Cheshire Business Growth Fueled By a Broad Range of Industries
The companies doing business in the Cheshire West and Chester area employed 150,000 people in 2007, with 80% employed in the service sector. Average gross income was around £30,000. Generally speaking, the socioeconomic indicators for Cheshire West and Chester are stronger than those of the North West and the country as a whole.
Businesses
For many businesses, Cheshire is synonymous with innovation and cutting-edge development and has a strong cross-section of industries that call the region home:
|
Companies |
Jobs |
Annual GVA |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Automotive |
60 |
9,000 |
£624m |
|
Biotech/Pharma |
50 |
8,500 |
£800m |
|
Chemicals |
95 |
6,000 |
£366m |
|
Creative Industries |
2,200 |
13,600 |
£650m |
|
Digital Industries |
2,000 |
5,700 |
£300m |
|
Environmental Technologies and Services |
240 |
6,000 |
N/A |
|
Financial Services |
900 |
16,300 |
£1.1bn |
|
Food and Drink |
2,000 |
24,000 |
£300m |
|
Tourism |
|
|
£800m |
Automotive
With annual GVA projected to increase to £783 million by 2015, the automotive industry in Cheshire has everything from large-scale operations manufacturing world famous luxury cars, to family-run specialist businesses. Over the last five years, Cheshire companies have invested £700 million in modernisation, research and development, and innovation, including £500 million by Bentley Motors to bring a new-generation state of the art facility and product range to Crewe.
Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals
The Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals sector is of key importance to Cheshire’s economy, with annual GVA projected to increase to £1.4 billion by 2015. Cheshire is home to long-established companies employing large numbers of people (e.g. AstraZeneca and Sanofi-Aventis); start-up businesses spun out from the North West’s world-leading Universities in Manchester and Liverpool; consultancy firms created mainly by ex-AstraZeneca staff; and a number of suppliers and support businesses which have grown up around the larger companies. Cheshire is home to AstraZeneca – which has not only one of the largest pharmaceutical Research and Development centres in the world, but the second largest manufacturing plant in Macclesfield.
Chemicals
As the birthplace of much of the UK’s chemical industry, and with a history of producing salt and alkalis stretching back more than 300 years, Cheshire’s chemical companies represent a range of types.
Creative Industries
Cheshire’s Creative Industries sector represents one of the fastest growing sectors in terms of activity and creative output and is a major contributor to the North West’s £7.5 billion GVA. With 4% of the workforce, the industry in Cheshire encompasses all of the key sub-sectors (advertising, architecture, crafts, design, designer fashion, film, digital and broadcast media, museums and heritage, music recording and distribution, performance publishing, visual arts and photography) and has a range of businesses from sole traders to larger companies and organisations.
Digital Industries
Cheshire is rapidly becoming a major location for ICT and digital companies, with the emerging high-tech corridor stretching east to west from Manchester to Liverpool running right through the county. With annual GVA of nearly £300 million projected to increase to £540 million by 2015, the sector has experienced significant growth both locally and regionally and is set to grow steadily. Cheshire is recognised as one of the major technologically advanced counties for information technology development in the North of England, attracting a number of the world’s leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies.
Environmental Technologies and Services
The Environmental Technologies and Services industry (ETS) in Cheshire is incredibly diverse, highly profitable and growing rapidly. With a strong commercial heritage and hundreds of years of industrial development, the County has an extensive economic, transport and skills infrastructure and a significant share of the UK ETS market. With companies operating in the fields of air pollution control, waste management and recycling, as well as environmental consultancy, energy management and low carbon technologies, the industry is able to capitalise on major market opportunities locally, nationally and internationally.
Financial Services
Financial Services and Call Centres have become an established and highly successful sector within Cheshire and have seen considerable growth over the last few years. With annual GVA of £1.1 billion projected to increase to £1.3 billion by 2015, Cheshire has been particularly successful in attracting financial services firms seeking a national or European base. MBNA Europe Bank Ltd, now part of Bank of America, set up its European headquarters in Chester more than a decade ago, as did Marks and Spencer Money, now part of HSBC.
Food and Drink
Cheshire is a diverse, dynamic and internationally recognised centre of excellence in food and drink production. The industry, which includes agricultural businesses and restaurants, encompasses everything from large scale operations manufacturing global brands such as Saxa salt, Weight Watchers pasta and sandwiches, Nestle’s Ski, Mars and Munch Bunch dairy products, to specialist businesses making traditional Cheshire cheese. Cheshire’s strong links with food and drink partners in other parts of the region also provides a valuable framework for expansion and diversification within the sector and has led to the development of the `Made in Cheshire’ initiative.
Tourism
Tourism has a vital role to play in the continuing economic success and development of both Cheshire and the North West region as a whole. It remains one of the fastest growing areas of the Cheshire economy with a total value worth over £800 million. A diverse range of visitor destinations attract tourists from across the UK and overseas.
