Halton Borough Council

• Situated between the conurbations of Liverpool and Manchester, Halton has direct access to five million people within a twenty-five mile radius, and can offer an impressive range and choice of land and premises within the M62 and M56 motorway corridors.

• Halton is within easy reach of Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester International Airports, and the Port of Liverpool. It is also served by the West Coast Mainline railway and Trans-pennine high-speed rail links.

• The area offers an unbeatable workforce, which is skilled, productive, adaptable and committed, fully supported by customised education and training facilities.
• For choice and availability of affordable, quality sites and premises in prime locations, Runcorn and Widnes are hard to match.
• Within the borough, there are sixteen major industrial areas and three principal retail areas. Industrial premises range from small starter units through to freehold premises in excess of 100,000 ft squ. Similarly, the choice of offices extends from small, managed spaces through to prestigious developments accommodating over a thousand staff on a single site.

Assistance and Support For New Business Investors

The Council's Business Development Team are the interface between the Halton Borough Council and the business community, with regard to a broad range of business support services.

The Team manages approximately 300 investment enquiries each year, both from companies already based in the borough who are seeking to expand, and from companies wishing to move into the borough. The service is unique to the requirements of each company and can provide advice and guidance on grant support, development and planning issues, transportation issues and recruitment.

The Team act as a single point of contact, helping companies to access the help and assistance provided by other council departments and a range of external agencies.

The Council maintains a database, which details all office, industrial and retail units and development land currently marketed by numerous commercial property agents in Halton. The Team will undertake a free bespoke search to satisfy individual commercial property requirements of any company based in the borough, or wishing to move to Halton.

The Business Aftercare Programme, delivered by the Council and supported by the Mersey Partnership and North West Development Agency, provides a one-to-one support service for all large (250+ employees) and all foreign-owned companies in Halton.

A dedicated Investor Development Manager will look after the needs of each company on an individual basis and assist UK subsidiaries of foreign-owned and large companies to access all the assistance that is available to them.

Existing Business Base

Halton has long been renowned as a centre of excellence for the chemical industry, but other major sectors also power the economy, including food and drink, pharmaceuticals, clothing, metal engineering, distribution, telecommunications and financial services.

Key sectors:

• Chemicals
• Professional Services
• Logistics
• Construction
• Information and communications technology
• Pharmaceuticals

Leading global employers in Halton include O2 (telecommunications), Ineos Chlorvinyls and Ineos Fluor (chemicals), Atos Origin (IT provider), Fresenius Kabi (healthcare), TEVA Pharmaceuticals, Stobarts (Logistics) and Evolution Studios (Sony) (gaming software).