Steve Rotheram this week told a round table meeting with Halton business leaders, that the borough had a key role to play in the area’s economic future. The meeting was organised by Halton Chamber of Commerce and brought together a broad range of local businesses from the engineering, renewable energy, leisure, manufacturing and professional service sector.

The gathering that was also attended by the leader of Halton Borough Council, Rob Polhill included a lively Q&A session with the Metro Mayor, who outlined his vision for a dynamic and successful City Region.

The Metro Mayor commented:

“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 Queens 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 high-skilled and rewarding jobs for local people.”

The discussion revealed strong support for the new Metro Mayor’s aim to raise the profile of the City Region and co-operate more closely with Greater Manchester 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 City Region and a more co-ordinated approach to marketing and attracting investment.

Speaking on behalf of the local businesses in attendance, Dr Peter Cook, Chairman of Halton Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, said:

“This was a great opportunity for Halton businesses to meet with the new Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region. 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.”