THE RDA MAGAZINEJAN 2005 ISSUE 05

315°

Enterprise questInspiring tomorrow’s

entrepreneurs

Farm to forkCelebrating the region’s

food heroes

Economic re-birthRegeneration the

Northern Way

Health tonicNew academy

boosts skills pool

Better than the Best Grand designs for

the Lake District

Chairm

an’sm

essage

315° Contacts

Trevor Batesemail@trevorbates.fsnet.co.uk

Editor

Emma Degg01925 400 100emma.degg@nwda.co.uk

NWDA

Bryan Gray

Chairman

The RES must continue to set out a clear andmeasurable vision for the region, and outlineclear policies to deliver the vision with the actionsrequired. It must continue to address the keyissues that affect our economic performance.

The RES we produce must be a strong evidencebased document that will inform future policiesand investment decisions. It should also makeclear how the actions we identify will impact oncompetitiveness, productivity and Gross ValueAdded across the region. It has the potential tomake a significant difference to the lives ofindividuals and communities across theNorthwest.

An Economic Analysis has been commissionedthat will provide the evidence base for theproduction of a draft RES that will be published inJune. We will lead a formal consultation betweenJuly and September. The final draft of the RES willbe submitted to the government in December.

The review process will be challenging, but it isvital that we all work hard to get it right. I wouldlike to wish you all a very Happy New Year andevery success in 2005.

Bryan GrayJanuary 2005

2005 will be an important and busy year for us all. The mostsignificant task we face is the review of the RegionalEconomic Strategy (RES). The strategy belongs to the region,not the NWDA, so it is important that you become involvedwhether you are from the private, public or voluntary sector.

6 Region woos youngentrepreneurs

8 Feeding a passion forregional food

9 Northwest Food Producerof the Year Awards

Cover imageClimbing is the best way toenjoy Lakeland scenery

4 The third degreeAlan Gilbert

Contents

6

12

18

12 Beacon of regenerationexcellence

14 Bathing watersboost image

15 North unites to sparkeconomic rebirth

16 Mines project securessalt town’s future

17 Urban renewal focus on central Salford

18 UCLan boosts graduatecareer prospects

20 Academy tonic forhealth recruitment

21 Overcoming thelanguage barrier

22 New drive to beattraffic congestion

24 Grand designs forthe Lake District

26 A winning formula27 Tourism awards

showcase quality

28 Whitehall despatches29 Event highlights30 Viewpoint 31 NWDA area offices

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22

4

Business Development

Regeneration

Skills & Employment

Image

Infrastructure

10 Cool tips forregion’s innovators

11 Northwest leads bestpractice league

Gilbert

4 5315° The Third Degree

On October 21 the Queen formally launched the new University of Manchester making it the first newuniversity to be established by Royal Charter in the 21st Century. As President and Vice-Chancellor,Professor Alan Gilbert will have responsibility for an organisation with over 36,000 students and9,000 staff. He will also lead the implementation of the Manchester 2015 Agenda, a strategy to makeManchester one of the world’s top research universities. He has a particularly successful track record in his native Australia of providing strong leadership to universities facing merger.

Alan

What are yourhopes and aspirations for the new University ofManchester in the next ten years?We want to be one of the top 25 research-intensive universities of theworld, a robust comprehensive institution of genuine world-classsignificance that informs its teaching and scholarship with high qualityresearch in all the key disciplines that are pushing forward theboundaries of human knowledge.

Where and how should Manchesterbrand itself in the educationalmarketplace?The most important thing a university does is to educate and train thenext generation of knowledge workers. If a university is tempted tobehave like a brand-led business as distinct from being business-like it ismaking a mistake. Whilst we see our main game as being to producewonderful people for industry we do have a secondary role of transferringknowledge and Intellectual Property into the wider economy.

What has been the response nationally and internationally to themerger?There’s general concern in the UKabout the overwhelming concentrationof wealth creation and key institutional drivers in the South East sothere’s been real excitement for the notion that it may be possible for theNorth, and in particular the Northwest, to create a genuine centre ofworld-class economic and cultural activity that can compete with theSouth East. I don’t think we could have counted on a betterwelcome.Lots of hope is being invested in the merger.

Has the mergerprocess thrown up any fresh ideas about the wayuniversities should operate in the 21st Century?The thing that attracted me here from half way across the world is thesheer uniqueness of the opportunity. Universities have been veryeffective at their educational functions but over the 900 years of theirexistence have become fairly conservative, inefficient institutions.The merger gives us a chance to re-conceptualise and redesign theuniversity for a new century.

A lot of our thinking has been about ways of structuring the university soit can deliver its goals more efficiently, so it can engage with industrymore effectively. Our IPpolicies, for example, offer our researchers verygenerous incentives to transfer more of their discoveries into theregional and national economy rather than them being lost to it.

The Manchester2015 Agenda envisages a large investmentprogramme. How will it benefit the regional economy?Over the next five years we have plans to spend £300 million on capitaldevelopment schemes. The money has been pledged from a variety ofsources including £50 million from our own resources and £35 millionfrom the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). Another£100 million will be invested in recruitment by 2015. We have justpublished an economic impact report showing that the universitygenerates £1.4 billion for the Northwest region every year. This shoulddouble to £2.8 billion over the next decade if the strategy issuccessful.

In yourFoundation Day address you expressed high hopes ofrecruiting some Nobel Laureates. When can we expect results?We see it as fairly important to get some early runs on the board and willregard it as a failure not to have at least three such people by the end of2007. I would also regard it as pretty unsatisfactory not to be able to makesome announcement in the next 12months. Attracting such peoplewould be a major symbolic expression of the confidence being investedin the university around the world.

In what areas of research and scientific discovery do you thinkManchesterwill be making its mark in the next decade?Nuclear science will be a major area of opportunity for us especially as alot of the focus of the £60 billion nucleardecommissioning programmewill be in the Northwest. We also see Manchester becoming one of themost important centres in the world for cancer research in the basicscience, translational science and clinical solutions. Many of thebreakthroughs now the human geome project is completed will come inapplying some of the computational techniques of the physical sciencesto the life sciences. We expect Jodrell Bank to remain an important icon ofprogress in astrophysics and theoretical physics. The university is also onthe brink of having the strongest sociology research cluster.

How can you balance Manchester’s soaring ambition to be one ofthe world’s top universities with a policy of increased access for theless privileged?I don’t see any conflict. Manchester will be fiercely meritocratic, ratherthan elitist and widening participation is a meritocratic agenda.That doesn’t mean we are going to take students who don’t have thepotential to fully benefit from what a university has to offer. We aregoing to invest resources and energy to lift the very poor participationrates in Higher Education in some parts of the Northwest, irrespectiveof whether students come here orgo elsewhere. We will do this throughscholarships, bursaries and engagement with the primary andsecondary school systems.

Universities are important stakeholders in regional economies. Howwould you define Manchester’s role in this context?The best thing Manchester can do for the region is to be a world-class,internationally focused institution bringing some of the best peopleand ideas into the Northwest. It’s not going to be a narrowly focusedregional institution. That’s the worst thing we could be and do for region.On the other hand we want to become a fully committed partner withother corporate and institutional interests in the Northwest to make thisone of the great dynamic cultural and economic areas of the world.

What are your impressions of the Northwest?It’s a stunningly beautiful part of the world and we have made it ourbusiness to see as much of the hinterland as we can. The weatherhas been a pleasant surprise. We have joined a golf club and know thatyou can play golf all year round. The region has all the ingredients forsuccess and it is absolutely vital that people don’t talk it down.

The merger gives us a chanceto re-conceptualise andredesign the university for a new century

Many of the events organised within the Northwest as part of thefirst national celebration of enterprise were aimed at people in the14-25 age group, the future backbone of the region’s prosperity.

The ‘catch them young’ philosophy was strongly evident in the‘Directors of Tomorrow’ conference at Manchester InternationalConvention Centre, chaired by Anthony Wilson, Founder of FactoryRecords, and attended by 500 youngsters from 40 schools,colleges and universities.

They were given shrewd insights into the pleasures and perils ofbeing your own boss by some of the region’s successfulentrepreneurs including Sharon Hilditch (Crystal Clear), James Reed(DryOnline), Ruth Turner (Vision 21), Dominic Apenteng (CircleClub) and Gary McClarnan (Potential Development).

There were plenty of tips on how to succeed. “If you continue toadapt, improve and re-invent your business, the competition can’tcatch up”, advised Tom Minton, Managing Director of Buddha Bag.

The event was sponsored by the Institute of Directors, ManchesterChamber of Commerce, Business Enterprise Xchange (BEX) and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), which co-ordinates a comprehensive programme of enterprise activitythroughout the year.

Delegates attending the BEX networking conference at the MICCwere captivated with tales of corporate derring-do from the likes

of Sir Tom Farmer, founder of Kwik Fit, and Charles Allen of ITV plc. The two-day event showcased a range of support for growing

businesses and featured an ‘Ideas Factory’ seminar stream thatprovided micro and start-up businesses with a 15-minute platformto sell their ideas to an audience of advisers and potential partners.

Enterprise Week caught the imagination of students, youngadults and advisory groups in all corners of the region and dozensof seminars, workshops, roadshows and competitions were heldto stimulate interest in enterprise and entrepreneurship as a careerand lifestyle option.

The NWDA is moving forward with a number of new initiatives to maintain the momentum created by Enterprise Week. The firstof these is a new website - www.enterprisenw.net - aimed atproviding Northwest schools and colleges with an online resourceto help teach enterprise to young people.

Developed by the University of Salford with £100,000 of Agencyfunding, the website was based on a design idea submitted byfour pupils at Reddish Vale Technology College, Stockport, winnersof the Northwest Schools Challenge.

In February the NWDA and the newly-formed National Councilfor Graduate Entrepreneurship (NCGE) will launch a ‘Flying Start’rally and competition at the City of Manchester Stadium to find theregion’s most promising graduate entrepreneurs.

Fifteen candidates will be chosen from 350 university students,postgraduates and alumni to join a one-to-one mentoringprogramme that will take their business concepts to a state of investment readiness.

If you continue to adapt, improve and re-invent your business, the competition can’t catch up

1 2 Cashing in on classroom creativity

Small companies are harnessing the inventiveness ofenterprise-minded Northwest schools to help with thesuccessful development of new products and processes.

Schools taking part in the pioneering young business initiativehave come up with bright ideas to cut textile waste, assist a foodentrepreneur launch a recipe book and help another companyenhance a laser game experience.

During the ICE2004 competition run by Bolton Institute aspart of the ACCOMPLICE programme, 172 pupils and teachersfrom 24 schools worked on challenging technology, science andengineering briefs prepared by 13 Small and Medium SizedEnterprises (SMEs).

The winning idea came from a combined team of Year 10students from Tarleton High School and Ormskirk High School.They worked with Bury-based Thomas French on a textile wasteproblem costing the firm thousands of pounds a year.

Managing Director Peter Owen said the team had generated aproduct idea that could reduce the company’s spending on landfillwhile improving the quality of life for people in need of shelterfollowing natural disasters. They are now actively pursuing this idea.

The ACCOMPLICE programme is receiving £600,000 of fundingsupport over three years from the NWDA and the EuropeanRegional Development Fund (ERDF).

Schools benefit, says Project Manager Tim Ward, becausestudents develop skills related to innovation and enterprise andwork with real companies.

“It’s not something teachers were contriving in the classroom.From the company’s point of view they get access to a lot ofcreative people who come up with problems that have stumpedthem. These ideas then create sales and jobs.”

The 2005 competition was launched with events in Kendal,Preston and Bolton leading to the regional final in April.

1 Hot tipsLearning the secretsof entrepreneurship

2 Master of ceremoniesAnthony Wilsonorchestrates theenterprise debate

3 Bright sparksSchools provide newinspiration forSMEs

3

Enterprise capitalBlackburn with Darwen has been chosen to carry the

banner of enterprise for the Northwest in a prestigiouscompetition launched by the Chancellor of theExchequer Gordon Brown.

The borough edged out Manchester, St. Helens andBolton to claim the title of ‘England’s Northwest Capital ofEnterprise’ and an award of £150,000 from the NorthwestRegional Development Agency (NWDA).

Blackburn will now bid for greater glory in the national finalof the UK Capital of Enterprise challenge in Spring whenthe Chancellor will announce the winner.

A panel of distinguished business leaders judged the fourregional finalists on a range of criteria for fostering enterprise.NWDA Chairman Bryan Gray said the winning authority had“developed an enterprise strategy that had delivered areal step change in performance over the past three years.”

6 7315°

Region woosyoung entrepreneursBusiness, schools, colleges and support agencies joined forcesduring Enterprise Week in a majorpush to inspire the region’s youngpeople to follow in the entrepreneurial footsteps ofRichard Bransonand James Dyson.

The two winners illustrated perfectly the diversity among therecord 325 entries in the recent fourth annual Northwest FoodProducer Awards.

And it’s not only the entry numbers that are rising. Nigel Haworth,chef patron at Lancashire’s Northcote Manor hotel and restaurant,and one of the judges, says: “This competition becomes more andmore difficult to judge as the standard gets higher each year.”

He believes that the region is now at the forefront of the Great BritishFood movement, creating “a growing passion for Northwest foodthroughout the country.”

He is not alone. The Northwest Fantastic Foods Partnershiphas seen an increase in recent years in the number of producers,in farmers’ markets, and in restaurants, cafes and local shopsacknowledging the value of describing their meals and produce aslocal. They estimate that the annual turnover of the quality andspeciality food sector in the Northwest is £1.4 million.

Lorna Tyson, Chair of the Partnership, says: “We want to celebrateboth our locally-grown food and our speciality foods. People wholive in the Northwest are now more concerned about the origin oftheir food and more aware of the distinctiveness we have in theregion. And visitors want to sample specialities unique to the area.”

A grouping of food support agencies, the Partnership was setup early in 2004 with funding of £2.4 million from the NorthwestRegional Development Agency (NWDA) to help make smallerproducers more competitive.

Sue Prickett’s blackcurrant jam can now be added to the list ofspecialities. Sue, voted Northwest Producer of the Year, makes jams,marmalades and chutneys in her farm kitchen at Kirkby Lonsdale,Cumbria on a cooker with space for just two jam pans.

She started making jam for her local Women’s Institute marketover 10 years ago and now sells at craft fairs, food festivals andthrough local shops.

“I really was surprised to hear my name as the overall winner,” shesays. “But it’s great to know that a small producercan win becausethe awards are such an important way of promoting local produce.”

Mark Steene, founder of Seasoned Pioneers of Liverpool, pickedup the ‘best ingredient’ award for the company’s authentic Moroccanspice blend, Ras-al-Hanout – ‘top-of-the-shop’ in Arabic. The judgesobviously agreed with chef Antony Worrall Thompson who chose theblend as his luxury item for his stay in an Australian jungle on TV’s‘I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here’.

Mark, who started the company five years ago, importsingredients from around the world, roasts the whole spices on site,from which he creates over 200 different seasonings, includingaround 50 organic varieties.

He supplies supermarkets, around 200 delicatessens, restaurantsand mail order customers from all over the world. “We have evensold our Sri Lankan curry blend to someone in Sri Lanka!” he says.

Organised by North West Fine Foods, the awards are sponsoredby Booths Supermarkets and supported by the NWDA and Defra.

Feeding a passion for regional foodBlackcurrant jam made by farmer’s wife Sue Prickett fromfruit grown locally in Cumbria and an authentic Moroccanspice blend created by Mark Steene’s Liverpool-basedcompany tickled the taste buds of judges choosing thisyear’s regional food heroes.

Other winnersBest beef and best sausage with additivesCumbrian Fellbred, Milnthorpe

Best overall sausage and pure pork sausageBowland Outdoor Reared Pork, Tatham, nr Carnforth

Best air dried meatAir dried mutton - Farmer Sharp, Lyndale in Furness

Best porkMiddle White pork - Savin Hill, Kendal

Best bacon & overall best cured meatBacon - Brough Butchers, Birkdale, Southport

Best cooked meat counter productHome cooked ham - Hartley’s Farm Foods,Nelson

Best poultryOstrich fillet - Weatheroak Ostrich Farm, Kirkham

Best savoury pie/pastryThe Quack Oink Pie - Furness Fish, Poultry and Game Supplies, Ulverston

Best black/offal puddingSavoury Dux - Border County Foods, Crosby in Eden, Carlisle

Best fishSmoked mackerel - Cumberland Cold Storage,Whitehaven

Best ready meal, sauce or soupMoussaka - Natural Larder, Congleton

Best fruit and vegAmbo potato - W & E.F. Neale, Burscough

Best cheese and overall best dairyWhitehaven Goats Cheese - Ravens Oak Dairy,Nantwich

Best bakery productGranarius Bread - Little Salkeld Watermill

Best ingredientRas-al-Hanout spice blend - Seasoned Pioneers,Liverpool

Best alcoholic drinkPendle Witch beer - Moorhouses Brewery,Burnley

Best soft drinkBlackcurrant and apple juice - Eddisbury Fruit Farm, Kelsall

Best overall dessertChocolate tart - The Baker, Gatley

Best ice creamCappuccino - English Lakes Ice Cream, Kendal

Ian Haythornthwaite has beenappointed Executive Director ofFinance and Corporate Resourcesfor the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency (NWDA). He was formerly Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University ofCentral Lancashire and hasextensive public sectormanagement experience...

The NWDA is to pilot a new AirServices Development Fund inthe Northwest. The schemewill operate by encouraginginvestment in the growth of new routes through the region’sairports thus improvingconnectivity to strategic long hauldestinations and European hubs...

Merseyside edged out strongEuropean competition to win a£115 million investment project tobuild a new six-speed automotivetransmission system. Backed bya £5 million Department of Tradeand Industry grant, the GETRAGFORD Transmissions facility atHalewood will safeguard 736 jobs...

TEChINVEST, the business angelintroduction and equity advisoryservice provided by the NWDA,has been named ‘Private InvestorNetwork of the Year’ in the InvestorAllstars Awards in Londonorganised by GP Capital andBusiness XL...

Wall Street is set to make itsmark in the region following theannouncement that The Bank ofNew York, America’s oldest bank,is to open an office in Manchester tosupport the growth of its operationsin the UK and Europe. The investmentin a major new office facility willcreate 350 jobs by 2006...

News

8 9315°

Sue Prickett, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria

Traditional regional speciality Cheshire unpasteurised cheese, H.S.Bourne, Malpas, Cheshire

Northwest Producer of the Year and Best preserve/pickle

For further information: www.nw-fine-foods.co.uk www.nwfantasticfoods.co.uk

10 11315°

During a one-hour televised broadcast, linked by satellite to 30events around the country, including four in the Northwest, two ofBritain’s most dynamic innovators recounted their experiences onthe sometimes rocky road to fame and fortune.

RestaurateurSimon Woodruffe, founder ofYO! (conveyor-belt sushibars and drinks dispensed by robots) expounded his philosophy of“constant and never-ending” innovation. “I’m always looking forrevolutionaries to try to do new things,” he told his audience.

He had one clear message for would-be entrepreneurs: “Be willingto fail. Only through failure is there a pathway to success.”Woodruffe who has been dubbed Britain’s ‘coolest’ entrepreneur isspreading the YO! brand into other areas of commercial activity.

Another key speaker at the event was Sir Christopher Evans ofMerlin Bioscience who has raised over £1 billion to supportinnovative bio-tech companies. He offered advice on how to createand grow companies.

His recipe? “Put your most charismatic person at the top and donot countenance failure.”

The Palm House provided a unique setting for the event.Completed in 1896, the Grade II octagonal glasshouse was refurbishedin 2000 with £2.5 million of Lottery funding and is now an iconicsymbol of Merseyside’s regeneration.

Hosted by the Northwest Regional Development Agency(NWDA) and introduced by BBC broadcaster Fiona Bruce, LivingInnovation is an annual event designed to promote and encourageinnovation in British business. It was the first time the region hadstaged the event.

NWDA Chairman Bryan Gray reminded guests that the Northwestneeded to generate £15 billion of additional economic activity a yearto close the prosperity gap with the rest of the UK.

“The only way to do that is to be commercially innovative so wewant to encourage people to bring forward ideas and commercialisethem. There is a huge treasure house of Intellectual Propertyin Northwest universities and the trick is to get it out and createnew businesses.”

One of the region’s link events was held at Bolton’s newTechnical Innovation Centre (TIC), a hands-on facility that aims topromote technology as a career option among school children.

TIC Director Paul Abbott told the nationwide audience via the livesatellite link of the “enormous potential” in every child, warning that“we face tremendous decline as a nation if we don’t do something tostimulate more interesting science and technology.”

After the broadcast the key speakers joined award winning socialentrepreneur Ruth Turner in a lively question and answer sessionwith members of the Palm House audience. Ruth had oneinteresting tip for business fledglings: “Be prepared to take onpeople who will scare the life out of you...”

Jenny Auton of Macclesfield, won the national Award forInnovation in the 2004Year in Industry/EEF ‘Contribution to theBusiness’ competition for gap year work she had undertaken at Colgate-Palmolive’s Salford plant.

The measure of the region’s performance was revealed in new figures showing the take-up rate of anew diagnostic and benchmarking product introduced by the Department of Trade and Industry(DTI).

In the first six months of the scheme’s operation the Northwest Business Links Service delivered thebest practice product to a quarter of their target market, the highest penetration rate in the country(the English average was 13.6 per cent).

The new product - Support to Implement Best Business Practice (SIBBP) - was introduced in April2004 as another weapon in the government’s drive to improve productivity in the all-important Smalland Medium Sized Enterprises (SME) sector.

The Northwest has received £500,000 of DTI funding to undertake 1,060 diagnostics and by September2004 the region’s Business Links Service had completed 252.

Led by Business Skills Northwest, the skills and productivity arm of the Northwest Regional DevelopmentAgency (NWDA), the service is provided through five contracted organisations, one for each sub-region.

The Business Link service in Cheshire and Warrington was the best performing in the country havingworked with 130 local companies out of a contract figure of 160. Three other Northwest providers(Cumbria, East Lancashire and North & Western Lancashire) were also among the top 11 performers.

Hilary Centeleghe, a business adviser with Cheshire and Warrington, describes SIBBP as a goodvehicle for introducing change. “It shows where a company is in the marketplace and what it needs tofocus on to improve its position.”

Her work with Warrington-based X-Press Legal Services, a family owned company providing aspecialist conveyancing service for lawyers, highlights the benefits that can be gained from using thenew diagnostic and benchmarking process.

A two-year old start-up managed initially by mother and son team Lynne and Christian Lister (theyhave since been joined by father Dave, son Russell and daughter Hannah) the company grew rapidly to14 employees and needed professional guidance on a future growth strategy.

Since embarking on the SIBBP process X-Press has seen a 15% increase in turnover, with nine newcontracts, more staff, better workforce development, a succession plan, two new product areas andbetter marketing imagery.

“They had been doing very well but working all hours, getting tired and stressed, “ explains Hilary.“What they needed was for someone to put things in order for them. They took everything on boardand just got on with it.”

Business Skills Northwest has recently funded the training of an additional 80 business advisersto cope with increasing demand for the diagnostic tool. Early evaluation suggests very high customersatisfaction rates of around 95%.

For further information: www.dti.gov.uk/implementbestpractice

Northwest entrepreneurs were given some inspirational tips onhow to succeed in business when the region hosted theDepartment ofTrade and Industry’s premier innovation event atthe Palm House in Liverpool’s Sefton Park.

The Business Links Service in the Northwestis proving nearly twice as effective as otherregions at guiding small and medium sizedemployers down the road to best practice.

Cool tips for region’s innovators

Northwest leadsbest practice league

The NWDA welcomed four newBoard members in December.They are property developer DavidBrockbank, John Moverley, ChiefExecutive and Principal of Myerscough College, Cumbriabusinessman Peter Hensman and John Merry, Labour Leaderof Salford City Council...

Recent data from HM CustomsStatistics shows the Northwest has overtaken the South East asthe UK’s leading exporter ofpharmaceuticals. In 2003 theregion exported goods worth£3.4 billion. It also leads onbalance of trade, with figuresnearly double the next bestregion, the North East...

INTERCYTEX won the ‘Companyof the Year’ accolade in theNorthwest Biotechnology Awards,hosted by Bionow. Dr Kevin Scottof Senxsis was named YoungBiotechnologist of the Year whilehis company received the Start-Upaward. Agri-Biotech collected theProject of the Year award...

Lancaster University isspearheading a 24-centre Europe-wide research project into methodsof building micro and nano scalecomponents into commercialproducts. The NWDA has helpedsecure £4.5 million of EU fundingfor the four-year programme...

News

Put your most charismatic person at thetop and do not countenance failure

1 1 Innovation championNWDA ChairmanBryan Gray

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12 13315°

Beacon ofregeneration excellence

A major new initiative isunderway to inject more quality design,

professional skill, innovation andforesight into the region’s multi-billion

pound regeneration industry.

One of the prime aims of RENEW will be to turn the Northwestinto an international beacon of excellence in the planning and practicaldelivery of urban and rural renewal.

RENEW will draw together the skills, best practice, knowledgeand experience of hundreds of organisations and regenerationprofessionals active in the Northwest.

The concept of regional centres of regeneration excellence wasfirst identified in the seminal report of the Urban Task Force, chairedby the architect peerLord Rogers. It gained more impetus when thegovernment published the Sustainable Communities Plan in early 2003.

The idea finally got off the ground in the Northwest in 2004 when theNorthwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) pledged £3 millionof funding for RENEW over five years and appointed Phil Barton as itsDirector.

The organisation will have its formal launch at the first evergovernment-sponsored Delivering Sustainable Communities Summitto be held Manchester’s GMEX Centre on January 31-February 2.Up to 2,000 delegates from the UK and overseas are expected toattend, including a number of world experts on regeneration.

RENEWis based in the Tea Factory, Liverpool, where it is convenientlyco-located with the Royal Institute of British Architects, CABE andthe Arts Council, organisations at the heart of the regenerationprocess.

Barton says his aim is to add value and help employers andprofessionals improve on regional competences in regeneration.He came to the region in 1979 to work for Manchester City Counciland has since built a wide portfolio of practical experience inenvironmental and community regeneration.

“I’ve always been frustrated by the fact that so much regenerationactivity is done in separate silos with different professions andorganisations not working together effectively. That leads to serialfailure because only parts of the job get done.”

RENEW will work with all those who have a key role to play in therenewal process, he says. Research suggests there are about 15,000people actively engaged in regeneration within the region.

Barton, who set up the National Centre for Business Ecology inSalford in1995 (now known as the National Centre of Business andSustainability), inherits four major strands of activity.

His most important priority is working with partners and employersto drive up the collective skills of the regeneration professions. In arecent report to the Office of the Deputy Prime MinisterSir John Eganidentified over 100 professions that are needed to deliver an effectivesustainable community.

“We need to focus on improving core skills, things like leadership,project management, partnership working and conflict management.”

Promoting and spreading good practice is another strong item onRENEW’s agenda. It has already taken over the NWDA’sRegeneration Masterclass programme and has identified a numberof case studies of regeneration excellence for showcasing at theManchester summit.

RENEWwill not set quality standards, insists Barton, but it will identifythose qualities of excellence it would like to see in regenerationprojects. “What we don’t want to do is set people up to fail,” heexplains. “Ouraim is to spread good practice and promote learning”.

Two other key areas of activity will be knowledge management -using RENEW as a networking and support information conduit viaan interactive website - and foresight and innovation to make theregion better prepared to meet future regeneration challenges.

RENEW hopes to enlist higher education institutions to shape newpractitioner learning and training programmes. A survey by the NorthWest Universities Association has revealed that universities andcolleges currently offer over 100 relevant courses.

Well-designed and executedrenewal projects can be asource of community pride.That’s the case in Liverpoolwhere local people offeredconstructive suggestions onhow to provide an attractivegateway into the city’scommercial quarter.

Community consultation wasan important factor in designinga series of inter-connectingplazas and streets betweenPrinces Dock and the eastboundLeeds-Liverpool Canal.

Commissioned by theBeetham Organisation, the‘Liverpool - Threshold to

the Ends of the Earth’ projectdeployed an art and architecturesolution to assimilate the newPassport Office, RadissonHotel and Tower apartmentsinto the fabric of the city.

The £1.5 millioncontemporary scheme, whichprovides pedestrians withshelter, plugs into the city’sstrong tradition as a gatewayfrom and to the rest of theworld. The partners includedLiverpool City Council,Liverpool Vision, Carillion,Broadbent Artworks, BCALandscape and Smiling WolfMulti-Media.

Poster and websitecampaigns, supported byinterviews, resulted in over 25different ethnic cultures beingphysically represented in theartwork - a positive celebrationof Liverpool’s diversity.

RENEW’s Phil Barton hailsthe contribution made by thedesign team. “They took achallenging brief and developedit not only to reflect the cultureand heritage of that part ofLiverpool, but also to engagediverse communities originatingfrom around the world.”

Gateway scheme celebrates diversity

What we don’t want to do is set people upto fail. Our aim is to spread good practiceand promote learning

1 Liverpool waterfrontGateway to the world

Plans to boost prosperity to the level enjoyed by the UK’s more affluent areas were outlined in agrowth strategy Moving Forward: the Northern Way, launched by the Deputy Prime Minister JohnPrescott in September.

Manchester, Liverpool and Central Lancashire will play pivotal roles with five city regions across thePennines in driving forward the 20-year vision. A new £100 million growth fund will be used to maximisethe impact of £7 billion of public investment already earmarked for the North.

The Northern Way is the culmination of six months of detailed work by the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency (NWDA), Yorkshire Forward, One NorthEast and other partners to identifymeasures that would trigger a step-change in the North’s competitive performance.

The RDAs have set clear targets on how to achieve a turnaround. They want to see 100,000 peopleon incapacity benefit brought into work by 2014, the rate of business start-ups raised from 30 to 33 per10,000 by 2008, a 25% increase in Research and Development spending by 2010 and moretonnage through Northern ports (up from 32 to 35% of the national total by 2010).

The NWDA, whose regional remit takes nearly half of the North’s 14 million population, will lead oneconomic inclusion, the knowledge base, employer skill needs and the Northern Leadership Academy,a new facility to be based in the Northwest.

“This is not just about social justice,“ explains Nick Gerrard, NWDA Head of Policy andPerformance, “it’s also about providing an economic counterweight to the South East, which is verymuch in the national interest.”

He sits on the Northern Way Task Group and co-ordinates the Agency’s input into the process.The objectives of Northern Way, he stresses, are to add value to existing RDA activities, and developthe North’s asset base.

A progress report will go to John Prescott at the Sustainable Communities Summit in Manchester inJanuary. It is expected to contain a business plan and a full costing of early priorities. The Northern Waydimension will also feature in the next review of the three regional economic and spatial strategies.

The three RDAs will use 2005 to lobby for a higher level of public investment in the North from thegovernment’s 2006 Spending Review.

Transport will be a key issue. Priorities for investment will include schemes that are relevant to thegrowth of Manchester Airport and the port zones (Mersey, Humber/Hull and Tees).

The Northern Way builds on successful collaboration by the RDAs on cluster development andoverseas investment marketing. “This new vision takes the economic agenda up to a much higherlevel to include a whole spectrum of economic activity”, adds Nick Gerrard.

14 15315°

There has never been a better time to be beside the seaside in theNorthwest, according to the Environment Agency.For the region’s ‘beachboys’ have scored a majorhit with a massiveinvestment programme in the quality of its bathing water.

Today 36 out of 37bathing waters in the Northwest have reachedEuropean Standards and 14 beaches are included in the 2004 GoodBeach Guide, compared with just two in 2003.

The next step is to persuade those Northwest local authorities thathave reached the highest European standards to apply for thecoveted Blue Flag, awarded to resorts that maintain immaculateclean sands and seawater which complies with Europeanstandards and offer lifesaving equipment and the best facilities.

The improved bathing waters and beaches are as a result ofinvestment by local authorities, United Utilities - particularly in improvingcoastal sewage treatment plants - and the Environment Agency,which is responsible for directing investment and for projects thatcontribute to the improvements.

The Agency is also lead partner in a three-year transnationalproject, Inland Coastal Recreational Waters (ICREW), part funded bythe Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA).

The project, which aims to improve the region’s image throughbetter bathing water designation and recreational water quality,involves domestic and international partners including the NWDA,Mersey Basin Campaign and Preston and Blackpool local authorities.

Launched in October 2003, the project - comprising seven pilotactions - offers a significant opportunity to raise the profile of the bestinland and coastal waters. In turn this will improve the image andreputation of Northwest beaches and attract tourists, helping todeliver one of the priorities of the NWDA’s Regional EconomicStrategy (RES).

One of ICREW’s pilot actions involves the examination of thecurrent status of existing recreational waters and the identification ofpotential new ones.

Kate Oates, ICREW project officer, says: “Within the Northwestthere are both coastline and inland waters which are well used andothers that are designated for recreation, yet are hardly used at all.We want to assess them and decide which can offer good waterquality, safe access and other facilities.”

Preston Dock in Lancashire, badly affected by a build up of blue-greenalgae - acknowledged as an unsightly problem affecting both businessand tourism in the city - is being used as a case study in the UK.

ICREWhopes to find a solution to minimise or stop the algae growth,leading to an enhanced recreational use for the marina and possiblefurther economic regeneration of the area, another priority in the RES.

Another pilot action is looking at the impact of diffuse agriculturalpollution on bathing water quality, advising businesses on sustainablefarming practices to reduce the amount of waste entering watercourses.

Environmental improvements are a key part of United Utilities’£3 billion investment between 2000 and 2005, the largest programmeof its kind in the country.

For further information: www.icrew.info

Bathing waters boost image

Manchester’s landmark 400-fthigh CIS service tower is to be re-clad with photovoltaic panels toincrease the company’s commitmentto renewable energy supplies.Supported by a £885,000 NWDAgrant, the £5.5 million projectwill create Europe’s largestvertical array of solar panels...

Communities in the region’sformer coalfield areas are set tobenefit from a new £5 millionregeneration package announcedby the NWDA. The money will beused to create employment andlearning opportunities in 48deprived wards and reclaim 25hectares of brownfield land, some ofit for woodland...

Plans have been unveiled for a£27 million transformation ofWarrington Collegiate’s WinwickRoad campus. Funded largely bythe College with help from theNWDA and other organisations,the development will include a£3.5 million Business School and amajor construction skills centre. Itis due for completion in April 2006...

Cumbria County Council is tospend £6 million of NWDA fundingon a second stage scheme toreclaim 136 hectares of derelictland. The programme will help torecreate wildlife areas, communityparks and woodland as well asnew cycle ways and footpaths...

Morecambe’s Grade II listedMidland Hotel is to be redevelopedas part of a wider plan toregenerate the resort’s centralseafront area. Funded with £4 million from the NWDA, therestored hotel is expected to add£1.2 million a year to the localeconomy...

NewsNorth unites to sparkeconomic rebirthEight city regions, three in the Northwest, are tospearhead a bold new attempt by the governmentand the three Northern Regional DevelopmentAgencies (RDAs) to close the £29 billion productivitygap between the North and the rest of the country.

100,000 people on incapacity benefit brought into work by 2014

1

16 17315°

Winners of a hotly contested design competition, LocumDestination Consulting will work with businesses and localcommunities to shape the commercial and residential heart ofSalford into a dynamic western gateway to the regional centre.

The successful consortium brings together leading Italianarchitect Massimiliano Fuksas, Canadian regeneration guru JoeBerridge and economist Professor Stuart Gulliver, who played a keyrole in the successful transformation of Glasgow.

The appointment coincides with the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency’s decision to seek approval for a new urbanregeneration company (URC) to co-ordinate the renewal process.Funding partners would include the NWDA, Salford City Counciland English Partnerships.

A shadow Board is in place led by former BBC presenter FelicityGoodey. The recruitment process for the full Board and ChiefExecutive is underway. The designated URC area will cover eightwards of central Salford, an area of 2,100 hectares where crime,unemployment and low housing demand are key issues.

Over 8,000 people have migrated out of the target area since1991 and Salford is now the focus of a Housing Market Renewalprogramme which will pump £48 million into the city to reversethat drift. One aim is to create smart new family housing to improvethe social mix of people in and around the central core.

It will be the first time Massimiliano Fuksas has worked in theUK. His clients include iconic design names like Ferrari andArmani. “To get results, not only do we have to know the localcommunity,” he explained, “we also have to love the local people.”

Helen France, NWDA Executive Director of Development andPartnerships, says the purpose of the Locum masterplan will beto guide the URC’s own investment programme and the“substantial private investment that is expected to flow into the area.”

A plan detailing priorities for investment will be presented to theNWDA board in June 2005. “A URC will add value to Manchestercity centre and we hope at the same time it can establish a moreindependent identity for Salford,” she explains.

With more development opportunities on offer, Central Salford isattracting growing developer interest particularly along theriverside and the Chapel Street corridor, which is home to a numberof creative and media businesses.

Salford’s two railway stations - Central and the Crescent - havealso been identified as new investment hubs. Planners are also keento exploit the learning and enterprise potential of the University ofSalford, which is strategically positioned in the proposed URC area.

Councillor John Merry, Leader of Salford City Council, believesthe new regeneration company will “place more emphasis oncoordination of existing programmes rather than seeking big newinvestment from public partners.”

For further information: www.centralsalford.com

Urban renewal focuson Central Salford

The catalyst for change is a£32 million English Partnerships-funded programme to stabilisefour abandoned salt minesbeneath the town. Due forcompletion in 2007, the highlytechnical project will unlock 30hectares (75 acres) of primedevelopment land within thecommercial core.

In 2003 seven organisationsincluding the NorthwestRegional Development Agency(NWDA), Cheshire CountyCouncil and Vale RoyalBorough Council forged analliance under the banner ofNorthwich Vision to capitaliseon the new opportunities, andin October 2004 laid out theirideas in an innovativeregeneration framework.

The venture reached animportant milestone in October2004 when the partners beganthe public process of findingan experienced developer foran eight-hectare (20 acre) site

at Baron’s Quay. By the timethe offer closed there had been40 expressions of interest.

Andy Evans, Head ofEconomic Regeneration at ValeRoyal, insists that without thestabilisation programme theplans could not have goneahead. “The mines legacy hasconstrained the town’s growth.It’s why Northwich has creptalong instead of leapt along.

“But we now have a brilliantregeneration canvas to workwith which is attracting a greatdeal of interest fromdevelopers and end users.”

Rock salt has been mined inthe area for 400 years butended in the town in 1922.Engineers are now preparing toflush out brine from theabandoned mines and pumpin a solidifying mixture ofpulverised fuel ash, cementand salt.

Chris Koral, Area Manager ofthe NWDA’s Cheshire Office,

says the stabilisationprogramme should remove therisk of further subsidence fromeroding salt pillars within themines, preparing the way forprivate sector investment. TheAgency has committed£3 million towards enhancingthe Northwich CommunityWoodlands area to the northof the town centre, improvingaccess and reclaimingderelict land.

Vale Royal will be workingwith other partners, includingBritish Waterways, to re-develop four other key sites.Together with Baron’s Quaythey are expected to providean additional 21,700 sq metres(200,000 sq ft) of retail spaceand 1000 new homes.

Endowed with an attractiveheritage of black and white‘magpie’ buildings and frontageson two rivers (Weaver andDane) Northwich (population44,700) is located at the heart

of one of the UK’s wealthiestareas.

The first scheme launchedunder the Northwich Visionbanner is the £500,000transformation of the town’sVictorian railway stationbuilding into a new community-learning centre.

Other projects include ashowpiece cultural centrehousing a conference facility,library, gallery, museum andvisitor centre and a newlydesigned market square. Most ofthe proposed development landis currently used as car parks.

Also on the agenda is a thirdriver crossing to increase roadaccess to the town centre andthere are plans for water bornetransport to provide a tourist linkwith the restored AndertonBoat Lift.

For further information:www.valeroyal.gov.uk

Mines project securessalt town’s future

Afteryears of restricted growth, a legacy of its industrialpast, Northwich has embarked on an ambitious ten-yearperiod of retail and residential driven regeneration that willbreathe new economic vitality into the historic salt town.

Salford has staked its claim tobe a regeneration pacesetterby appointing a team ofacclaimed internationalplanners to produce anambitious 20-year masterplanto transform the economic,cultural and social characterof the central area.

1 Northwich libraryA town rich in heritage

Salford Quays skyline

1

Providing access to higher education irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity and income is etcheddeeply in the UCLan psyche. So too is the pursuit of excellence. “We do not sacrifice excellencefor access,” insists Vice-Chancellor Malcolm McVicar, “it would be a betrayal to do otherwise.”

He’s equally bullish about UCLan’s record on preparing graduates for life in a fast-changinglabour market. “We are very focused on giving our students and customers a competitive edgein terms of employability.”

All courses have an employability strand built into them. The university is also unique in having a dedicated Centre for Employability, which works with course teams to develop and deliverspecially tailored modules through the teaching programmes.

Centre Head David Bagley defines employability as having a set of skills and attributes which gives students choice in the labour market - virtues like team working, presentation andcommunication. “We are not looking at it from the employer’s point of view,” he says. “We aretrying to help people cope much better in the labour market.”

The unit also offers its own modules covering such areas as career planning and starting abusiness. The latter module is becoming increasingly popular and there are over 200 studentstaking it across a range of courses.

The Vice-Chancellor says the university has “a very high employment record” and claims themajority of graduates tend to stay in the Northwest. Of the 35,000 students enrolled on UCLan’s430 teaching programmes, 16,000 are already in work and studying part-time to acquire skills and qualifications that will advance their careers.

UCLan has a 176 year-old pedigree of preparing students for the world of work from its earlydays as the Institute for the Diffusion of Knowledge and through its evolution as Harris Collegeand Preston Polytechnic (1980).

Now one of the biggest universities in England, UCLan is a major provider of higher educationin both Lancashire and Cumbria, where it recently acquired Northumbria University’s Carlislecampus to add to its main campus in Preston and a smaller one in Penrith. Over 4,000 of itsstudents study in partner colleges.

The university’s economic impact on business and local communities cannot be overstated.With 2,500 staff it is one of the biggest employers in Preston and, together with the studentspend, contributes £250 million a year into the local economy.

UCLan is expected to play a pivotal role in unlocking the potential of Central Lancashire, one ofeight ‘City Region’ growth nodes identified in The Northern Way Growth Strategy, an action plan toeliminate the prosperity gap between the North of England and the rest of the UK.

Senior university figures already provide expertise and leadership on a number of regional bodies.Malcolm McVicar currently chairs the North West Universities Association and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Alan Roff chairs both the Lancashire West Partnership and Preston Strategic Partnership.

The university is preparing for future expansion by investing in a number of new facilities. Thisyear (2005) will see the completion of a new Students’ Union building, a £10 million Scienceblock and a £9 million Health building.

Health is an important specialism with many of the 3,500 students under training in the facultydestined for careers as nurses, midwives and paramedics. UCLan is also a leading research centrefor stroke and the delivery of health care to ethnic groups.

It is also a pacesetter in other research areas boasting centres of excellence in fields as diverse as fire and explosion studies, waste management, regional economic development and applieddigital signal and image processing.

Researchers are also doing a lot of work on non-destructive materials testing for the aerospaceindustry developing techniques that could have important applications in health care. “The crossfertilisation between one industry and another is a very interesting aspect of the work,” explains theVice-Chancellor.

For further information: www.uclan.ac.uk

18 19315°

Universities and theNorthwest RegionalDevelopment Agency(NWDA) have agreed toestablish closer links toaccelerate the drive forgreater regional prosperity.

The move towards greatercollaboration was formalised in September when NWDAChief Executive StevenBroomhead and MalcolmMcVicar, Chair of the NorthWest Universities Association(NWUA), signed a ‘Memorandumof Understanding’.

The MoU joins two separateaction plans into a singleregional strategic framework,thus establishing a structurefor future joint working and clarifying roles andresponsibilities between theNWDA and the NWUA.

One of the outcomes will begreater co-operation betweenthe region’s higher educationinstitutions (HEIs) and Smalland Medium SizedEnterprises (SMEs) throughthe delivery of a regionalaction plan for the NorthwestObjective 2 ERDF programme.

The NWDA is already amajor funding partner in anumber of flagship campusprojects with high economicpotential. One of the latest isthe £2.5 million CallNorthwestinitiative at UCLan which aimsto raise managerial andprofessional skill levels in thecall centre industry. The newcentre is the only one of itskind in the UK.

Malcolm McVicar, UCLan’sVice-Chancellor, stresses thevalue of call centres to theeconomy. “The view is that call centres can only survivein the UK if they offer highvalue, quality skills andspecialisms. The new centre is one of the mechanisms wehope will help secure theindustry’s future.”

New eraof partnershipUCLan boosts

graduate careerprospects

Two key principles underpin the activities of the University of Central Lancashire - accessand employability. These twodimensions of opportunity and career readiness single out the university as a notablecontributor to regional prosperity.

Tunnel visionDesign student LauraRamsden with her‘tunnel of thought’display stand

1 Peep showAstronomy studentsfollow the ‘transit ofVenus’event

20 21315°

Academy tonic for health recruitmentHigh Street ‘shops’offering advice and guidance on careers in thehealth service - similar to those staffed by the armed forces - couldhelp the NHS in the Northwest to tackle recruitment on a region wide scale.

Overcoming thelanguage barrier

The Regional Language Network has launcheda new course aimed at addressing a seriousshortage of interpreters in the health sector.

Students on the year-long course, principally funded by theNorthwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), who alreadyhave a sound working knowledge of English and anotherlanguage, are working towards the Diploma in Public ServiceInterpreting.

Dr Christine Sousa, manager of the Network says: “The shortageof nationally registered interpreters available to work in the healthsector is extremely worrying.”

“In the Northwest there are currently only 147 and many minoritylanguages are not represented at all. This means that a non-Englishspeaker in hospital could potentially struggle to communicate withthe medical team - a huge risk in an emergency situation.”

The 17 students on the first course, which began in October andincludes some from refugee communities, speak a variety oflanguages including Arabic, Turkish, Hindi and French.

Fran Hulbert, Director of the NWDA Skills Policy Group, says:“Encouraging people with language skills to take up positions in thehealth service is essential and this Diploma offers an excellent trainingdevelopment opportunity which will go a long way towards ensuringimproved access to health services for the whole community.”

That is the vision of Elaine Bowker, Executive Director of theGreater Merseyside Learning and Skills Council (LSC), who is alreadyboosting recruitment via the innovative NHS Academy.

The ‘virtual’ Academy, whose small team of staff work closelywith mainly hospital trusts in the Merseyside area, offers pre-employment training for careers in the NHS to the under 25s.

Young people who would normally be excluded from NHS careersbecause of their lack of qualifications, follow Modern Apprenticeshipprogrammes eventually leading to a wide variety of job opportunitiesin the health and social care sector or to further education.

“The Academy operates on a brokerage model,” says Elaine.“We work with hospital trusts to decide what is needed, and thenwith colleges who can provide the appropriate training in a veryflexible way.”

Already more than 500 students have joined the cadetprogramme on courses linked to careers in nursing, social careand as paramedics.

Carol Sutton, Director of HR and Workforce Strategy for theCheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority, says: “Wehope the Academy will contribute significantly to preparing for ourworkforce of the future, ensuring that we have adequatenumbers of well-trained applicants for jobs and professional training.”

Another strand of the Academy, still in the early stages ofdevelopment, is for a one-stop-shop approach to NHSrecruitment advice.

“It's my vision to have a shop on the High Street of everyborough, just as the Army has done in the past, which can providerecruitment guidance,” says Elaine, Chair of the Northwest Healthand Social Care Skills & Productivity Alliance.

The Alliance, one of 19 established by Business Skills Northwest,the skills and business support arm of the Northwest RegionalDevelopment Agency (NWDA), was set up with partners fromacross the region and from the regional representatives of keynational bodies, to co-ordinate the many and diverse activitieswithin the health and social care sector.

They encompass key strategic and funding partners includingthe NWDA, Learning & Skills Council, Business Link, Sector SkillsCouncil, Jobcentre Plus, The NHS University (NHSU), StrategicHealth Authorities and other key employer groups.

An action plan, produced in April 2004, established skillspriorities and an action programme. At present skills gaps varyacross the Northwest. Cumbria and Lancashire, a huge sub-regionwithout a medical school, is addressing the problem of recruitingconsultants and GPs by using specialist registrars and GPs in theirfinal year of training, allocated from the Department of Health.

Cheshire and Merseyside’s strong international recruitment teamhas brought over nurses from Spain and India, doctors from Spainand Poland and dentists from Poland.

The Northwest’s three Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) areresponsible for the health of a population of around 6.8 millionpeople. Cumbria and Lancashire is one of the UK’s largest SHAsgeographically, an area covered by 13 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)and ten acute, mental health and ambulance trusts. Cheshire andMerseyside has 15 PCTs, and 18 other trusts and Greater Manchesterhas 14 PCTs and 14 acute trusts.

The NWDA has funded production of the action plan and isworking with key partners at a strategic level to deal with issues suchas matching skill requirements with Further Education provision.

FactfileThere are nearly 350,000 people working in the healthand social care sector, according to a study by EKOSConsulting. Twenty professions provide 70% of theworkforce with carers (58,285) and hospital nurses(56,608) the biggest single groups.

Forecasts suggest that the NHS in the region will require7,600 more doctors, nearly 28,000 nurses, 2,300midwives, 1,000 more dentists and 2,000 hospital andhealth service managers from 2004-10 to cope withreplacement and expansion needs.

11 Clocking onAcademy providesanothercareer routein NHS

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22 23315°

The midas touch Technology is proving an important weapon

in the war on regional congestion. The latesthigh-tech advance, the MIDAS (MotorwayIncident Detector and Automatic Signalling)system, is being rolled out on key stretchesof the Northwest motorway network.

The system provides motorists with continuously updatedalerts on incidents, hazards and congestion via electronicroadside signs thus helping drivers to avoid holds-ups andreduce stress.

Overnight work began in November to plug a 22 km sectionof the M6 between Junction 22 (Newton-le-Willows) andJunction 27 (Standish) into the MIDAS network. The £8.7 millionscheme will be completed in 2006. The system is also beinginstalled on stretches of the M60 at Salford and Stockport.

David Grunwell says Highways Agency planners andengineers had pushed ‘long and hard’ over the last 10-15years to get new technology installed with the result that theregion now has 40-45% of the country’s stock of variablemessaging signs.

“We have not been good at keeping people well informedabout what is happening on our motorways but the growingextent of the messaging infrastructure provides us with theopportunities to improve things.”

New drive to beattraffic congestion

The most significant impact on the motorway network over the next 12-18 months will be theintroduction of a highly trained 300-strong team of traffic officers and support staff who will take overa number of tasks currently handled by the police.

Drivers will begin to see the new Highways Agency Traffic Officers in their distinctive blue and yellowpatrol vehicles on Greater Manchester’s motorways in Autumn 2005 before the service is rolled outacross the rest of the region over the following six months.

Their roles will include managing traffic flows, particularly at the scene of accidents, organisingtemporary closures, undertaking high visibility patrols and generally assisting the police. They havebeen empowered to stop and direct traffic but have no powers regarding traffic offences.

They will be supported by a new £5 million control centre being built alongside the M6 betweenjunctions 22 and 23 at Newton-le-Willows which will also monitor traffic conditions from Cheshire to Cumbria.

David Grunwell, the Highways Agency’s Regional Operations Manager, is convinced the new officerswill have a beneficial effect on road congestion and points to research showing that 25% of allcongestion on the network is incident related.

“The fact that we will be able to deploy dedicated traffic officers to clear these minor incidentsshould have a big impact on that level of congestion. It also has the knock on effect of freeing uppolice resources to concentrate on crime.”

The National Audit Office which recently expressed concerns about the Highway Agency’sperformance estimates that traffic gridlock on the national strategic network - motorways and trunksroad - costs business £3 billion but the CBI estimates the total cost is nearer £20 billion over the whole road network.

Congestion is regarded as a serious impediment to the region’s future prosperity and the NorthwestRegional Development Agency (NWDA) which has a prime role in delivering the Regional EconomicStrategy (RES) is lobbying hard with other key partners for innovative solutions and majorimprovements to the network.

The Highways Agency looks after 835 miles (1,345 km) of motorway and 319 miles (513 kms) oftrunk road in the Northwest spending over £100 million a year on keeping the network in good order.

It is working to improve journey times with a mix of road building and improvement schemes, bettertraffic management and developing ideas like carpool lanes. The region has some of the heaviesttraffic flows in the country with over 200,000 vehicles a day using stretches of the M60 and M6.

Two of the biggest schemes, the £102 million widening of a 7.4 km stretch of the M60 betweenJunctions 5-8, and the replacement of bearings on the M6 Thelwall Viaduct at a cost of £52 million are due for completion in 2005.

Other road schemes costing over £400 million are in various stages of the planning and prioritisationprocess. Among the most advanced is the £103 million A57/A628 Mottram-Tintwistle bypass, whichhas been contracted to Mowlem plc under an innovative ‘Early Contractor Involvement’ scheme.

For further information: www.highways.gov.uk

Highways Agency planners and engineers arestepping up their efforts to ease the cripplingcongestion on the region’s major roads through a range of measures from motorway wideningschemes to hi-tech information systems.

The HighwaysAgency looks after

835 milesof motorway inthe Northwest

1 Message receivedElectronic signagewarns drivers not tohog the middle lane

24 25315°

Grand designs for the Lake DistrictVisitors to the Lake District in 2005 will be able to enjoy the firstbenefits of an imaginative project to transform Britain’s mostscenic playground into a 21st Century tourism destination withglobal appeal.

This Spring will see the launch of a contact centre booking facility thatwill be able to integrate adventure activities such as climbing, sailing,fishing and cycling into a single package with accommodation.

Also available online, Lakes Activity Breaks forms one part of aradical reshaping of the visitor experience that Cumbria Tourist Board(CTB) hopes will double tourism spend to £2 billion within ten yearsand dispel the ‘faded’ image perception of the Lakes as revealedin a major consumer research exercise.

One of the boldest ideas to come out the Lake District Renaissanceproject is ‘Better than the Best’, a pilot scheme to lift the design andquality of visitor accommodation.

CTB invited a group of Britain’s leading professional designers toproduce design solutions for a wide spectrum of accommodation fromyouth hostels through to self-catering and country house hotels.

The ideas and advice is being made available on a CD-ROMand on the web. The Board is also hoping to offer small grantassistance, typically in the £20,000-£30,000 range, to help with themakeover process.

Richard Greenwood, CTB’s Director of Development, wants thedesign ideas to inspire all tourism businesses including attractionsand exhibition places to aim for a better quality product.

“The market is changing and we have to raise our game. Peoplemust be able to enjoy the same high standards of accommodationand service in the Lake District that they would experience in a Citybreak to London or Barcelona.”

The Lake District is one of the regional tourism industry’s ‘attack’brands with Lake District Renaissance a ‘signature’project within the2003 tourism strategy. Five sub-regional tourist boards are implementingthe strategy under the direction of the NorthwestTourism Forum, withcore funding from the Northwest Regional Development Agency(NWDA).

This year will also see the formal launch of the EnvironmentalEnhancement ofWindermere and Bowness programme, another keypiece in the Renaissance jigsaw. It is being driven by a partnershipincluding the NWDA, CTB, the Lake District National Park PlanningAuthority and local councils.

The two towns are tourist honey-pots but research has shown theyproject a shabby, tired image through years of under investment. They

also stand to suffer a drop in trade and popularity when the 10mph waterspeed limit is introduced on Windermere in April forcing somebusinesses to diversify.

After wide consultation, Wakefield-based design consultantsSpawforth Associates have produced a 25-year masterplan thatwhen fully implemented will give the lakeside communities aphysical attractiveness more in keeping with modern times.

The plan identifies over 30 projects including new entrance andreception areas, park and ride facilities, redesigned public spaces,semi- pedestrianised streets, smarter shop fronts and better signageand street furniture.

“We would like to apply similarprinciples to other towns and villagesin Cumbria but we are starting where the need is greatest,” explainsRichard Greenwood. “We have to establish standards and techniquesthat will be embraced by both businesses and residents.”

CTB also want to set quality standards for the 34-strong network oftourist information centres (TICs) within Cumbria, the fourth strand of theRenaissance project. They are run by a variety of organisations and needto be linked more efficiently into the destination management process.

Tourism officials are trying to spread best practice through a series oftraining events. They are also working with NWDA to pilot new style TICfacilities, possibly with a continental or alpine feel and linked to placeslike coffee shops. The first one could be in Keswick orAmbleside.

For further information: www.betterthanthebest.co.uk

Chasing the wow factorHoteliers are reporting a rise in bookings and popularity afterresponding to the quality challenge of Cumbria Tourist Board’s‘Better than the Best’ scheme.

At The Waterhead, Ambleside, £3.1 million has been invested inmodernising and expanding the Victorian hotel in the past yearmoving it up from “a fairly tired” 28-bed two-star hotel to a four star41-bed town house hotel.

The hotel closed for six months and reopened in May 2004 withmore bedrooms and a new look interior designed by Gareth Humphriesof Derbyshire-based company IDA. The work was funded entirely byowners English Lakes Hotels with some marketing assistance fromthe NWDA.

Hotel manager John Bennett says the ‘Better than the Best’scheme was the catalyst for the investment. “The vast majority ofrooms were fairly traditional and chintzy and we decided to go for a

contemporary town house look, what our visitors now regard as the wow factor.”CTB hopes that many others will join the quality accommodation bandwagon. Five leading designers

worked up a series of design solutions for properties as diverse as camping barns and mansions.Some of the ideas are aimed at winning a bigger sharer of the 20-30 age group market, including

young couples and newly-weds. There was special emphasis on the use of local building materials to establish a Cumbrian look.

Eric Robson, Chairman of Cumbria Tourist Board and presenter of Radio 4 ‘s Gardener’s Question Time,sums up the results of the four-month project on a CD that will have wide distribution within the industry.

“Better than the Best demonstrates that by using professional design advice we can attract new visitors,profits can be improved and the Lake District can shed its faded image.”

The NWDA has teamed up withManchester United in a collaborativemarketing exercise resulting in theproduction of a new edition of theRough Guide to Manchester andEngland’s Northwest. Copies willincluded in all corporate hospitalitywallets for match at Old Traffordduring the 2004/05 season...

Peter Mearns, NWDA Director ofMarketing, has been appointed tothe Arts Council England, NorthWest, whose role is to distributemoney from the government andNational Lottery to develop thearts throughout the country...

England’s 188-mile coast-to-coastwalk from St.Bees Head, Cumbria,to Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire,finished runner-up in the searchto find the Best 50 Walks in TheWorld, ahead of treks to EverestBase Camp, the Inca Trail of Peruand the Great Wall of China...

Cheshire and WarringtonTourism Board has launched a strategy to increase visitorspending to £1.5 billion by 2015, sustaining 27,000 jobs.Future campaign activity will focus on themes and keystrengths including The ChesterExperience, rural escape, familyfun and culture and heritage...

Artists Terry Eaton and JemWaygood are the winners ofBolton’s ‘Spirit of Sport’ publicart competition funded by theNWDA and the ERDF. Theirdesign for an imposing 26-metre‘trophy’ structure on De HavillandWay containing over 1,100 imagesof the town’s sporting idols willbe completed by December 2005...

News

We can attract new visitors, improve

profits and shed thefading image of the

Lake District.

People must be able to enjoy the samehigh standards of accommodation andservice in the Lake District as theywould experience in a City break toLondon or Barcelona.

FactfileCumbria’s tourism industry is worth £1billion and accounts forone in four jobs forthe sub-region.

In 2003 the area welcomed 15.5 million tourists (28.9 million tourist days) with the average stay 2.5 days.

CTB officials have noted seasonality changes with tourism becoming more of a year-round industry. July to September was the busiest period in 2003 with 33% followed by28% in April-June, 22% in October December and 17 per cent in January-March.

In the New Year the Board will launch a campaign to win a greater slice of the lucrativemeetings and conference market, currently worth £90 million to the county. It aims topromote the Lake District’s unique collection of challenging outdoor activities.

The Waterhead, Ambleside

1

Best Bed and Breakfast of the Year: Seabreeze, Blackpool

Caravan Holiday Park of the Year:Camping & Caravan Club, Windermere,Cumbria

Self-Catering Holiday of the Year:Jasmine Cottage, Chester, Cheshire

Tourist Information Centre of the Year:Carlisle, Cumbria

Large Visitor Attraction of the Year:Ullswater Steamers, Cumbria

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year:Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass, Cumbria

Tourism Website of the Year:World of Glass, St Helens, Merseyside

Business Tourism Award: Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester

Award for Excellent Customer Service in a Large Hotel: Express by Holiday Inn,Liverpool, Merseyside

Small Hotel of the Year:The Samling, Windermere, Cumbria

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Tourism awardsshowcase qualityWhether it’s sailing on Ullswater, strolling along Blackpool’s Golden Mile orexploringChester’s Roman remains, tourists to England’s Northwest are spoilt for choice.Winners of the first region-wide tourism awards reflected the quality and diversityof the area’s tourist attractions, which lure almost 150 million visitors every year.

Their importance to the regional economy is undisputed.Latest figures show the industry contributes £7 billion, is thesource of one in ten jobs and sustains 18,000 businesses.

James Berresford, the NWDA’s Head of Tourism for the region,says: “As well as showcasing the very best the region has tooffer, the awards also throw down a challenge to the industry tocompete on the grounds of quality.”

He says that in the competitive world of tourism, where easyaccess to international destinations drives visitors’ aspirationsever higher, there is “no scope for us to be complacent.”

“We have to challenge the industry, and support it through ourfive new tourist boards who champion the cause of quality,” hesays. “Tourism is worth a great deal to the region and we have todrive up productivity and quality.”

The winners agree. Brian and Ann Murgatroyd, owners of theSeabreeze at Blackpool, voted Best Bed and Breakfast of theYear. “We have been here for less than five years, but already60% of our guests are returners,” says Ann. “Everybody tells usthey like our attention to detail - and our famous breakfasts.”

Nigel Parkin, general manager of The Samling at Windermere,voted Best Small Hotel of the Year, says: “For the guests, ourmotto is that nothing is too much trouble, which will becomemore challenging as people expect the best. But behind the

scenes we have established a professional operation which wekeep driving forward.”

Karen Buchan, owner of Jasmine Cottage, Chester, votedBest Self Catering Holiday of the Year, is similarly committed tofirst class service. “My guests say that my housekeeping isexceptional - and that’s because I clean the property myselfand I am always on call to help or sort out a problem.”

Justin Grammer, marketing officer for Ullswater Steamers whichwon the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year accolade, says:“Although we have over 100,000 visitors a year, we work veryclosely with the community to manage those numbers, as wellas being concerned about the environmental impact.”

Felicity Goodey, Chair of the Tourism Forum for England’sNorthwest, says: “We want more people to come here, spendingmore money, returning again and again because they’ve hadsuch a good time. The Forum is responsible for raising thequality of what we offer our visitors and the awards show thosevisitors the kind of quality they will find here.”

For further information: www.visitenglandsnorthwest.com

A winning formula The Northwest will reinforce its status as a top internationallocation for prestige events in 2005 by staging an image-boosting array of sporting, cultural and conference attractions.

Events like the round-the-world Clipper 05-06 Race and keyEuropean events connected with the UK’s Presidency of theEuropean Union in the latter half of the year are viewed as majoropportunities to showcase the region.

Starting and finishing in Liverpool, the Clipper yacht race is oneof the regional highlights of the SeaBritain 2005 initiative, anextravaganza of maritime events being organised to mark the200th anniversary of Nelson’s illustrious victory at Trafalgar.

Liverpool City Council is sponsoring one of the ten-strong fleet ofyachts competing in the gruelling 35,000-mile race. The boat, whichsets sail on September 18, will be used to promote the city’s Capitalof Culture 2008 status to a global audience.

SeaBritain is expected to draw large numbers of visitors to theregion and the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) isworking with partners in Cumbria, Lancashire and Merseyside on aprogramme of events that will celebrate the variety, history andgrandeur of the region’s coastline and maritime heritage.

Peter Mearns, NWDA Director of Marketing, wants to reach thosepeople who would not normally visit the region. “If we can get themto touch and feel what the region has to offer and go away with amore positive view of the Northwest they will become ourgreatest ambassadors.”

The Agency also intends to use the pulling power of the three dayGrand National meeting at Aintree (April 7-9) and the RHS FlowerShow atTatton Park (July 20-24) to further develop the region’s image.

Over 150,000 people attended last year’s Aintree meeting and arecord 113,000 visited the RHS event, which is now seen as the‘Chelsea of the North.’ A £30 million investment programme is underway at Aintree to add more facilities including two new stands.

The NWDA with its partners is taking a more proactive approachto bidding for international events. This stance paid dividends inOctober when Manchester won the right to host the 9th FINA WorldShort Course (25m) Swimming Championships in 2008.

The Agency is also supporting The Mersey Partnership’s bid toattract the World Snooker Championships - currently held in Sheffield- to Liverpool in 2006.

Disabled athletes will serve up their own sporting spectacularmuch sooner when Manchester stages the first ever ParalympicWorld Cup on May 14 and 15 with funding support from UKSport,Manchester City Council and the NWDA. BBC Television will be thehost broadcaster of the event.

2005 will also be an notable year for conferences with the regionwinning several important events related to the UK’s Presidency ofthe EU. One is a Sports Ministers and Broadcasting Conference, theother a conference attended by EU Culture Ministers. Both will beheld in Liverpool in September.

England’s Northwest Tourism Awards 2004 1 Celebration timeTVpresenterDianeOxberry with Best B&Bwinners Brian and AnnMurgatroyd

If we can get them to touch and feelwhat the region has to offer and goaway with a more positive view of theNorthwest they will become ourgreatest ambassadors

Grand NationalThree-day festival ofNational Hunt racingAintree Racecourse,Liverpool

Apr 07-09

Cumbria Learning Theme ParkInteractive skills festivalNewton Rigg Campus,Penrith

Apr 12-13

IoD North West AnnualDinnerSpeaker- Miles Templeman,DirectorGeneral, IoDMarriott Hotel, Liverpool

Apr 14

Paralympic World CupOver 350 athletes contestfour major sportsManchester

May 14-15

Delivering SustainableCommunities SummitThe government’s premierregeneration event GMEX, Manchester

Jan 31 - Feb 02

CBI Cumbria DinnerGuest speaker- JohnRoberts of United UtilitiesCastle Green Hotel, Kendal

Feb 15

Science & Innovation EventFollow-up to the successfulDTI Living Innovation eventUniversity of Manchester

Feb 21

Art 05 AwardsSpotlight on the bestNorthwest contemporary artLiverpool

Feb 24

Northwest EconomicDinner with Mervyn KingThe year ahead by Bank ofEngland GovernorSAS Radisson, ManchesterAirport

Jan 20

Cumberland NewsCountryside AwardsRecognising excellence in the Cumbrian economy Shepherd’s Inn, Carlisle

Jan 28

Greater ManchesterChamber Annual DinnerGuest speaker - EU Commissioner, Chris PattenMICC, Manchester

Mar 02

Impact 05 ConferenceBusiness in the CommunityNational ConferenceCity ofManchesterStadium

Mar 08

Northern Way BusinessConferenceRoyal York Hotel, York

Mar 16

Chester Food & DrinkFestivalDemonstrations bycelebrity chefsMarquee and variousvenues, Chester

Mar 26 - Apr 03

Event highlights

FebruaryFeb 11-13Keswick Film FestivalKeswick

MarchMar 02City of Liverpool Business FairSt.George’s Hall, Liverpool

Mar 16Big Difference AwardsCrowne Plaza Hotel, Liverpool

AprilApr 20-22Rural Women’s Network AnnualConferenceCarlisle Racecourse

Other key events

For further information: www.nwda.co.uk

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Whitehalldespatches

NDA on track for April launchTrade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced that the Nuclear Decommissioning

Authority (NDC) is to be based at Westlakes Science and Technology Park at Moor Row, nearWhitehaven, West Cumbria.

The European Commission has started a State Aid investigation into the NDA but UK EnergyMinister Mike O’Brien says the Authority is on track to become fully operational by April 1, 2005. The investigation relates only to the BNFL aspects of NDA activities.

Established by the Energy Act 2004, the Authority has been given the responsibility for deliveringthe safe, cost effective, secure and environmentally friendly clean-up of the UK’s civil nuclear sites. It is expected to generate new economic opportunities across Cumbria and over 100 jobs.

Rural pathfinder for LancashireLancashire is one of seven areas of England chosen to act as pathfinders to test ways of improving

access to advice and funding for people living in rural communities. The Government Office for the North West will work closely with lead partner Lancashire County

Council, the NWDA, the voluntary sector and others on developing shared agreed action plans to tacklelocal priorities, targeting support based on need and helping the drive to make funding regimes simpler.

The Lancashire pathfinder is expected to extend and deepen partnership activity developed overseveral years to integrate business and environmental advice in areas of valued landscape.

More money for pit communitiesWards in Salford and Knowsley have become eligible for the first time for assistance from the

Coalfields Regeneration Trust, which was set up by the government to restore prosperity to formercoalfield communities.

They join wards in Wigan, St. Helens and Copeland who could all benefit from an extra £35 millionof aid announced by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to accelerate the economic revival of areashit by pit closures.

Swinton North and Little Hulton in Salford and the wards of Whiston South and Halewood Eastbecome eligible for Trust funding because they contain English Partnerships reclamation sites.

Social Inclusion awardsFour projects are being established across the Northwest to help people with mental health

conditions become self-employed, start a business or set up a social enterprise through mentoring,training, advice and hands-on support.

Funded by the DTI’s £177 million Phoenix Fund which was set up to tackle social inclusion byencouraging entrepreneurship, the schemes will benefit people in Liverpool, St. Helens, Burnley andRochdale for a total cost of £370,000.

The Granby Toxteth Development Trust’s ‘Business for All’ project (£110,000) is expected to help 40 people with 10 going on to start their own business whilst the ‘INSPIRE’ project (£103,000), run bythe St. Helens Chamber, will focus on social enterprises that can help the local economy.

Other awards go to Rochdale & District Mind for its ‘Business Ideas In Mind’ initiative (£91,000) andBurnley Enterprise for the ‘Bees Knees’ project (£67,000).

Industry and Regions MinisterJacqui Smith has announcedadditional funding of £8.6 millionfor the NWDA in recognition of itsachievements in 2003-04. During its five years existence the Agency has levered £1.8 billionto help boost employment, developbusinesses and redevelopbrownfield land...

Ministers have announced amajor expansion in the numbersof Community Support Officersbeing recruited to assist policefight low level crime and anti-social behaviour. Merseyside gets 85 extra officers, GreaterManchester 68, Lancashire 57,Cheshire 13 and Cumbria 12...

Judge David Fletcher is to lead a pioneering community justicecentre in north Liverpool to helptackle social problems such asvandalism, graffiti, petty theft and drunken behaviour. Locatedon the site of St Gerard’s School,Vauxhall, the centre is due to open in 2005...

The conversion of two 1920svintage motor launches on LakeConiston to solar power is one of 300 projects being helped by the English National ParksSustainable Development Fund.During its first 18 months theFund has levered in £13 million of match funding...

News

Paul Abbott is the Director and GeneralManager of the new Bolton TechnicalInnovation Centre - known as Bolton TIC -which is the UK’s first junior incubator. After 20years as a dedicated science and technologyteacher, deeply concerned at the lack ofincentive and opportunity for children toinnovate, Paul conceived the idea of the TIC.This month (Jan 2005) the Centre will begin ayear of trial programmes around space, flight,future energies and science and art, aimed atinspiring and encouraging the town’s 9 to 19-year-olds.

Nurturingcreative pioneers

30315° Viewpoint

“I always wanted to teach and I loved teaching. But as the pressureincreased to drive up exam grades, I felt the creativity of youngsterswas being stifled and there was less incentive to innovate. The love forlearning was being lost, especially in science and technology.

It is ironic that never before have we devoted so much of thecurriculum to science, yet never before have we produced so fewscientists.

Did you know that over the last 100 years, 54% of all patents filedworldwide originated in Britain? But this figure must have fallendramatically in the last ten years and I shudder to think what it will bein the future if we do not address the problem.

If we look back at the characters who have made a difference - MrRolls and Mr Royce who met at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, SirHarry Kroto, the Nobel Laureate who grew up in Bolton, James Dyson,Richard Branson - we have to ask how they began. We would like tothink that if a young Dyson or Branson knocks on our door at the TIC,we will be ready for them.

We are not attempting to change education, but to occupy a newspace between education and industry. Whatever we do will notdamage either, but benefit both. There will never be a substitute forlearning, but we want to give youngsters new opportunities to applythat learning.

We want to nurture innovation in young people, give them theequipment to prototype their ideas, offer them business and legaladvice. We want to build a community of creative pioneers.

And this facility is for all schools in the town. When we completedspecial projects at my former school, it made no difference to theschool down the road, let alone the town. And in fact league tablescreated more competition, so there was no incentive for schools tocollaborate or think about the town as a whole. We think this is onereason why the TIC is special - it’s open to all and we’re trying tomake a difference in the town of Bolton. If it’s a success, the modelcan be copied elsewhere.”

We want to give children the chance topursue their technical dreams, to changeaspirations and their perception of scienceand technology. We want to invite thousandsof children a year to the TIC, inspire themand give them a fantastic time.

Visit: www.nwda.co.uk & www.englandsnorthwest.com

The Northwest Regional Development Agency managesall operations from its Headquarters at:

PO Box 37Renaissance HouseCentre ParkWarrington WA1 1XBTel: +44 (0)1925 400 100Fax: +44 (0)1925 400 400e-mail: information@nwda.co.uk

In addition, there are five area offices for the implementation of local activities as follows:

Greater ManchesterGiants Basin Potato WharfCastlefieldManchester M3 4NBTel: +44 (0)161 817 7400Fax: +44 (0)161 831 7051

MerseysideStation HouseMercury CourtTithebarn StreetLiverpool L2 2QPTel: +44 (0)1925 400 100Fax: +44 (0)151 236 3731

CheshireBrew HouseWilderspool ParkGreenalls AvenueWarrington WA4 6HLTel: +44 (0)1925 644 220Fax: +44 (0)1925 644 222

CumbriaGillan WayPenrith 40 Business ParkPenrithCumbria CA11 9BPTel: +44 (0)1768 867 294Fax: +44 (0)1768 895 477

Lancashire13 Winckley StreetPrestonLancashire PR1 2AATel: +44 (0)1772 206 000Fax: +44 (0)1772 200 049

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Indulge your good taste!England’s Northwest is a region with a passion for greatfood, quality produce, a range of top class restaurants, and leading chefs.

From shopping for local specialities such as Lancashire Hotpot,Cumbrian air-dried ham, and Cheshire cheese, to fine dining atcosmopolitan restaurants in Manchester and Liverpool, England’sNorthwest is home to a mouth-watering range of speciality foodsas diverse as the region itself.

As one of the vital ingredients for successful tourism, the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) iscommitted to ensuring the region’s food and drink sector has a prosperous future.

As part of this support, the Agency is helping to spearhead anational campaign for Valentine’s Day to showcase the mostromantic food, hotels, restaurants and events that our region hasto offer - demonstrating that England’s Northwest is home to allthe essential components for the perfect romantic formula.To find out more click on visitenglandsnorthwest.com