEP

Cheshire and Warrington Means Business: A Prospectus for a Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership for, 2010, Cheshire and Warrington Enterprise Commission

Cheshire West and Chester Core Strategy (LDF) and Annual Monitoring Plan, 2011, Cheshire West and Chester Council

Chester One City Plan, 2011, Chester Renaissance

City Regions in Wales: The Case for North East Wales/West Cheshire, April 2012, North Wales Economic Forum

Ellesmere Port Vision and Regeneration Framework, 2010, Ellesmere Port Development Board

Local Economic Assessment ‘The Story of Place’ – main document and statistical annex, 2011, Cheshire West and Chester Council

MDA Business Plan 2012-15, 2012, Mersey Dee Alliance

Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Sector Reports – Cheshire and Warrington, July 2012, Mickledore

Sector Reports – Mersey Dee Area, July 2012, Mickledore

Rural Regeneration Strategy, 2010, Rural Regeneration Partnership

Weaver Valley Business Plan, 2012, Weaver Valley Partnership

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ANNEX A - SUMMARY OF ECONOMIC ACTIONS AND RATIONALES

Business

Objective 1: Enterprise and Business – provided targeted advice to support business start-up, investment and growth

Issue Implication Action

GVA growth and salaries in Cheshire have been out-stripped by the urban conurbations of Manchester and Liverpool. At the same time unemployment has risen and business start-ups have fallen behind the UK average.

Growth in employment and the future economic base of the area will, to a large extent, be determined by the strength of SMEs. Support for business start-up and SMEs is somewhat fractured after the closure of the RDAs.

Integrated hub for information, advice and guidance – providing business with a single point of contact that offers a gateway to all public funded business support activities on a hub and spoke model and navigating regulatory and statutory processes.

The UK is the largest recipient of inward investment projects in Europe. West Cheshire has somewhat under-performed over the past decade in securing new mobile investment.

Inward investors can provide an immediate boost to an economy through job creation and demand for goods and services. Over the longer team inward investors tend to pay higher salaries, achieve greater productivity and higher levels of innovation. By falling behind neighbours in securing this investment the Cheshire economy is likely to decline in relative terms.

Targeted inward investment offer – focused on encouraging investment from those countries experiencing rapid expansion, and those businesses with greatest alignment with the West Cheshire business base to maximise supply side opportunities.

A number of important long-standing large manufacturing companies as well as a concentration of financial services businesses underpin the economy at a time of challenge for both sectors. The ownership and decision making which impacts on these businesses is generally outside Cheshire.

Without continuous investment and innovation in products and processes there is a risk that activities become obsolete. To avoid disinvestment there is a need for Cheshire based businesses to offer a compelling case to seize further investment from within their ownership structures.

Strengthen the performance of global businesses and major employers by introducing relationship management arrangements that ensure that the needs of the business are understood, responded to and escalated to national level, where appropriate.

The UK economy continues to run a balance of payments deficit, the prosperity for UK companies to export is lower than in other European countries and the North West region records fewer exports relative to the size of the economy than other regions of the UK.

In a UK economy offering limited medium term growth, without an ability to capture opportunities created by markets around the world, individual companies and the West Cheshire economy as a whole will struggle to expand.

Increase the number of companies who export and the value of those exports. UKTI has a large number of commercial posts around the world which offer export services. The network has capacity to assist more high quality businesses and there is an opportunity to get more West Cheshire businesses in the programmes offered.

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The dominance of SMEs in the modern economy (and in particular in West Cheshire), the fast pace of change, uncertainty in labour markets and the technology shifts that allow an ease of establishing companies means that start-up businesses / portfolio careers are genuine career options for greater numbers of people.

Unless the wide opportunities for start-up businesses are recognised across West Cheshire, economic growth and levels of economically active people are likely to slip relative to competing areas. The growth sectors of telecoms, software, creative and digital and e-commerce are somewhat under-represented in Cheshire but have generated start-up activity elsewhere.

Develop an entrepreneurial culture – with businesses seen as available career option; with young people in schools, those retraining at college and mid-life career changers.

Infrastructure

Objective 2: Economic infrastructure providing the right infrastructure to maximise business investment and growth

Issue Implication Action

West Cheshire has a population with an older age profile than the UK as a whole. The area does not retain a high proportion of its young people and appears to attract a more affluent older generation which often out-commutes from the area. This older generation will further increase the proportion of retirees in West Cheshire.

The level of wealth creation undertaken within the West Cheshire economy is affected by the proportion of out-commuters and those no longer in the labour market. Out commuting and a skewed age profile impacts on the vibrancy and breadth of retail / leisure offer in West Cheshire towns.

Deliver housing of the right type, quality and cost in the right locations – in line with current and future needs of the population to ensure that West Cheshire remains an attractive location to live and help ease affordability pressures.

A large proportion of business investment in an inter-connected world can be undertaken anywhere. Businesses expect high quality infrastructure and are unlikely to select a location which offers sub-standard infrastructure when a superior offer can be found in another location close by.

A location without high quality digital and transport connectivity or available land and premises is simply not a contender for most inward investment. Cheshire is well linked by road, rail and air connections but without more investment in broadband and sites and premises may miss out to neighbouring locations.

Connectivity and infrastructure should include:

Broadband roll-out

Transport infrastructure

Sites and premises for business investment

Business investment is made for the long term. Companies are seeking locations that will allow their operations to flourish into the medium term. Any uncertainty over the ability of a location to be able to accommodate the ambition of the Company represents a risk factor that the Company is likely to avoid.

In order to attract inward investment a location should not only have a strong immediate business offer but also represent a location which can be seen to have a vision for the future and commitment to support the ambition of resident businesses.

Deliver capital investment in critical infrastructure – that creates the right conditions for further private sector investment and adds value to the West Cheshire business and lifestyle ‘offer’.

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The economic downturn and the public sector expenditure cuts have brought into sharp focus the need to use all public sector assets more efficiently. Where locations have duplicate public sector assets there is the opportunity to amalgamate – where asset values can be realised more effectively through a sale or active management process, this should be explored.

The public sector across all its functions holds a large number of assets that can be rationalised, used differently or amalgamated. The result is that capital or revenue can be generated from the rationalisation process to invest in schemes or provide solutions to businesses or communities.

Develop a public sector asset strategy – where public sector assets are considered holistically, with the traditional barriers removed with assets ‘sweated’ to support growth; where funding and investment decisions are informed by an assessment of the wider social and economic benefits and not just the narrow monetary return.

Workforce

Objective 3: Employment and Skills – providing business with a skilled workforce people with jobs

Issue Implication Action

Whilst West Cheshire has a relatively skilled workforce, national trends in the economy are placing demands on specific skills. Technical skills to support engineering, ICT and advanced manufacturing continue to be in high demand despite the fragility of the labour market as a whole. Any skills shortages place a limitation on the growth of the company.

If West Cheshire’s businesses are to continue to compete and grow in their respective sectors, it is vitally important that there are sufficient relevant skills within the workforce to allow both the replacement from natural wastage and to allow growth. This is likely to be a crucial issue for longer established technical companies which find themselves with a disproportionately ageing workforce.

Deliver the current and future skills needs of business – by ensuring that the demand side (i.e. business) fully informs the supply sides commissioning of learning and development activity. This will be delivered by developing a whole systems approach.

Youth unemployment is a particular issue in the UK economy. In a fragile labour market there are few companies seeking to take on large numbers of recruits with detailed training needs whilst at the same time there are concerns that the young people currently seeking to enter the labour market may represent a lost generation for the UK workforce.

Longer term skills needs of businesses will require a trained workforce. Current entrants to the labour market (or workers seeking re-training opportunities) can represent the labour force of the future but without training will not be ready to take on the available roles. There is also a risk that without matching employers and potential employees, young people with gravitate towards the UK’s urban centres and represent a further shift in the West Cheshire age profile.

Implement the apprenticeship hub in West Cheshire – which will provide a ‘one stop shop’ to support employers, particularly SMEs wishing to take on apprentices, providers through increased demand, and young people through improved information advice.

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Annex B – High level implementation plan

SO1 Enterprise and Business High Level Implementation Plan

Action Milestones Year 1 Longer Term Outcomes Lead/Partners

1.1 Integrated business growth services for information, advice and guidance – providing business with a single point of contact that offers a gateway to all public funded business support activities on a hub and spoke model and navigating regulatory and statutory processes.

Launch Business Growth Service

Programme of events across localities

CRM

Website

Support an additional 20% of SMEs to access and secure growth opportunities

Cheshire West and Chester Council – Business and enterprise team / other departments

West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber

University of Chester

LEP

All relevant partners

1.2 Inward investment strategy – focused on attracting and encouraging investment from abroad and other areas of the UK where firms may wish to relocated building on our comparitive advantage / strengths and location.

Inward investment strategy developed and implemented

Increased number of inward investments

Marketing Cheshire

Cheshire West and Chester Council – business and enterprise team, place teams and engine room

1.3 Strengthen the performance of global businesses and major employers by introducing relationship management arrangements that ensure that the needs of the business are understood, responded to and escalated to national level, where appropriate.

Account management arrangements in place and operational with top 50 businesses

Support 50 key businesses in West Cheshire

Increased number of re-investments, expansions and jobs

Cheshire West and Chester Council – business and enterprise team, place teams

UKTI

Local Area Regeneration Boards

1.4 Accelerate rates of business start-up and entreoreneurship – with current trends in the labour market and the changing demographic profile we need to promote self-employment as a realistic and viable career option particularly to young people and those later in life.

Set up business start up club across West Cheshire and its localities as part of 2013 Business Events Programme.

Increase rate of new business start-ups

West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber of Commerce

Cheshire West and Chester Council – business and enterprise team

1.5 Increase the number of companies which export and the value of those exports – working with UKTI and UKTI networks.

Set up business export club across West Cheshire and its localities as part of 2013 Business Events Programme.

Double the number of businesses exporting by 2015 (UKTI target)

Cheshire West and Chester Council – business and enterprise team

University of Chester – RIC

Blue Orchid

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SO2 Economic Infrastructure High Level Implementation Plan

Action Milestones Year 1 Longer Term Outcomes Lead/Partners

2.1 Sites and premises for business investment – accelerate growth on existing sites and identify next tier.

Develop comprehensive Growth Investment Plan identifying the key sites and delivery mechanisms.

Identify a minimum of 280 ha of employment land over the Councils’ Local Plan period (2030)

Cheshire West and Chester Council

LEP / MDA

Local RegenerationBoards

2.2 Deliver housing of the right type, quality and cost in the right locations – in line with current and future needs of the population to ensure that West Cheshire remains an attractive location to live and help ease affordability pressures.

Land assembly package developed

Demand side processes in place

5,250 new homes by 2018

Ensure an on-going supply of affordable homes of up to 35% of all new development within the borough.

Cheshire West and Chester Council – housing team

Registered providers – Housing association partners

2.3 Connectivity and infrastructure:

Superfast broadband roll-out and business support programme

Transport infra-structure and priorities

Local Transport Board established

Strategic transport infrastructure priorities for West Cheshire

100% of businesses broadband enabled

Additional transport investment secured and implemented to unlock development.

Cheshire West and Chester Council, Cheshire East Council, Warrington Council

Private Sector

Local Regeneration Boards

LEP / MDA

2.4 Deliver capital investment in local place infrastructure – that creates the right conditions for furhter private sector investment, and adds value to the West Cheshire businesses and lifestyle ‘offer’.

£100 million of public services finance invested in capital infrastructure that enhances the business and lifestyle offer.

Increased private sector investment

Increased quality of life indicators

C heshire West and Chester Council – Culture and leisure, place teams

Local Area Regeneration Boards

2.5 Develop a pro growth asset strategy – where public sector assets are considered holistically, with the traditional barriers removed with assets used to support growth; where funding and investment decisions are informed by an assessment of the wider social and economic benefits and not just the narrow monetary return.

Pro growth asset strategy developed and operational.

Increased private sector investment - £500m by 2018

Cheshire West and Chester Council – property, place teams

Altogether Better Partners – Fire Police, Health, Housing Registered Providers.

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SO3 Employment and Skills High Level Implementation Plan

Action Milestones Year 1 Longer Term Outcomes Lead/Partners

3.1 Deliver the current and future skills needs of business – by ensuring that business fully informs the commissioning and learning and development activity.

Launch Employment and Skills Board (Cheshire and Warrington)

Skills supply matches demand from employers for relevant skills – e.g. STEM

Cheshire West and Chester Council / Business Hub / West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber / University of Chester / FE Colleges / LEP / Providers

3.2 An employment and skills strategy – so the demand and supply side have a shared understanding of key priorities and how finance will be directed to deliver these.

Publish sub regional skills strategy LEP / MDA

Skills supply matches demand from employers for relevant skills – e.g. STEM

Cheshire West and Chester Council / Cheshire East Council / Warrington Council / LEP / MDA / Skills Funding Agency / BIS / Local Colleges and universities

3.3 Implement the apprenticeship hub in West Cheshire – which will provide a ‘one stop shop’ to support employers, particularly SMEs wishing to take on apprentices; providers through increased demand; and young people through improved information advice.

Launch Apprenticeship service to deliver 30-40 apprentices through ATA.

Increase take up of apprenticeships by SMEs by 10%

Cheshire West and Chester Council / Cheshire East Council / Warrington Council / Local Colleges, Universities, Schools / LEP / National Apprenticeship Service

2.4 Promote STEM subjects to cohorts of students in partnership with out schools through an expansion of:

Discovery programme

Cheshire Fab Lab

Set up STEM skills partnership and action plan

Work with 6 schools on Fab Lab and hold 2 Fab Lab outreach events

Raise participation and grades in STEM subjects in schools and retain and attract individuals with STEM skills to the borough

Cheshire West and Chester Council / Cheshire East Council / Warrington Council / LEP / MDA / Fab Lab / Manufacturing Institute / Universities, colleges, schools / SEMTA / National Apprenticeship Service

2

SO4 Enabling Behaviours for Growth High Level Implementation Plan

Action Milestones Year 1 Longer Term Outcomes Lead/Partners

4.1 Develop an economic intelligence and policy unit. Monitor local economic performance and strategy performance, manage strategic relationships.

Economic policy and intelligence unit operational

New performance framework established and operational

Deliver required impact on local economic performance set out in the growth strategy

Cheshire West and Chester Council / DORIC / University of Chester / LEP

4.2 Introduce economic impact assessments for public sector decisions to ensure that decision-makers are fully sighted on the economic implications of their decisions.

Economic Impact Assessment tool developed and operational

Process embedded in Council decisions and rolled out to public sector partners

Public sector planning and investment decisions made with full awareness of economic impact

Cheshire West and Chester Council / Altogether Better Partners : Fire, Police, Health, Housing Associations etc.

4.3 Implement the West Cheshire public procurement strategy – which supports investment and job creation in the local economy, in a way that is compliant with procurement rules.

Public procurement strategy in place and operational SLA with public sector partners signed

Procurement took kit for SMEs established in partnership with Business Growth Service

Increase % of public procurement involving sustainable supply chains

Cheshire West and Chester Council – procurement

Altogether Better Partners : Fire, Police, Health, Housing Registered Providers etc.

4.4 Implement the going for growth programme of activity which identifies the whole system linkages necessary to deliver growth. This will be targeted at all key decision makers involved in system delivery, politicians, Non-Executives and officers.

Facilitiating decision making; matrix teams; growth champions; planning

Going for growth programme fully developed and rolled out

Growth Champions established

Process for virtual teams established

Systems review complete and action plan established

Relevant Planning mechanisms applied and blockages identified

Workforce development programme developed/implemented

Streamlined and demand responsive public sector services

Cheshire West and Chester Council – economic intelligence and policy unit, planning delivery team, development management.

3

Annex C - Summary local economic swot analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

A diverse manufacturing and services economy. Production is the largest contributor to economic

output in Cheshire West. The key sectors in size and proportion of

employment are: financial services; automotive, chemicals, head offices and specialised construction.

The energy sector is also well represented.

Lower level of claimant count than average. Proximity to Universities of Chester, Manchester and

Liverpool. Higher than national average level of skills as well as

higher proportion of residents in senior occupations as well as skilled occupations.

Manchester Airport and Liverpool Airport provide international links.

Cheshire West is not at the centre of its economic geography with Liverpool and Manchester the most important hubs.

Workplace wage rates are considerably lower than the average for England with residents earning more by out-commuting.

Lower than average population growth and large ageing population.

Business start-ups and self-employment are slightly behind the average for England.

Lack of clear linkages/collaboration between companies and knowledge resources.

Relative lack of larger ‘shovel ready’ employment sites and limited availability of Grade A office space and lack of smaller workshops/space for start up businesses.

Lack of available land for housing.

Opportunities Threats

Attraction of foreign investment as well as supply chain opportunities.

Maximise on ‘knowledge’ resources in the area by encouraging linkages with the local business base.

Business Services and software inward investment projects present opportunities for the area.

Opportunity to attract automotive supply chain companies.

Chester is the largest urban area in the MDA area providing an opportunity for reinforcing Chester’s position as a relevant commercial centre.

Continuing UK and European economic downturn. Fragmented national approach to business support. Limited support for business start-ups could deter

potential for local start-ups. Adjacent areas have strong supply of manufacturing

land as well as Enterprise Zones.

Chester is particularly vulnerable to changes in financial services investment.

Ageing demographic limits the working age population and creates a downward trend in economic output.

Higher wage opportunities outside the area creates a trend for further out-commuting and increases role of West Cheshire in providing dormitory towns.

Annex D – Dashboard of indicators

The growth strategy sets an ambition to 2018. This is based on the assessment of the performance of the economy to 2011 and 2012 (Local Economic Assessment 2011, and Sector Study 2012, Mickledore), a comparative analysis of similar sub regions and growth in GVA in line with those areas (additional commissioned work, Mickledore 2012) and follows an assessment of current performance and general direction based on a number of key economic indicators (dashboard). This assessment then resulted in a baseline against which we will measure performance; the baseline is the state of the economy now, as evidenced below in the dashboard. The dashboard will be updated on a regular basis and used to inform policy decisions to strengthen local economic performance.

4

Strategic objective one – Enterprise:

Indicators Period Value % change DoT England West Cheshire vs. England Comparator

Comments

Active businesses

2010 12,005

(448 per 10,000)

-3.11 471 per 10,000

Source: ONS Business Demography 2010 - Active Enterprises represents the population of active businesses in a reference year. These are defined as businesses that had either turnover or employment at any time during the reference period.

Business births

2010 1160

(43.3 per 10,000)

-1.69 48.9 per 10,000

Source: ONS Business Demography 2010 - A birth is identified as a business that was present in year t, but did not exist in year 1-1 or 1-2. Births are identified by making comparison of annual active population files and identifying those present in the latest file, but not the two previous ones.

Business survival rates (at year 5 from start up)

2010 46.6 -10.1 44.1 Source: ONS Business Demography 2010 - A business is deemed to have survived if having been a birth in year 1 or having survived to year t, it is active in terms of employment and/or turnover in any part of t+1. In this case year t is 2005.

Self employment

Oct 2010 – Sept 2011

9.5 -2.0 13.3 Source: ONS Population Survey 2011 - It is important to note that the APS (Annual Population Survey) estimates of self-employment has a high degree of sampling error on the estimates of self-employed people due to the small numbers and share of the self-employed pool of labour. However, the levels of self-employment do help to give an indication of the level of micro business activity.

Strategic objective three – Employment and skills:

Indicators Period Value % change DoT England West Cheshire vs. England Comparator

Comments

Overall Employment Rate (working age)

Apr 11 – March 12

70.9 -2.7 70.3 Source: ONS Annual Population Survey - The indicator measures numbers in employment

% are for those aged 16-64

Median weekly earnings of employees in area

2011 £465.2 per wk

-1 £507.2 per wk

Source: ONS annual survey of hours and earning – workplace analysis

Note: Median earnings in pounds for employees working in the area

Median weekly earning of residents in area

2011 £498.6 per wk

-6 £507.6 per wk

Source: ONS annual survey of hours and earning – resident analysis

Note: Median earnings in pounds for employees living in the area

Percentage of working age population claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA)

July 2012 3.3 0 (on June 2012) or +1 (July 2011)

3.8 Source: ONS claimant count with rates and proportions

Note: % is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64

Proportion of working age pop qualified to level 4

Jan 11 – Dec 11

33.5 -1.7 32.7 Source: ONS annual population survey – for an explanation of the qualification levels see the definitions section. % is a proportion of resident population of area aged 16-64

NB: Rates per 10,000 calculated using ONS mid-year population estimates 2010 for residents aged 16+

5

Annex E – Statistical annex

This Annex provides the statistical data and the evidence base for the main points in the SWOT Analysis. Employment data and location quotients by SIC code is from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) Business Register and Employment Survey. The data used 2011 data which is the most recent dataset. All GVA data is taken from ONS Regional Accounts. Census data is also taken from ONS. All material on the ONS website is subject to Crown Copyright protection. The data has been captured using the Cheshire West and Chester Local Authority boundary and as such is referred to as Cheshire West and Chester in this annex as opposed to West Cheshire as is referred to in the main document. 1. Population Size Cheshire West and Chester has an ageing population, combined with slow population growth. The 2011 Census indicates that Cheshire West and Chester has a lower proportion of people in the age band of between 0 to 14 as well as a lower proportion of Working Age population compared to the average for the North West; England and Wales. Cheshire West and Chester also has a much higher proportion of the population than the national average in the over 65 age band.

Since the last Census of 2001, overall England and Wales has had an average population increase of 7.8% whereas Cheshire West and Chester’s population has only grown by 2.3%. This is also a low proportion compared to other areas in the North West and the LEP area. Table 1: Population, 2011 Census

All Ages Total 0-14 15-64 Over 65

Cheshire West and Chester 329,600 54,100 214,400 61,000

Source: 2011 Census

Table 2: Population, Age band as Percentage of Population, 2011 Census

0-14 % 15-64 % Over 65 %

Cheshire West and Chester 16 65 19

North West 18 66 17

England and Wales 18 66 16

Source: 2011 Census, ONS

Table 3: Population Percentage Change Since 2001 Census

Population Percentage Change

Cheshire West and Chester 2.3 England and Wales 7.8 North West 4 Cheshire East 5.1 Warrington 5.8 Liverpool 5.5 Manchester 19

Source: 2011 Census

6

2. Gross Value Added

Gross Value Added (GVA) data is now available at local authority level for 2011 (although data is

marked as provisional only at this stage). Cheshire and Warrington recorded a headline GVA figure of

£20,321 million in 2011. In economic terms the area is more important to UK output than Leeds or

Edinburgh and is roughly on par with the City of Birmingham (£20,866m). It equates to just under half

the output of the whole of Wales or two-thirds of the output of Northern Ireland.

Table 4: Total GVA, Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East and Warrington

GVA 2011 £m

Ch

esh

ire

We

st

and

Ch

este

r

Ch

esh

ire

East

War

rin

gto

n

Tota

l

GVA 7,150 8,156 5,015 20,321

Source: ONS When looking at provisional 2011 data for GVA per head, Cheshire and Warrington is ranked 4

th

nationally. Table 5: Top 5 NUTS2 sub-regions by GVA per head, 2011 (provisional)

GVA per head, 2011 £

GV

A p

er h

ead

(£)

Inner London 62,398 North East Scotland 31,944

Berks, Bucks and Oxon 27,795 Cheshire and Warrington 22,743 Glos, Wilts and Bristol/Bath area 22,019

Source: ONS

7

The most important contributor to the overall economy is production. There are increasingly few UK locations where this is still the case, but Cheshire and Warrington can be regarded as a manufacturing location. Table 6: Breakdown of GVA by Sector

GVA 2010 £m

Ch

esh

ire

Wes

t an

d

Ch

este

r

Ch

esh

ire

East

War

rin

gto

n

Tota

l

Per

cen

tage

Agriculture, forestry and fishing 21 170 7 198 1.00 Production 1,479 1,963 803 4,245 21.36 Construction 389 377 388 1,154 5.81 Distribution; transport; accommodation and food 1,292 1,379 1,108 3,779 19.02 Information and communication 220 360 373 953 4.80 Financial and insurance activities 953 642 186 1,781 8.96 Real estate activities 610 645 380 1,635 8.23 Business service activities 768 1,059 722 2,549 12.83 Public administration; education; health 1,135 1,127 815 3,077 15.48 Other services and household activities 174 213 113 500 2.52

Source: ONS

3. Total Employment

Total Employment has been calculated by adding all employees from the 2 Digit SIC (99 SIC Codes in total) in the ABI (Annual Business Enquiry) and Employee Analysis, 2000 – 2008 and BRES (Business Register and Employment Survey), 2008 – 2010. These are taken from NOMIS (official labour market statistics). In order to avoid discontinuity, the data from the two surveys have been presented separately. The data on total employment has been included to provide a context for the ABI and BRES sector employment data and the BRES data in employment in core sectors.

The table below indicates total employees (rounded to the nearest 100) and the graphs indicate percentage change in employment between 2001 and 2008.

Table 7: Total Employees (2 Digit SIC Code), Employee Analysis, ABI, 2000 – 2008

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Cheshire West and

Chester 140,600 147,000 148,700 151,500 149,700 148,900 150,500 150,000 150,700

England 21,900,000 22,100,900 22,216,800 22,286,300 22,565,300 22,908,700 22,790,200 23,005,100 23,073,700

North West 2,835,000 2,894,700 2,968,400 2,973,100 3,035,700 2,987,800 3,016,300 3,039,300 3,004,100

Chester 65,100 68,200 69,800 69,900 70,200 69,900 69,700 69,100 69,900

Ellesmere Port and

Neston 30,300 32,000 32,700 34,600 33,400 32,600 32,000 31,200 31,200

Vale Royal 45,200 46,800 46,300 47,000 46,100 46,400 48,900 49,700 49,600

Source: ABI

8

Graph 1: Total Employees (2 Digit SIC Code), Index (Baseline 2000 = 100) Cheshire West and Chester, England and North West, 2001 - 2008

Source: ABI Graph 2: Total Employees (2 Digit SIC Code), Index (Baseline 2000 = 100), Cheshire West and Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Chester and Vale Royal Source: ABI

Cheshire West

and Chester

England

North West

Cheshire West

and Chester

Chester

Ellesmere Port

and Neston

Vale Royal

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

109

108

107

106

105

104

103

102

101

100

116

114

112

110

108

106

104

102

100

Tota

l Em

plo

yees

- In

dex

To

tal E

mp

loye

es -

Ind

ex

9

The table below indicates total employees (rounded to the nearest 100) by 99 Digit SIC Codes taken from BRES (Business Register and Employment Survey. The graphs below show percentage change in employment between 2008 and 2011. Table 8: Total Employees (total 2 Digit SIC Code), BRES 2008 – 2011

2008 2009 2010 2011

Cheshire West and Chester 149,100 145,600 148,200 147,300

England 23,331,300 22,670,400 23,085,300 23,058,900

North West 3,008,600 2,963,200 2,980,200 2,972,700

Chester 69,100 70,200 71,700 71,100

Vale Royal 48,800 46,700 47,200 47,200

Ellesmere Port and Neston 31,200 28,800 29,300 29,100

Source: BRES

Bar Chart 1: Total Employees, Percentage Change, Cheshire West and Chester, North West and England, 2008 – 2011

Source: BRES

0

-0.1

-0.2

-0.3

-0.4

-0.5

-0.6

-0.7

%

Total Employees, % Change

Cheshire West

and Chester

England

North West

10

4. Key Sectors

4.1 Top Sectors by Employment Cheshire West and Chester’s top 20 largest sectors in terms of employment numbers by 2-digit SIC code are included in the table below (rounded to the nearest 100). The table also indicates percentage of employment by each sector and comparison with the Cheshire and Warrington LEP area; the MDA area, North Wales and England and Wales.

Table 9: Cheshire West and Chester, Largest 20 Employment Sectors, Percentage Comparisons with Cheshire and Warrington LEP and MDA area; North Wales and England and Wales, 2011

Source: BRES 2011

Ind

ust

ry

Ch

esh

ire

We

st

and

Ch

est

er

Ch

esh

ire

We

st

and

Ch

est

er

%

Ch

esh

ire

an

d

War

rin

gto

n %

No

rth

We

st %

MD

A T

ota

l %

Engl

and

an

d

Wal

es

%

47 : Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles

17,500 11.88 10.66 10.38 15.18 10.23

85 : Education 14,500 9.84 7.54 9.00 13.23 9.55

86 : Human health activities 8,800 5.97 5.93 7.86 12.68 7.10

56 : Food and beverage service activities 8,700 5.91 5.30 5.16 6.88 5.35

64 : Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding

7,900 5.36 3.14 1.87 3.37 1.97

84 : Public administration and defence; compulsory social security

6,500 4.41 3.82 5.48 7.64 5.11

78 : Employment activities 5,300 3.60 3.96 2.53 4.17 3.08

46 : Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles

5,000 3.39 4.19 4.34 4.65 4.19

88 : Social work activities without accommodation 4,400 2.99 3.05 3.84 5.24 3.16

43 : Specialised construction activities 3,600 2.44 3.07 2.88 3.61 2.47

45 : Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

3,600 2.44 2.09 1.53 2.43 1.76

55 : Accommodation 3,200 2.17 1.49 1.64 2.22 1.45

70 : Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities

3,000 2.04 2.56 1.77 1.95 2.06

66 : Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance activities

2,900 1.97 1.42 1.17 1.35 1.59

87 : Residential care activities 2,900 1.97 2.44 2.77 4.10 2.64

10 : Manufacture of food products 2,800 1.90 1.51 1.70 3.68 1.26

20 : Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products

2,700 1.83 1.09 0.87 1.98 0.40

29 : Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers

2,600 1.77 1.54 0.52 1.53 0.50

69 : Legal and accounting activities 2,500 1.70 1.91 2.34 2.22 2.07

71 : Architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis

2,400 1.63 2.40 1.42 1.88 1.48

11

Leaving aside retail trade and public services which are typically labour-intensive industries, the key sectors for employment in Cheshire West and Chester are:

Financial service activities Specialised construction activities Activities of head offices Manufacture of food products Manufacture of motor vehicles Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products

4. 2 Cheshire West and Chester Sector Strength in Relation to National Position and Sub-Regional Position

Table 9 represents the proportion of each sector as compared to the equivalent percentage at the national level by using Location Quotients. Scores of over 1.00 indicate a relatively strong representation locally while scores of over 2.00 indicate that double the proportion of employees in Cheshire West and Chester work in the sector compared to the position in England and Wales. The table below highlights all those sectors with a score greater than 1.50: Table 10: Location Quotients for 2-Digit SIC codes for Cheshire West and Chester, 2011

Sector LQ

19/20* : Manufacture of coke/refined petroleum/chemical products 9.39 29 : Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers 3.53 64 : Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding 2.72 02 : Forestry and logging 2.35 08 : Other mining and quarrying 2.25 91 : Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities 2.10 23 : Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products 1.89 72: Scientific research and development 1.78 10 : Manufacture of food products 1.51 55 : Accommodation 1.50

Source: BRES, 2011 * Codes combined due to BRES suppression rules The employment associated with the manufacturer of coke/refined petroleum/chemicals and chemical products are almost 10 times that of the national average. In isolation, the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum sector employs less than 1,000 people and does not feature in the top 20 sectors for employment in the district. Its linkages with the manufacture of chemicals is possibly more valuable to the district in that chemical product manufacturing counts for over 2,500 jobs in Cheshire West and Chester. Both these indicators suggest comparative strengths for the area which are nationally significant.

Manufacture of motor vehicles is another case where the sector supports far more employment in Cheshire West and Chester than it does nationally (almost four times the average for England and Wales), and accounts for over 2,500 jobs and so is a large standalone employer for Cheshire West. However, the service sector is also strongly represented. Finance activity employs c8,000 people in Cheshire West and Chester which is nearly three times the average for England and Wales).

The following table shows how Cheshire West and Chester compares to the Cheshire and Warrington LEP in terms of total employment by selected sectors and the combined Location Quotient of the LEP (compared to England and Wales).

12

Table 11: Cheshire West and Chester and LEP Area, Key Sectors

Source: BRES, 2011 NA* - data suppressed due to confidentiality issues relating to the disclosure of key company data. In all cases employment is significant.

Ch

esh

ire

We

st

and

Ch

est

er

Ch

esh

ire

Eas

t

War

rin

gto

n

Tota

l Ch

esh

ire

and

War

rin

gto

n

LQ

Core Sectors 29 : Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers

2,600 NA* 0 6,600 3.07

64 : Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding

7,900 4,400 1,200 13,500 1.59

19/20: Manufacture of coke/refined petroleum/chemicals/chemical products

3,500 900 1,300 5,600 3.00

21: Manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations

100 NA* 0 NA* 3.39

72: Scientific research and development 1,200 4,100 200 5,400 2.75

71: Architectural and engineering activities, technical testing and analysis

2,400 2,800 5,100 10,300 1.62

Other Important Sectors 35: Electricity gas, steam and air conditioning supply

100 700 2,400 3,200 1.87

10 : Manufacture of food products 2,800 2,600 1,100 6,500 1.20

17: Manufacture of paper and paper products

200 1,000 100 1,300 1.54

13

The following table shows how Cheshire West and Chester compares to the MDA area in terms of total employment by selected sectors and the combined Location Quotient of the MDA area (compared to England and Wales). Table 12: Cheshire West and Chester, MDA Area, Key Sectors

Source: BRES, 2011 NA* - data suppressed due to confidentiality issues relating to the disclosure of key company data. In both cases employment is significant. 4.5 Manufacturing Employment

The data below on manufacturing employment (Broad Industrial Groups’, Manufacturing) is combined from BRES and ABI so as to indicate trends over a wider period of time. As both data sets have been amalgamated, it is important to note that there might be some slight discrepancies in 2008.

Table 13: Total Employment in Manufacturing, Broad Industrial Group, ABI and BRES Combined, 2002-2011

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

England 2,965,600 2,807,100 2,665,400 2,549,700 2,485,100 2,434,900 2,175,900 2,033,900 2,016,100 2,009,200

North West 448,600 431,500 415,500 384,700 377,800 373,400 331,100 330,000 298,400 323,300

Cheshire West and Chester

18,000 19,700 19,400 18,800 16,500 15,700 13,900 15,000 14,400 15,400

Chester 3,400 3,200 3,400 3,400 2,700 2,600 1,800 2,200 2,200 3,000

Ellesmere Port and Neston

8,900 10,000 9,500 8,700 7,400 6,800 6,200 6,600 6,400 5,600

Vale Royal 5,700 6,500 6,400 6,700 6,300 6,200 5,900 6,200 5,800 6,700

Source ABI and BRES

Key Sectors C

WA

C

Wir

ral

De

nb

igh

shir

e

Flin

tsh

ire

Wre

xham

MD

A T

ota

l

LQ

Core Sectors 19/20: Manufacture of coke/refined petroleum/chemicals/chemical products

3,500 1,300 100 1,600 200 6,700 5.98

29 : Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers

2,600 0 400 800 600 4,400 3.42

30 : Manufacture of other transport equipment

300 1,000 0 NA* NA* 8,100 6.42

17 : Manufacture of paper and paper products

200 100 0 1,400 300 2,000 3.95

10 : Manufacture of food products 2,800 2,600 300 2,800 2,100 10,600 3.27 Other Important Sectors 64 : Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding

7,900 700 400 400 300 9,700 1.91

14

Graph 3: Manufacturing, Employment Analysis; Index (Baseline – 2001 (100); Cheshire West and Chester, North West and England, ABI and BRES Combined, 2002 - 2011

Source: ABI and BRES

Graph 4: Manufacturing, Employment Analysis; Index (Baseline – 2001 (100; Cheshire West and Chester, Vale Royal, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Chester, ABI and BRES Combined, 2002 – 2011

Source: ABI and BRES

Cheshire West

and Chester

Chester

Ellesmere Port

and Neston

Vale Royal

Cheshire West

and Chester

England

North West

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

100

95

90

85

80

75

70

65

60

Nu

mb

er

in M

anu

fact

uri

ng-

Ind

ex

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

Nu

mb

er

in M

anu

fact

uri

ng-

Ind

ex

15

5. Business Demography Business Demography data is sourced from ONS Business Demography, 2011. The data is produced from an extract taken from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) recording the position of business units as at November of the reference year. For 2011 the data refers to March. A birth is identified as a business that was present in year‘t’, but did not exist in year ‘t-1’ or ‘t-2’. Births are identified by making comparison of annual active population files and identifying those present in the latest file, but not the two previous ones. Following a considerable fall in business-start up rates in 2008, the number business start-ups in Cheshire West and Chester in 2011 has risen, reflecting a trend seen both nationally and regionally. 5.1 Enterprise Births

Table 14: Enterprise Births, 2004 - 2011

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

England 248,450 241,410 225,120 246,700 236,345 209,035 207,520 232,460

North West 28,845 29,220 27,265 30,195 27,465 23,920 22,705 25,695

Cheshire West and Chester

1,300 1,490 1,430 1,650 1,375 1,180 1,160 1,350

Chester 525 635 645 700 580 520 535 570

Ellesmere Port and Neston

255 245 215 300 245 185 195 260

Vale Royal 520 610 570 650 550 475 430 520

Source: ONS 2011

Graph 5: Enterprise Births, Index (2004 Base Year = 100), England, North West, Cheshire West and Chester

Source: ONS 2011

Cheshire

West and

Chester

England

North West

Ente

rpri

se B

irth

s -

Ind

ex

200

5

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

140

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

16

Graph 6: Enterprise Births, (2004 Base Year = 100), Cheshire West and Chester, Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal

Source: ONS 2011 5. 2 Enterprise Deaths A death is defined as a business that was on the active file in year t, but was no longer present in the active file in t+1 and t+2. In order to provide an early estimate of deaths, adjustments are made by ONS to the 2010 and 2011 deaths to allow for reactivations. These figures are provisional and subject to revision. There has been a decline in the number of enterprise deaths over the last couple of years in Cheshire West and Chester, a reflection of a trend seen at both a national and regional level.

Table 15: Enterprise Deaths, Total Numbers, 2004-2011

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

England 215,995 202,210 182,800 199,300 196,695 247,150 219,920 202,365

North West 24,890 22,650 20,970 23,485 23,610 30,125 26,225 24,715

Chester West and Chester 1,165 1,115 935 1,175 1,075 1,470 1,210 1,190

Chester 495 435 380 505 465 665 550 510

Ellesmere Port and Neston 205 205 195 210 160 260 170 185

Vale Royal 465 475 360 460 450 545 490 495

Source: ONS 2011

Cheshire West

and Chester

Chester

Ellesmere Port

and Neston

Vale Royal

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Ente

rpri

se B

irth

s -

Ind

ex

140

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

17

Graph 7: Enterprise Deaths, Index (2004 Base Year = 100), Cheshire West and Chester, England and North West

Source: ONS 20101 Graph 8: Enterprise Deaths, Index (2004 Base Year = 100), Cheshire West and Chester, Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal

Source: ONS 2011

Cheshire West

and Chester

England

North West

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

Ente

rpri

se D

eat

hs-

Ind

ex

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

Cheshire West

and Chester

Chester

Ellesmere Port

and Neston

Vale Royal

200

5

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

201

0

201

1

140

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

Ente

rpri

se D

eat

hs-

Ind

ex

18

5.3 Business Survival A business is deemed to have survived if having been a birth in year t or having survived to year t; it is active in

terms of employment and/or turnover in any part of t+1. After a five period, 47% of businesses are still operating in Cheshire West and Chester compared to 45% for

the whole of England and 43% for the North West. Within Cheshire West itself, business survival rates are slightly higher in Ellesmere Port and Neston than the rest of the area.

Table 16: Business Survival Rates by Number of Years from 2006

1 Year 2 Years 3 Years 4 Years 5 Years % survival after 5 years

England 217,215 181,685 149,005 119,395 100,835 44.8

North West 27,265 26,335 21,845 17,775 14,025 43.0

Cheshire West and Chester 1,385 1,170 990 780 675 47.2

Chester 630 520 435 340 300 46.5

Ellesmere Port and Neston 205 170 150 120 105 48.8

Vale Royal 550 480 405 320 270 47.4

Source: ONS 2011

6. Self Employment It is important to note that the APS (Annual Population Survey) estimates of self-employment has a high

degree of sampling error on the estimates of self-employed people due to the small numbers and share of the self-employed pool of labour. However, the levels of self-employment do help to give an indication of the level of micro business activity.

Table 17: Numbers of Self-employed, aged 16-64, from October 2005 – September 2006 to October 2011–

September 2012

2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

England 3,001,200 3,045,300 3,061,800 3,029,000 3,102,100 3,128,000 3,296,500

North West 347,100 331,800 343,400 340,100 360,700 352,300 372,400

Cheshire West and Chester

14,300 16,700 17,500 15,100 17,400 14,400 13,700

Chester 6,000 6,400 8,600 7,800 8,100 5,100 3,900

Ellesmere Port and Neston

2,600 3,300 1,700 2,200 2,600 3,800 4,700

Vale Royal 5,700 7,000 7,200 5,200 6,800 5,400 5,000

Source: NOMIS, Annual Population Survey

19

Graph 9: Index of Self-employed, aged 16-64 (2004/05 Baseline – 100); Cheshire West and Chester, England and North West, October – September, 2004 - 2011

Source: NOMIS APS Graph 10: Index of Self Employed, aged 16-64 (2004/05 Baseline – 100); Cheshire West and Chester; Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal

Source: NOMIS APS

Cheshire West

and Chester

England

North West

20

05

/06

20

06

/07

20

07

/08

20

08

/09

20

09

/10

20

10

/11

20

11

/12

120

110

100

90

80

70

60 Nu

mb

ers

of

Self

Em

plo

yed

- In

dex

20

05

/06

20

06

/07

20

07

/08

20

08

/09

20

09

/10

20

10

/11

20

11

/12

Nu

mb

ers

of

Self

Em

plo

yed

- In

dex

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

Cheshire West

and Chester

Chester

Ellesmere Port

and Neston

Vale Royal

20

7. Wage Rates, Residents and Workplace Wages rates are taken from ONS and are based on annual gross pay. Cheshire West and Chester residents wage rates are higher than the average for the North West and just above those of England. Out-commuters from Cheshire West and Chester are likely to earn more than those working in the local authority area apart from those working in Ellesmere Port. Bar Chart 2: Annual Pay, Workplace and Residents, Cheshire West and Chester, Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal, 2012

Source: ONS 2012

Bar Chart 3: Annual Pay, Workplace and Residents, Cheshire West and Chester, England and North West, 2012

Source: ONS

Annual pay, workplace and residents

Workplace

Residents

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

0

%

Cheshire

West and

Chester

Chester Ellesmere

Port and

Neston

Vale

Royal

Annual pay, workplace and residents

Workplace

Residents

%

Cheshire

West and

Chester

England North West

27,50027,00026,50026,00025,50025,00024,50024,00023,50023,000

21

8. Claimant Count The graphs below are based on residence-based proportions. This is the official measure below national/regional level. It expresses the number of claimants as a percentage of the population aged 16-64, sourced from the mid-year population estimates (2011).

Table 18: Claimant Count, Total Claimants, Feb 2005 - 2013

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

England 716,174 812,210 812,547 705,185 1,217,446 1,370,285 1,253,469 1,386,368 1,318,870 North West 102,969 119,563 122,361 112,475 183,693 204,156 188,056 211,964 201,607

Cheshire West and Chester

2,864 4,027 4,018 3,683 6,827 7,255 6,783 7,465 6,955

Chester 990 1,296 1,249 1,132 2,154 2,278 2,148 2,392 2,082

Ellesmere Port and Neston

872 1,155 1,153 1,126 1,996 1,984 1,918 2,226 2,196

Vale Royal 1,002 1,576 1,616 1,425 2,677 2,993 2,717 2,847 2,677

Source: ONS

Graph 11: Claimant Count, Percentage of Resident Population 16-64, Feb 2003 – Feb 2013, Cheshire West and Chester, England and North West Source: ONS

Cheshire West

and Chester

England

North West

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

%

5.0

4.5

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

22

9. Educational Attainment GCSE results and A Level results in Cheshire West and Chester are slightly above national averages. Table 19: Cheshire West and Chester Local Authority and England Average, ‘A’ Levels, 2011/12 (revised)

Average point score per student

Average point score

per examination

entry

% achieving 2 or more A

Levels (or equivalent)

Cheshire West and Chester

745.4 208.1 94.3%

England - all schools and colleges

733.0 212.8 93.6%

England - state funded schools and colleges

714.3 209.3 93.1%

Source: Department for Education, Performance Tables, 2012 Table 20: Cheshire West and Chester Local Authority and England Average, GCSEs, 2012

% achieving 5+ A*-C GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and maths GCSEs

2012 2011 2010 Cheshire West and Chester

59.8% 59.5% 56.4%

England - all schools

59.4% 59.0% 53.5%

England - state funded schools only

59.0% 58.4% 55.3%

Source: Department for Education, Performance Tables, 2012 10. House Prices The average house price in Cheshire West and Chester is lower than the average for England and Wales but notably higher than for the North West as whole. Compared to February 2012, house prices in Cheshire West and Chester dropped by 3.5%. Table 21: Average House Price, Cheshire West and Chester; North West and England, Feb 2013

Average House Price Annual Percentage Change

Cheshire West and Chester

£148,662 -3.5%

North West £110,608 -0.6%

England and Wales £162,606 +1.0%

Source: Land Registry House Price Index, Feb 2013