CHESHIRE INVESTMENT GUIDE 2022 - Flickread
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
CHESHIRE INVESTMENT GUIDE 2022
DON’T MISS OUT ON
in
si
de
ON
rm
MEMBERSHIP SAVINGS
em
LY
be
rsh
£12
ip
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
5
MEET NEW
prospects at
NETWORKING
EVENTS
SAVE UP
TO £538 ON
BUSINESS
DATABASES
EXCLUSIVE
MEMBER
DIGITAL
CONTENT
FIRST
WITH LOCAL
BUSINESS SAVE AT
NEWS LEAST £120
on event
bookings*
MORE THAN A MAGAZINE INSIDER MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES ALL THIS FOR ONLY £125
MAGAZINE ONLINE BUSINESS EVENTS MARKETING DATABASES
STAY INFORMED & WELL ADVISED STAY CONNECTED & INFORMED RAISE YOUR BUSINESS PROFILE NEW BUSINESS LEADS
■ 12 monthly editions straight to your desk ■ Access to member only ■ Members’ discounted rates ■ 18,000+ verified senior decision
■ Access to digital edition of magazine content articles, news, reports, ■ Single ticket and table bookings makers’ contacts
Top 500/300 lists Preferential table position ■ MDs, directors, senior managers
■ Regional business news and features ■
■ Receive daily regional news in the room after sponsors* ■ Email addresses ■ Phone numbers
■ Who’s who in your region
bulletins straight to your desk ■ Business development opportunities ■ Postal addresses ■ Available by region
■ Top ranking leagues
■ Read back issues online Sector and financial data
■ Deals being made ■ Networking opportunities ■
■ Access to your Members Hub Top 500 and Top 300 SME companies
■ Expert advice on business issues ■ Celebrate business success ■
■ Skills and development features GDPR COMPLIANT
PRINT + DIGITAL EDITIONS EXCLUSIVE SAVE £120+ 20% OFF –
(including DIGITAL bacK issues) MEMBER CONTENT ON EVENT BOOKINGS* SAVE UP TO £538
*only applies to table bookings of 10 or 12. Excludes individual seat bookings
www.insidermedia.com/subscriptions or call 0161 907 9733
CHESHIRE
I N N U M B E R S
CUMBRIA
LANCASHIRE
Cheshire
GREATER
WA MANCHESTER
LIVERPOOL CITY
R RIN
REGION GT
ON
and Warrington ELLESMERE PORT
CHESTER
MACCLESFIELD
POPULATION (2020) *
CREWE
939,887
Source ONS
GROSS VALUE ADDED BY INDUSTRY (£m)
8000
Manufacturing 50.3%
7000 BUSINESSES BY STAFF*
MICRO (0 TO 9 STAFF) 42,195
6000
SMALL (10 TO 49 STAFF) 6,220
5000 MEDIUM-SIZED (50 TO 249 STAFF) 1,305
Wholesale and rehic tail trade;
4000 ir of mo tor ve les 60.1% LARGE (250+ STAFF) 195
re pa
TOTAL 49,910
3000 Source ONS
2000 activities 37.1%
tific and technical
Professional, scien .7% HE STUDENT ENROLMENTS by HE provider
Construction 51
1000
e 61.7%
Transportation and storag UNIVERSITY OF CHESTER 13,545
0 Source HESA
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Source ONS
* exc Halton (inc in Liverpool City Region)
TOP COMPANIES
COMPANY LOCATION TURNOVER £M PRE-TAX PROFIT £M EMPLOYEES YEAR END
1 ESSAR OIL (UK) ELLESMERE PORT 4,665.7 (171.5) 837 SEP 20
2 CERTAS ENERGY UK WARRINGTON 2,583.2 5.8 2,154 MAR 21
3 AUSURUS WARRINGTON 2,436.0 12.0 3,246 DEC 20
4 MARLOWE KNUTSFORD 2,275.6 104.1 7,795 DEC 20
5 SELLAFIELD WARRINGTON 2,076.0 2.0 10,851 MAR 21
6 UNITED UTILITIES WARRINGTON 1,808.0 551.0 5,354 MAR 21
7 BENTLEY MOTORS CREWE 1,717.0 93.1 4,266 DEC 20
8 PETS AT HOME WILMSLOW 1,142.8 116.4 7,270 MAR 21
9 GREENWHITESTAR ACQUISITIONS WARRINGTON 874.3 (15.0) 6,410 NOV 20
10 FIRCROFT ENGINEERING SERVICES WARRINGTON 712.8 (12.7) 824 AUG 20
11 SWANSWAY CREWE 711.9 10.2 1,044 DEC 20
12 ULTIUM BUSINESS OUTSOURCING KNUTSFORD 692.5 2.6 134 DEC 20
13 NWF NANTWICH 675.6 10.8 1,278 MAY 21
14 DECHRA PHARMACEUTICALS NORTHWICH 608.0 74.0 1,945 JUN 21
15 BODYCOTE MACCLESFIELD 598.0 (1.5) 5,068 DEC 20
Source Insider research, Experian MIQ 2022
67
CHESHIRE
P I O N E E R S
Power play
COP26 sharpened the focus on net-zero targets around the world, but across
Cheshire and the North West, energy was already a hot topic
Ramping up investment in the transition to a hydrogen production plan at Stanlow, Vertex Hydrogen into hydrogen, with
net zero is a key focus for the North West. Ellesmere Port. Elsewhere, projects are carbon dioxide safely captured and stored
Cheshire has a head start, with a number underway for underground hydrogen by HyNet partner Eni SpA, underground
of projects underway and a mature storage in Cheshire and manufacturing and offshore in Liverpool Bay.
cluster of businesses in the energy sector. and roll-out of hydrogen trains. The hydrogen production hub will
Ged Barlow is chief executive of Net In January, Essar announced it had eventually provide low-carbon energy to
Zero North West, an industry-led cluster formed a joint venture with Progressive replace fossil fuels in industry across the
acting as a public and private sector Energy to build the UK’s largest hydrogen HyNet region, as well as heating homes
investment accelerator for industrial hub at the Stanlow Manufacturing and fuelling buses, trains and trucks. A
decarbonisation and clean growth projects Complex. Led by Essar as the majority total investment of approximately £1bn
in the North West. He says the drive to shareholder, Vertex Hydrogen has been will be committed to deliver the hydrogen
be the UK’s first net-zero region means formed to provide the catalyst for production hub.
“2022 must be a year of action and development of a hydrogen economy The creation of Vertex comes after
investment to create a low-carbon future”. across North West England and North the government selected the HyNet
According to Barlow, developments Wales, as a central part of the HyNet project as a Track 1 cluster in October.
across the North West will see “hundreds decarbonisation cluster. David Parkin, of Progressive Energy and
of millions of pounds ploughed into key The UK’s first low-carbon hydrogen HyNet project director, explains that for
locations”. Among these significant facility at Essar Stanlow will produce the past year a number of regions have
projects is the investment and innovation 1GW per year of hydrogen, across two been in competition. Being selected as
around hydrogen. Plans are set to ad- units, from 2026. This is equivalent to the one of the first will mean it is able to
vance this year for hydrogen and carbon domestic heating energy used by a major begin decarbonising the North West and
capture infrastructure in the region, with British city region such as Liverpool. North Wales from 2025. This, he says,
the first consultations being held on the Waste fuel gases from Essar Stanlow, “puts the whole region on a really strong
pipelines for HyNet and advancement of and natural gas, will be converted by trajectory to decarbonise”.
Essar Stanlow
68
CHESHIRE
P I O N E E R S
He adds: “What we’re developing here
is an integrated infrastructure system
which will decarbonise first industry, then
power, transport and maybe domestic
heat. A lot of the clusters are starting to
look quite similar to HyNet now.
“When we first started HyNet five
years ago we were the only industrial
cluster which was focused on
low-carbon hydrogen. Now the Scottish,
East Coast and South Wales projects are.
We’re already starting to see that HyNet
vision replicated.”
HyNet’s hydrogen production plant will be located in Stanlow
Manufacturing strengths
Hydrogen produced at Stanlow will, in the
first instance, be used by Essar to reduce
its carbon footprint at the complex.
In addition, Vertex will also provide
low-carbon hydrogen to a wide range of
businesses, including companies from
the chemicals, ceramics, paper, glass and
flexible power generation sectors. Tata
Chemicals Europe, Encirc, InterGen, Solvay,
Ingevity, Novelis, Glass Futures and Saica
Paper have already expressed interest.
More widely in the region, companies
such as Pilkington are demonstrating
use of hydrogen in their facilities. Cadent New ecological areas at Protos
Gas is also developing the UK’s first
multi-user hydrogen distribution network
within HyNet. “The North West has the
biggest manufacturing base in the UK
with about 350,000 jobs,” says Parkin.
Indeed, according to Make UK, the North
West’s manufacturing base was worth
£27.2bn in 2020/21. That’s significantly
ahead of the South East in second place
with a value of £22.5bn.
Parkin says of the HyNet project:
“HyNet is probably looking at around
£5bn over the next few years through to
2030. That’s £5bn in capital investment
in the hydrogen production, in the carbon Biomass facility at Protos
capture, in the hydrogen pipeline.”
69
CHESHIRE
P I O N E E R S
The consortium expects nearly all of
that to come from the private sector, with
some “small government grants”.
“What we’re doing with HyNet is
providing an infrastructure backbone
that you can come as a carbon-intensive
industry and operate in a low-carbon or
zero-carbon way,” adds Parkin, who gives
the example of Fulcrum BioEnergy, which is
progressing plans for a sustainable aviation
fuel plant at Stanlow. The Northpoint
facility could generate low-carbon fuel for
airlines from non-recyclable and residual
waste, with a direct pipeline to Manchester
Airport to transport fuel. Parkin says:
Automotive manufacturers
“It could choose anywhere in Europe to
build its plant. It chose the North West.
commit to developing EVs
That’s because it can connect to
Manchester Airport, but also into HyNet
in Cheshire
for carbon capture and storage.” Bentley’s first battery-powered electric vehicle (BEV) will be developed and
Another example he gives is ABSL. built in the UK after the company announced its commitment to its plant in
“It is developing another sustainable Crewe. Overall, Bentley will invest £2.5bn in sustainability over the next ten
transport fuel project on the Protos site, years as part of its Beyond100 strategy. This is Bentley’s pledge to ensure the
looking to take household waste and car-maker is exclusively electric and end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030.
convert it into transport fuel.” ABSL was The announcement is a major boost for the UK economy and also helps
founded in March 2019 and is based in secure Bentley’s first step into electrification, preserving 4,000 jobs.
Swindon. It is a private company backed Adrian Hallmark, chairman and chief executive of Bentley Motors, said
by investment funds and high-net-worth in a statement: “Beyond100 is the boldest plan in Bentley’s history. It’s an
individuals, and supported with external ambitious and credible roadmap to carbon neutrality of our total business
funding from the government. system, including the shift to 100 per cent BEV in just eight years. Our aim is
Also at Protos, Ellesmere Port, part of to become the benchmark, not just for luxury cars or sustainable credentials,
Peel NRE, a planning decision is expected but the entire scope of our operations. Securing production of our first BEV
in spring to bring the first Plastic Park to in Crewe is a milestone moment for Bentley and the UK.”
the UK to process some of the 4.9 million Over at Ellesmere Port, Stellantis confirmed a £100m investment in Vauxhall’s
tonnes of plastic waste produced in the manufacturing plant to transform the site for a new era in electric vehicle
country each year. Work will also begin by manufacturing. Stellantis’ announcement “has secured hundreds of jobs,
the autumn to build a plastic-to-hydrogen probably thousands in the supply chain”, says Clare Hayward, chair, Cheshire
facility, using Powerhouse Energy and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership. These big wins, she adds, “help
technology. This aims to turn unrecyclable to raise the reputation of the area”.
plastic waste in the region into clean Ellesmere Port will become the first Stellantis plant to produce a solely
fuel for buses, HGVs and cars. Further battery-electric model, in both commercial and passenger versions,
investment will see infrastructure delivered by the end of next year, including the Combo-e and Combo-e Life, for both
at the site alongside new ecological areas, domestic and export markets. Vauxhall is also adding the Vivaro-e Hydrogen
while Covanta will continue construction to its all-electric van range from early 2023.
of the Energy Recovery Facility.
70
CHESHIRE
P L A C E
Market leaders
Cheshire’s towns secure investment in amenities
The Portal BrewDog (Manchester)
As well as investments in growth sectors Among them is Cheshire Farm Ice headquarters of new public body Great
like low-carbon energy and life Cream, which is expanding its business British Railways.
sciences, attention across Cheshire is on based near Tattenhall where it has been Councillor Sam Corcoran, leader of
the regeneration of its town centres. manufacturing ice creams since 1986. Cheshire East Council, says: “Rail is in the
In Warrington, a New York-inspired Wholesale manager Ed Warrington blood of so many in Crewe. Bringing the
bar and eatery concept, Parlour, was the says: “The new market will be a fantastic Great British Railways headquarters to
first operator in 2022 to take space at the addition to our business portfolio.” the town will create huge opportunities.”
Time Square scheme. It has exchanged Another addition to Chester city centre Crewe was awarded £37m of funding
a 3,869 sq ft deal to become part of the is craft brewer BrewDog, which will open through the Towns Fund and Future
£142m mixed-use town centre destination. a bar as part of the Chester Northgate High Streets Fund. Among plans is the
Time Square was delivered by Warrington development when the scheme fully development of new creative production
& Co on behalf of Warrington Borough opens in autumn 2022. BrewDog will join facilities and a music venue, anchored by
Council, with Muse Developments as The Florist, Tapas Revolution, Cosy Club the Lyceum Theatre.
development manager. Alongside the and Picturehouse cinema already Further development is in the pipeline
new Warrington Market, Cineworld announced as key lettings; and will occupy a for Macclesfield, Northwich, Winsford
cinema, Gravity trampoline park, bars 3,000 sq ft space fronting Princess Street and Ellesmere Port, where construction
and restaurants, Time Square is also home and the newly named Exchange Square. has completed on The Portal, a new building
to Warrington Borough Council’s new New investment is set to accelerate at for the provision of council services.
office and a 1,160-space car park. Crewe, where work on the redevelopment Clare Hayward, chair of the LEP, says:
In Chester, Cheshire West and Chester of the Royal Arcade has started. The “It is really exciting to see the investment,
Council has unveiled the first allocation government has laid the bill to extend HS2 including for The Portal, coming into
of 22 stalls that have been contracted or from Crewe to Manchester and beyond, Ellesmere Port. And with HyNet receiving
are under offer to trade in the new market which has the potential of creating government backing to potentially bring
when it opens in October 2022 at the 17,500 direct jobs across the north and hydrogen production plants to Ellesmere
Northgate development. Fifteen of the cementing Crewe’s position as a transport Port, the future is bright.”
stalls announced in the first round will hub. It is so confident of its connectivity Cheshire West and Chester Council
be relocating from the existing market, credentials, that Crewe is now considering says the existing Civic Way offices will be
with seven being opened by new traders. tabling a bid to become the national demolished as part of a wider masterplan.
71
CHESHIRE
PA R T N E R S H I P
Shared vision
Cheshire puts collaboration at the heart of its strategy
“Cheshire has everything going for it,” College, the University of Chester, Priestley
says Clare Hayward, chair of Cheshire and College and employers, the region will One to watch
Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership benefit from £13m of investment. Insider asked a North West
(LEP). Already a hive of economic The Institute in Cheshire and Warrington property specialist for their tip on a
activity, the county has world-leading life was one of nine announced by the development to keep an eye on:
sciences and low-carbon energy assets Department for Education in December Jamie Bottomley, director of Track
as well as a strong base of advanced 2021. Hayward says the investment Real Estate, was formerly head of
manufacturing capabilities. in an IoT will “focus in on commercial at Alderley Park. He is
According to Hayward providing the skills employers excited by upcoming developments
(pictured), its success need to build digital and at the life sciences campus. He says:
can be attributed to green skills”. “The In Vivo Lab at Mereside,
partnership working. Employers involved in Alderley Park, is a globally signifi-
“The business commu- the partnership included cant life science asset and will come
nity, LEP, local authorities Encirc, Warrington and to the market this summer.”
and voluntary sector have Halton NHS Trust, Alderley At 44,000 sq ft, Bottomley says
all worked together to create a Park and Case IH. the facility cost £1,000 per sq ft to
shared vision of an inclusive, sustaina- build. This, and a lack of similar supply
ble, healthy and growing economy.” Levelling up in the market mean it is “likely to
Within those partnerships is a £42m The levelling-up white paper outlined that attract significant inward investment
life sciences fund, on which the LEP has by 2030 every part of England that from an international top-250 pharma
partnered with Cheshire’s three local wishes to have a ‘London-style’ devolution company seeking a European
authorities: Warrington Borough Council, deal will have one. Hayward says the facility”. He adds: “It’s the only lab
Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire LEP, local authorities and regional MPs of this type available in the country.
East. The fund follows what Hayward calls are working together to “determine what Its addition to other internationally
a “mapping and gapping” exercise to outcomes we want from a county deal”. significant life science assets in the
identify areas ripe for investment. Among She says: “We want to make sure we’re region will further strengthen the
the main gaps was a lack of lab space, focused on outcomes for the region Greater Manchester-Cheshire
and Hayward says partnership working is rather than spending too much time on the East-Liverpool high-value life science
critical in addressing that need. governance, because there are different cluster as a credible alternative to
views on how the governance could work. Oxford-Cambridge-London.”
Skills and training We are meeting with the government in The lab sits within Bruntwood
In another example of partnership working, the next few weeks to discuss our view of SciTech’s Alderley Park campus, the
Cheshire College was named lead what a county deal could look like.” largest single-site life science and
organisation for Cheshire and Warrington She says there are five areas of focus: tech campus in the UK. It is home to
as part of the £120m Institute of Technology place, green tech, public transport/active more than 200 companies including
(IoT) competition. In collaboration with transport, connectivity, and skills. Any Sai Life Sciences, Athenex and
Warrington and Vale Royal College, deal, she says, will need to be aligned to Sygnature Discovery.
Macclesfield College, Reaseheath these areas.
72
You can also read
