Invest in Ellesmere Port Brochure

Ellesmere Port.
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Say hello to
Ellesmere Port.
The Ellesmere Port Development Board is a private led partnership formed at the end
of 2010 to create and develop a strategic framework for the future. The Board consists
of senior representatives from local companies plus key members from the public
sector. Our key objectives are to; attract and encourage investment in Ellesmere Port
to create local employment; make people proud of Ellesmere Port as a place to live,
work and visit. We are here to help you be part of the success story in Ellesmere Port.
Contents
04/05
06/07
08/09
10/11
12/13
14/15
16/17
18/19
Succeed
Invest
Develop
Connect
Learn
Shop
Relax
Relax some more
“Peel continues to work with proactive partners
to deliver major investment and regeneration
projects in Ellesmere Port. These projects
include Pioneer Business Park, Rossfield Park
and Ellesmere Quays – part of the longer term
transformation of the Town’s Waterfront. We
believe that Ellesmere Port has a great future.”
James Whittaker
Peel Land and Property
Our 7 point
Strategy
Transforming
Perceptions
Delivering
Employment Growth
Supporting Businesses
and Developing Skills
Rediscovering
the Waterfront
Delivering
Quality Housing
Connecting
Places
We aim to highlight the
profile of Ellesmere Port as a
fantastic investment location.
It is important to promote
the area’s development
land more effectively to
help existing companies
expand and to attract new
investment particularly in the
target sectors of automotive,
environmental technologies,
chemical, retail/leisure and
port/logistics.
It is essential to support
networking and collaboration
between existing local
companies and work with
schools and the college to
ensure local people have
the skills needed by these
businesses and the target
sectors.
Creating better links between
the Waterfront and the Town
Centre and the creation of
new residential and leisure
opportunities.
Improving the area’s housing
stock and creating quality
new housing options for local
people and new residents as
a priority.
We aim to ensure that
our existing facilities
and attractions are well
connected to make them
easily accessible to residents,
workers and visitors by both
public transport and car.
Transforming the Heart
of Ellesmere Port
The town centre needs to
fulfill its role as an attractive
shopping, service, leisure and
residential location.
Robert Mee
Chairman
Ellesmere Port
Development Board
04/05
Join our success story in Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port is one of North West’s key business locations.
Succeed with us.
15 million
560,000
250ha
consumers within a
30 minute drive
workforce located within
a 30 minute drive
of available employment
land on more than
40 sites
Situated on the banks of the River
Mersey in the west of the sub-region,
it combines a wide-ranging and
successful industrial and commercial
base with excellent shopping, leading
tourist attractions and beautiful
countryside nearby.
Ellesmere Port’s success has been built
on its excellent strategic location within the
Cheshire/Liverpool City region and North
Wales/Warrington/Manchester corridors.
Businesses looking to relocate to the area
are also well catered for, with a skilled
workforce of 560,000 people located
within 30 minutes’ drive time. There is
also 250ha of available employment land
on more than 40 sites in and around
the town, with further land in the area
designated to accommodate significant
numbers of new homes.
Ellesmere Port’s heritage as an industrial
powerhouse remains significant today. 20
per cent of local jobs are in manufacturing
- well above the regional and national
averages.
However, new employment uses
and state-of-the-art retail and leisure
developments, new green spaces and
modern housing, are an equally important
part of modern life in the town.
Key local sectors include chemicals,
energy, automotive, retail, distribution
and financial services, and the town’s
established business base includes a
number of international players, such
as GM Vauxhall and Essar Energy, and
cutting-edge technology companies
including EA Technology, URENCO,
Quinn Glass, Growhow UK and Innospec.
In addition, major leisure and retail
operators are represented by leading
brands such at Cheshire Oaks, The
Coliseum and the ever expanding Port
Arcades in the Town Centre.
Despite the demands of its thriving
economy, Ellesmere Port residents can
enjoy a rich network of open spaces and
waterways in the area including views
over the Manchester Ship Canal, the
Mersey Estuary, the Shropshire Union
Canal, Rivacre Valley, Stanney Wood
and Whitby Park.
This all makes Ellesmere Port an ideal
place in which to invest, do business,
live, work and play.
“Moving our headquarters to
Ellesmere Port has been one
of the best business decisions
West Cheshire College has
ever made. Its ease of access
by public transport and car has
increased those who use the
services of the College both as
learners and as customers to our
commercial outlets. There is a real
buzz about Ellesmere Port at the
moment because of the major
developments in the area and
we are delighted to be part of it.”
Sara Mogel
Principal
06/07
Join our success story in Ellesmere Port
Millions of pounds are currently being invested
in Ellesmere Port to develop the town’s business
base and enhance local facilities.
Invest with us.
One of the biggest individual projects
involves the creation of a new
£60-million Marks & Spencer store,
which will be the retail giant’s largest
outside London.
Another leading retail name, outdoor
clothing specialist Regatta, recently
announced the opening of a new
distribution centre at Pioneer Point that
will eventually employ over 250 people,
reported as the biggest commercial deal
outside of London in 2011.
Elsewhere in the town, £41 million has
been invested in the new state-of-the-art
West Cheshire College campus, and £20
million in the new University of Chester
Church of England Academy.
All this investment is helping to reinforce
Ellesmere Port’s reputation as a leading
business location which is already
reflected in the number of major names
based in the town.
They include GM Vauxhall - the largest
local employer - and Essar Energy, new
operators and investors in the massive
Stanlow oil refinery.
The Vauxhall plant was established in
1962, and now tops the company’s league
table for quality, productivity and efficiency,
a tribute to its committed workforce. The
Essar refinery is the second largest in
the UK and produces petrol, aviation
fuel and chemicals for detergents,
pharmaceuticals, adhesives and dyes.
Other important local employers include:
• Prowell GmbH, a German corrugated
cardboard manufacturer which runs its
UK distribution hub from the 210,000
sq ft Ellesmere Port Logistics Centre in
Pioneer Business Park.
•Speciality chemicals company
Innospec which manufactures
additives to improve the efficiency and
environmental performance of fuels,
as well as ingredients for toiletries,
detergents and fragrances.
•Urenco, an independent global energy
and technology group. The company
provides uranium enrichment services
for civil power generation.
In recent years, retail has become an
increasingly important element in the
Ellesmere Port economy, most notably
with Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, the
biggest shopping centre of its type in
Europe.
“As the owners of the Port Arcades
Shopping Centre, we have always
felt that it benefits from being at the
heart of a thriving local community
while having excellent access to
wider transport links. The recent
£4m extension to the Centre is a
reflection of the confidence we
have in the future of the town.”
£60 million
£41 million
Marks & Spencer store at
Cheshire Oaks
invested in the new
state-of-the-art West
Cheshire College campus
“The support that Vauxhall has
received from the local community
and the highly trained local
workforce are just a couple of the
many reasons why one of our most
efficient plants in Europe is based
in Ellesmere Port.”
Nigel Allen, Vauxhall
John Matthews
Asset Manager
Frogmore Estates
08/09
Join our success story in Ellesmere Port
Key schemes include:
Commercial property
1 Phoenix
Ellesmere Port’s wide range of business parks and
development sites provide choice and flexibility which
enables the town to meet the needs of all types of
businesses.
Develop with us.
North Road, Ellesmere Port CH65 1AL
High quality, fully fitted distribution
facility on 21 acres adjacent to
Junctions 6 and 7 of the M53
motorway. Availability from 150,000
sq ft to 405,000 sq ft.
2
to Liverpool
Hooton
Station
J7
J8
6
2
3
4
Little Sutton
Station
B5463
5
J9
Ellesmere Port
Station
Overpool
Station
Ince
Station
A41
B5132
3
1
Town Centre
Capenhursrt
Station
A5032
Cheshire Oaks
A5117
J10
M53
to A55 North Wales
M56
to Chester
J11
3 Rossfield Park
Rossfield Road North CH65 3BT
Size - 35ha
Office units up to 2,998 sq ft arranged
in village style in a landscaped
setting, close to Junction 8 of the
M53.
Major phased housing and mixeduse regeneration scheme. Around
1,000 new homes are proposed
alongside open space, transport and
community/healthcare facilities.
3 Newport Business Park
Newbridge Road, Ellesmere Port
CH65 4LZ
4
Ellesmere Port Waterfront
A550
Flat former airfield land adjacent to
the M53 and the GM Vauxhall plant.
River Mersey
Vauxhall
J6
1
Size - 28.7ha
Inward Way, Ellesmere Port CH65 3EN
14-acre development adjacent to
the M53. High specification units to
the front of the site with industrial
workspace to the rear ranging from
3,500 sq ft to 6,200 sq ft.
Hooton Road, Ellesmere Port
CH66 7NZ
J5
4 Oaklands Office Park
Eastham
Rake Station
CH65 4LD
2 Rossmore Business Village
M53
2 Hooton Park, South Road
ster
che al
n
a
M
an
pC
Shi
10-acre development in the
picturesque Cheshire countryside.
Phase 2 includes office units from
2,520 sq ft up to 10,080 sq ft. Phase 3
design and build opportunities up to
40,000 sq ft.
Development sites
1 Newbridge Road
CH65 4LY
Size - 60ha
Key site close to several successful
existing developments. Suitable
for a wide range of industrial and
commercial uses.
4 Ellesmere Quays
Waterfront CH65 1AB
Size - 28ha
Major residential and mixed-use
proposal includes new homes, leisure
and tourism-related development,
community facilities and an ecology
park. Part of the enhancements
proposed to the waterfront.
5 Ince Park
Elton CH2 4LU
Size - 51ha
Close to Ellesmere Port’s
petrochemical industry heartland.
Open development land suitable for
the requirements of cutting-edge
technology companies.
6 Pioneer Business Park
North Road, Ellesmere Port
CH66 1ST
Size - 23ha
23-acre of development land remains
on Cheshire’s fastest growing
business park. Parcels from 1 to 11
acres are available for uses which
included B1, B2, B8, fast food, hotel,
car showroom, petrol filling station,
convenience store, pub/restaurant,
crèche, health centre and community
centre.
“Our location just south of
Ellesmere Port provides us with
a great business platform. We
have access to a large pool of
talented labour, easy transport
links and of course a fantastic
quality of life being based in
Cheshire. Also, as much of our
business is now international,
being based just 45 minutes
from two international airports is
a huge advantage.”
Robert Davies
Group CEO
to M6 Preston
and Birmingham
M56
For further information on these sites and premises contact
[email protected], investinellesmereport.com, investincheshire.co
10/11
Join our success story in Ellesmere Port
A key feature of Ellesmere Port’s success as a place to
invest has been its strategic location – a third of British industry
and ten million consumers are within one hour’s drive.
Connect with us.
Linking directly to the M53 and close
to the M56 and M6, the town is easily
accessible from the motorway network,
and a short distance by road or rail
from Chester, Liverpool, Warrington and
Manchester. The A55 also provides
quick and easy access to North Wales,
Anglesey and the Port of Holyhead.
Road
Chester 10 minutes
Warrington 20 minutes
Liverpool 20 minutes
Manchester 45 minutes
Birmingham 2 hours
London 3.5 hours
Glasgow 3.5 hours
Rail
Sea
High-speed direct Virgin Pendolino
trains travel from Liverpool, Chester and
Runcorn to London on the West Coast
Main Line. The frequency of the service
to London is at least hourly, with a journey
time of around two hours.
Ellesmere Port has its own commercial
port facilities linking to the Manchester
Ship Canal and the River Mersey. There
are also close links to the freeports at
Birkenhead and Liverpool, the UK’s
largest free zone.
A comprehensive local rail system also
operates between Liverpool, Ellesmere
Port and Chester.
The town’s location and infrastructure also
mean it will be able to play a key role in
the emerging plans to create a Liverpool
SuperPort integrating the strengths of the
ports, airport and freight community in
the area.
Air
Ellesmere Port is fortunate in being close
to both Manchester Airport - the busiest
airport in the UK outside the London
region - and Liverpool John Lennon
Airport.
There are 30-minute drive times to both
airports which link the region to the rest
of the world. In the UK, flight times
from London to Manchester are just 55
minutes.
Superfast Broadband
55 mins
20 mins
flight time to London
by car to Liverpool
“Following an intensive property
search we identified Pioneer
Point at Ellesmere Port which
is close to the Port of Liverpool,
a major gateway for goods
from Asia. Our site is near to
the motorway which gives great
access for domestic carriers too. The commissioning stage of our
operations in Ellesmere Port is
an unquestionable success. We
look forward to establishing the
site as a centre of excellence
for our business.
We expect SFB to be available in
Ellesmere Port by early 2013.
David Holt
Regetta
12/13
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Companies have access to a skilled workforce, with a good
proportion of potential employees having NVQ4 or NVQ3
standard qualifications.
Learn with us.
More than 320,000 management and
professional grade staff live within a
30-minute commute of the town.
Education and training facilities in the
area are first class. For example, West
Cheshire College - recently assessed
as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted - offers a
wide range of vocational training and
development opportunities for young
people and adults.
They include an outstanding apprentice
scheme and world-class training, tailored
to meet employer needs.
The college’s new £41-million, stateof-the-art campus includes business/
conference facilities, incubator business
units and learning areas similar to real
working environments, for example a
replica aircraft cabin for travel and tourism
students.
A further £20 million has recently been
invested in the University of Chester
Church of England Academy’s new
building in Ellesmere Port, which will
provide outstanding facilities for its
specialism of maths and sport with
performance.
The town also benefits from its proximity
to the University of Chester, one of the
oldest higher education institutions in the
country. It has more than 14,000 students
and is highly regarded in a number of
subject areas including teacher training,
management, media studies and IT.
Ellesmere Port residents and businesses
also have access to Cheshire’s three other
university campuses (in Warrington, Crewe
and Alsager), and the county’s six other
further education colleges.
The sub-region also benefits from being
close to the world-class universities of
Liverpool and Manchester, which are
centres of research excellence in more
than 20 subjects.
320,000
£20 million
50,000 students a year graduate from
universities across the North West as
a whole, including 31,000 science,
technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) graduates.
management and
professional grade staff
live within a 30-minute
commute
has recently been
invested in the University
of Chester Church of
England Academy’s new
building in Ellesmere Port
A number of Ellesmere Port organisations
also offer sector-specific training linked
to the strengths of the local economy.
They include the Cheshire Oaks Retail
Academy (CORA), MacDonald Humfrey
(automotive) and TTE (chemical,
petrochemical, pharmaceutical and
energy).
14/15
Join our success story in Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port can justifiably claim to be a North West
retail hotspot, with recent arrivals including Mulberry,
Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Audi and a flagship Marks &
Spencer store – the company’s largest outside of London.
Shop with us.
The recently completed Asda store
is the largest in Cheshire, while the
town’s Indoor Market and Port Arcades
Shopping Mall continue to thrive.
Cheshire Oaks is home to around 145
shops, plus its associated food and drink
outlets, and attracts more than seven
million visitors a year.
However, Ellesmere Port’s best-known
retail claim to fame is Cheshire Oaks,
the largest discount shopping village of
its type in the country and the adjacent
Coliseum Leisure Park including brands
such as Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Armani
and Ted Baker
The Coliseum has a range of large outof-town retailers including Next, Boots
and Argos. Its leisure offer includes the
popular Blue Planet Aquarium, 20-screen
Vue Cinema, bowling alley, entertainment
arcades, two nightclubs, more than ten
restaurants and the new 77-bedroom
Travelodge Hotel opening in 2012.
Strategically located close to the M53/M56
motorway intersection, these two schemes
have sub-regional appeal as a shopping
and leisure destination.
Ellesmere Port is also within easy reach
of the major retail centres of Manchester,
Liverpool and its closest neighbour,
Chester.
The increasing importance of the retail
element in the town’s economy has
been reflected in the creation of the
Cheshire Oaks Retail Academy (CORA),
a partnership initiative between Cheshire
Oaks owners McArthur Glen, West
Cheshire College, Jobcentre Plus and the
local authority.
This aims to develop the skills and
expertise of the town’s workforce to
ensure that residents are in a position
to benefit from new jobs created in this
thriving local sector.
145
20 screen
shops at Cheshire Oaks
cinema at the Coliseum
Leisure Park
“Cheshire Oaks Designer
Outlet has been trading very
successfully from its location
in Ellesmere Port for over 17
years and was the first purpose
built Designer Outlet in the
UK. The location of the centre
was chosen specifically for
it excellent transport links,
accessibility for visitors travelling
from key catchments areas.
Mark Schofield
Deputy Centre Manager
Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet
16/17
Join our success story in Ellesmere Port
The vision for the Waterfront will see the most
exciting transformation of Ellesmere Port in the
town’s recent history.
Relax with us.
The Waterfront scheme, focused
initially on the historic port and
surrounding areas, includes improved
links to and from the town, a new
promenade, thousands of new homes,
a redeveloped National Waterways
Museum and new shops, restaurants
and bars.
Ellesmere Port also offers a wealth of
facilities for shopping, nightlife, culture
and leisure activities. For a town with
a population of 82,000 people, it is
remarkable for being home to the
country’s largest discount shopping
village and the biggest Marks & Spencer
store outside London.
A lively marina, a new ferry link and more
opportunities for boating, canoeing and
fishing are also part of the vision for the
waterfront of the future.
It also has two major visitor attractions
- the National Waterways Museum and
the Blue Planet Aquarium - and two other
tourist hotspots are just ten minutes’ drive
away in Chester.
Elsewhere, affordable housing is
fundamental to the great quality of life on
offer in Ellesmere Port.
A wide range of property is available in
urban, suburban and rural settings, from
starter homes for young couples to luxury
executive dwellings, all at a price below
the national average.
One is the Roman walled city itself,
which welcomes nine million visitors
a year thanks to a renowned cultural
heritage which includes the city walls, the
cathedral, the Roman amphitheatre and
the Roman gardens.
The second is Chester Zoo, the UK’s
number one wildlife attraction, where
a collection of 7,000 animals from 400
species attracts more than one million
visitors a year.
Other family attractions within easy reach
of Ellesmere Port include Jodrell Bank
Discovery Centre, Spaceport at Wallasey,
Gulliver’s World at Warrington and the
Catalyst science discovery centre at
Widnes.
There are also many stately homes and
other historic properties and gardens in
the area including Ness Botanic Gardens,
Tatton Park, Dunham Massey Hall, Arley
Hall, Cholmondeley Castle, Norton Priory,
Little Moreton Hall and Port Sunlight
Village.
Ellesmere Port residents also have easy
access to a number of Cheshire’s highprofile events including the RHS Flower
Show at Tatton Park, the Cheshire County
Show, the Chester Food, Drink and
Lifestyle Festival and the Chester Mystery
Plays.
3,000 km
4
5
of footpaths through
beautiful, varied
countryside.
Premiership football clubs
within a 30 minute drive.
Championship golf
courses within a
45 minute drive.
18/19
Join our success story in Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port and the surrounding Cheshire
and Wirral area is a great place to play sport or
take part in physical activity.
Relax some more...
Cheshire and Wirral is a walker’s
paradise, with 3,000 kilometres of
footpaths and other public rights of way
through beautiful, varied countryside.
Chester is home to Britain’s oldest
racecourse which hosts a superb season
of first class racing, show jumping and
polo in the heart of the historic city.
Overall, however, it is Ellesmere Port’s
strategic location which makes such a
significant contribution to the local quality
of life.
The county also has the second highest
sporting participation rate in England, with
hundreds of clubs and facilities to cater for
every taste, from basketball to boxing and
from fencing to football.
Motor racing fans, meanwhile, can head
to the Oulton Park circuit which hosts a
number of major car and bike events
each year.
Residents have easy access to Cheshire’s
wide range of attractive market and mill
towns and to Liverpool, with its museums,
galleries, theatre, music and nightlife.
Football enthusiasts are also well
catered for. Four Premiership clubs Liverpool, Everton, Manchester United
and Manchester City - have their home
grounds less than an hour way from
Ellesmere Port.
A little further afield - but still within easy
reach - are the castles, historic houses,
scenic railways and family attractions
of North Wales, and the big city buzz
of Liverpool and Manchester.
For golf enthusiasts, the area has some
of the most naturally challenging courses
in the country. They include the Royal
Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake which will
host the British Open Championship for
the 12th time in 2014.
There is also topflight rugby in the
area with both codes well represented.
Warrington Wolves and Widnes Vikings fly
the league flag while Sale Sharks are the
leading rugby union team.
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