Halton’s ‘key role’ in region’s success
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THE metro mayor has told business leaders across Halton that the borough is at the ‘very heart’ of the Liverpool City Region and has a key role to play in the area’s economic future.
Steve Rotheram attended a meeting organised by Halton Chamber Of Commerce & Enterprise which brought together a broad range of buinesses from different industries.
It included firms from the engineering, renewable energy, leisure, manufacturing and professional service sectors.
The gathering was also attended by Halton Borough Council leader Rob Polhill and included a question and answer session with Mr Rotheram, who outlined his vision for a dynamic, successful Liverpool City Region.
He said: “I wanted to share my belief that Halton is not on the edge of our city region, but at its very heart.
“It is home to some highly successful and innovative businesses with great growth potential.
“Companies like LPW Technology who recently won a Queen’s Award For International Trade and Hutchinson’s Engineering who are exporting renewable energy technology to Denmark, are showing exactly the level of ambition that we need to cultivate across our City Region.
“Halton is also home to some of our most important business growth areas including Sci-Tech at Daresbury, as well as some of our most important and innovative manufacturing sites like Ineos at Runcorn and Alstom’s new cutting edge facility at Widnes.
“My job is to support these business and create the growth we need to generate highskilled and rewarding jobs for local people.”
The discussion revealed strong support for Mr Rotheram’s aim to raise the profile of the Liverpool City Region and co-operate more closely with Greater Manchester in a bid to compete with London.
Other areas of discussion included the need for improved education attainment and skills training for the jobs of tomorrow, better transport and digital connectivity for the area and a more co-ordinated approach to marketing and attracting investment.
Halton Chamber of Commerce & Enterprise chairman Dr Peter Cook said: “This was a great opportunity for Halton businesses to meet with the new metro mayor.
“He was able to hear about the broad range of business skills and experience we have in the borough, across a wide range of sectors.
“We were also able to hear about his aspirations for the region, working in partnership with the Manchester region.
“We were able to put across to him the concerns and needs of Halton businesses to be able to grow and prosper in an open and constructive way.
“All in all a very good meeting.”