recovery deal to help bounce back from pandemic

THE FUNDS WOULD BE SPENT ON IMPROVING TRANSPORT LINKS AND TOWN CENTRES, decarbonising the economy and backing businesses.

Cross-border growth deal proposed

The Mersey Dee Alliance wants a £220m Cross Border Recovery Deal to help north east Wales and Cheshire bounce back from the pandemic. The group seeks the major fiscal stimulus for improved public transport and active travel routes, with £55m to bring empty town centre properties back into use.

Members also propose a £60m Business Challenge Fund (BCF) developed by the private sector to support businesses to deliver growth and productivity, whilst accelerating the journey to Net Zero carbon. There would also be funding for improving digital connections and a low carbon programme to help drive forward the hydrogen strategy.

The MDA – which covers Flintshire and Wrexham in North Wales and Cheshire West and Chester, and the Wirral in the north West of England – is set to start negotiations with the Welsh and UK Governments to fund the Deal. It says it will complement existing growth deals in North Wales and the North West of England.

Councillor Mark Pritchard, Chair of the Mersey Dee Alliance, said: “The MDA economy has been hit hard by Covid-19. Our GVA contracted by 15%, equivalent to £3.5bn of the pre-pandemic, £22bn value of the economy. Thousands of jobs were lost in aerospace, other manufacturing sectors and retail. The MDA Cross Border Recovery Deal is Phase one of the proposed £400+ Fiscal Stimulus Package that we published in March 2021.

"Investment is needed now to recover from the negative economic impacts of Covid-19 and lay the foundations for future, sustainable growth, driven by the world’s first net zero, industrial cluster, in partnership with HyNet and businesses.

"The Cross Border Recovery Deal will address longer term structural challenges caused by complexity for businesses and planners in the public sector because of the administrative border which imposes two sets of policy frameworks on the region’s economy. The negative effects of this administrative complexity can be seen in an over-reliance on the car, because in the past it has been difficult to plan transport on a holistic, cross border basis that aligns with economic needs."

The MDA has worked in close partnership with neighbouring economic partnerships (the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership and Liverpool City Region) to produce its proposals.

GROW SMARTER LIMITED which operates under the Action Coach banner, is introducing an exciting new business development programme for business owners in Cheshire and North Wales.

Having a Board of Directors hold you accountable for your actions is the best way for your business to gain traction and begin to develop into a fully-fledged profitable enterprise. Grow Smarter is currently hand-picking business owners from a variety of industries to form an initial group of Mini Boards that will facilitate stronger growth for those business owners, which are ready to take their business to the next level.

Each Board of Directors group will consist of six to nine (maximum) invited business owners or entrepreneurs. The Board of Directors is not an open invitation to the public at large, but rather a hand-selected group of individuals who will have already worked within a formal training environment. The Board of Directors programme is not a seminar, rather a controlled and facilitated discussion around growth and expansion of each Board Member’s business or businesses.

Using market tested and proven strategies, each Board of Directors will benefit from a defined meeting structure, brief weekly peer-to-peer coaching, lead coaching from a qualified business coach and monthly events with world renowned speakers. Confidentiality Agreements ensure that financial and structural inner workings of each business, as well as future plans, are protected.

If you are a business owner looking to compete at the highest level in the ‘new economy’ contact jeffwilliams@actioncoach.com to learn more.

News from the Chester Northgate project team

Voting on the shortlist of names for the new Arcade and Square closed on 5 November and over 5,500 votes were cast online. The winners are:

Coachworks Arcade

In recognition that there has been a coachworks on the Northgate site since 1870. The original 1914 Westminster Coach & Motor Car Works façade is being restored into a new arcade and arched entrance into the development.

Exchange Square

After the name of the original Market building opened in 1698. It was a grand building with an open piazza, coffee house and shops on the ground floor, and upper rooms that included a banqueting room, a court room, and a council chamber. Sadly, the building burnt down on 30 December 1862.

For more information visit www.chesternorthgate.com