UK, North West Region - Overview:
The North West region of the UK spans an area of approximately 14,000 square kilometres and with just under 7 million inhabitants is more populous than the four EU countries of Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Luxembourg. It is bordered by Scotland to the North, the Pennines to the East and the Irish Sea to the West. The region comprises the five counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside, with principle urban areas including Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Carlisle, Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Sefton, Stockport, Wigan and Wirral.

Greater Manchester has the largest concentration of the North West's population, at approximately 37 per cent. In contrast, Cumbria, which makes up 48 per cent of the regions total land area, contains only 7 per cent of the population. Merseyside, Lancashire and Cheshire are home to around 20 per cent, 21 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.

Such a large and diverse region understandably gives rise to a wide variety of economic fortunes. Like many others, the region has had to adapt to the changing world market. Traditionally industrial activity played a major roll in the local economy centering on the likes of textiles, shipping and engineering. Today, whilst manufacturing is still a significant feature of the region's economic make-up it is no longer the mainstay that it once was and as a consequence the people and companies of the region have had to acquire a new outlook and approach. This they have done successfully as evidenced in proactive policies in the fields of education and development and significant growth in the biotechnology, chemicals, aerospace and information and communications technology sectors. The region enjoys the highest levels of grant assistance available in the UK in support of recruitment and training needs and capital expenditure.

Today the Northwest boasts more than 350,000 companies, 1,700 of which are successful overseas-owned organisations and, in a survey compiled by the Financial Times, three quarters of the papers' top 100 companies have bases in the region. These include Jaguar, Siemens, and Astra Zeneca.

Hosting the recent Commonwealth Games in Manchester played a major roll in raising the region's profile and companies involvement in preparations for the event netted more than £72 million. According to an independent study commissioned by Manchester City Council carried out by Cambridge Policy Consultants, estimates suggest an additional £12 million will be brought to the region each year from increased tourism.

Economy:
The North West economy has a GDP in the region of £77 billion a year, nearly 40 per cent of which is produced in the Greater Manchester area. Some 3.2 million people are employed in the region and unemployment has been steadily falling in recent years. In 1996, the ILO unemployment rate and claimant count rate stood at 8.6 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively, compared to 5.4 per cent and 3.8 per cent in 2001.

The North West continues to maintain a diverse manufacturing industry. Recently, the Ministry of Defence unveiled its proposals for the construction of two state-of-the-art aircraft carriers in the region. The project, said to be worth in the region of £2.5 billion was presented at the "Future Aircraft Carriers Northwest" seminar in Manchester. The carriers, which will have an operational life between 30 and 50 years, will generate approximately 10,000 - 15,000 man years of work. As such, it is hoped that the project will sustain many of the 20,000 jobs in British shipbuilding. With some 600 defence manufacturing firms in residence, the defence, aerospace and electronics sectors are sources of significant employment in the Northwest. Prime bidders for the contract are Britain's BAe Systems and the French-owned company Thales.

The region's aerospace industry supports some 60,000 jobs and produced in the region of £5 billion of output in 2000. Some of the leading companies located in the region include Airbus, BAE Systems and Rolls Royce. The North West is also home to the second largest digital industries cluster in Europe, employing approximately 64,000 people and contributing nearly £6.5 billion to the economy.

The North West is also at the heart of the UK chemical industry. In terms of size, this sector represents around 25% of the UK's chemical industry and sales are estimated in the region of £10 billion.

The region has a strong biotechnology sector with one of the greatest concentrations of biomanufacturing facilities and expertise in the whole of Europe. In fact, the Manchester University bioinformatics group, which according to estimations by IBM will be worth £30 billion by 2004, is second only in size and scope to the bioinformatics department at Stanford University in the US. Prominent biotechnology companies located in the area include AstraZeneca, Avecia, Aventis, Eli Lilly and GlaxoSmithKline.

The service sector is the region's largest employer and has grown rapidly in recent years, particularly with regard to transport, communications, hotels, catering and business services. The region attracts some 1.6 million overseas tourists every year and some 300,000 people are employed in the tourism sector alone. Manchester and Liverpool have both become important centres for financial and professional services and with the likes of MBNA, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Bristol Myers Squibb, IBM and Avis investing in the area, this sector is expected to grow by 50 per cent by 2010.

The North West is also the UK's main call centre region. Both Manchester and Liverpool have established Call Centre Forums, designed to facilitate communication across a network of operators and suppliers, identify and develop best practice policies and the sharing of ideas as well as the promotion of the Industry to the wider community. A number of major companies including the AA, Abbey National, BUPA, Barclays, British Airways, Cable & Wireless and Co-Operative Bank have established call centres in the region.

The region's agricultural sector employs less than 1 per cent of the workforce and contributes an estimated 0.7% to the region's GDP. Much of the agricultural activity takes place in Cumbria and Lancashire, which are home to around 37 per cent and 29 per cent of the North West's agricultural holdings respectively.

Local Infrastructure:
According to a report published by the Department for Transport in 2001, the North West handles just over 13 per cent of all aircraft traffic in Great Britain catering for nearly 22 million passengers and 152,000 tonnes of freight annually.

The two major airports in the region are Manchester International and Liverpool John Lennon airports. Manchester International Airport is the UK's largest airport outside of London and is home to more than 95 airlines flying to a range of international and UK destinations. Passenger numbers are expected to reach almost 41 million by 2015 and the airport's railway station places it within 20 minutes of Manchester city centre. Liverpool John Lennon Airport is one of the fastest growing airports in the UK recently benefiting from a new £32.5 million passenger terminal and recording an increase in traffic of 52% in 2001. It offers flights to 13 European destinations and handles in region of 2 million passengers a year.

The Port of Liverpool is one of largest in the UK handling approximately 30.5 million tonnes of cargo in 2001, over a third of which was oil. The port is benefiting from ongoing investment and recently opened two new river berths for Irish Sea roll-on/roll-off ferries. Redevelopment of the Royal Seaforth Container Terminal is also underway and 80,000 sq m of new warehousing and light industrial units are being created. The Port of Manchester extends 56 kilometres from the River Mersey to Salford dock basin along the Manchester Ship Canal. Approximately 9 million tonnes of freight travels along the canal every year.

The West Coast Main Line links the North West to Scotland and mainland Europe. It is currently being upgraded to allow trains to travel at increased speeds of 140 mph by 2005.

The North West is at the centre of England's motorway network and has the highest concentration of motorways in the UK. As part of the government's 10-Year Plan for Transport the region's road network is benefiting from significant investment. Improvements include the widening of the M60 and the upgrading of the A74 between Carlisle and Guardsmill. More than 16,000 road freight companies are based in the region, operating approximately 60,000 goods vehicles.

Local Workforce:
On average male employees in the North West work just over 41 hours per week and females just under 37.5 hours. Approximately 53 per cent of the North West's working population is educated to at least A level standard and only 11 per cent have no qualifications at all.

The region benefits from excellent education facilities with 5 Local Learning Skills Councils, 7 Business Link Operators and 22 Chambers of Commerce providing access to training and business development. It has one of the largest concentrations of educational establishments in Europe with 8 universities and 7 higher education colleges. The universities have a combined turnover of £1.2 billion and a £4 billion influence on the regional economy. The region has an overall net gain of graduates of 1.8 per cent when taking into account graduates' geographical location before entering into higher education.

Plans are also currently underway to bring together the University of Manchester and UMIST into a single institution. The proposal is designed to build on the extensive collaboration that already takes place between the Universities, and will create a world-class institution with over 31,000 students, 9,200 staff (of which 1,200 are working on research), and a turnover in the region of £430 million. The new University will play a key roll in driving forward the regional Economy and is part of a wider concept to develop Manchester as a knowledge capital, attract industry and commerce and contribute to Manchester's international profile. Once established, it is hoped that the move will ensure that the region is home to a world class research centre, teaching the widest range of subjects of any University in the UK and attracting the best academics from across the world.

Regional development policy recognises that not everyone will benefit from higher education and that the nature of employment is changing. It also recognises the need for new skills. For example, whilst manufacturing is still important to the Northwest economy, the region's service sector is rapidly rising, with 47.5 per cent of Northwest GDP coming from private services, and 17.5 per cent from public services, combining a notable total of 65%.

Business Costs:
The cost of office space in the North West compares favourably with much of the UK. A survey conducted by City University Business School and Actium Consult in 2001, gave Manchester a combined office rental and rate cost of £350.65 per annum per m2/per workstation, compared with £858.99 for the city of London, £439.92 for Edinburgh and £257.06 for Cardiff.

Standard operating costs for companies in the North West are also favourable. According to Knight Frank 2001, necessities such as office maintenance, equipment, cleaning and security can be as much as 350% higher in London.

Wage costs are lower than many parts of the country, with average earnings in the North West being approximately 92 per cent of the national average during 2001. According to the PION Report 2002, wages in the region can be as much as 12 per cent lower than in the South East.