More than £100m of investment in Rochdale – the ‘powerhouse of Greater Manchester’

Posted by on 3 Dec 2015

Almost 500 new jobs and £113 million of investment have been brought to the borough of Rochdale during 2015. The new jobs and investment are a sign of growing confidence in Rochdale, which is seeking to become the best place for business in Greater Manchester, and were secured through Rochdale Borough Council projects to boost business in the borough. Work on new warehouse developments totalling 723,000 square feet, including two new speculative £18.5 million plots at Kingsway and two at Heywood Distribution Park with a combined value of £18 million, has also started - which is another sign of the confidence large companies have in the borough.

The council’s Rochdale Development Agency has supported businesses to access more than £1m of grant funding, while the number of apprentices has risen faster in Rochdale than anywhere in Greater Manchester.
Council leader Richard Farnell said: “We are the best-connected borough in Greater Manchester and working hard to make sure that businesses know that we want to be the best place to do business in Greater Manchester. We’ve heard a lot about the Northern Powerhouse this year – we want to be the powerhouse of Greater Manchester.

“We have worked very hard to secure a huge amount of investment during 2015, which has led to the creation of hundreds of new jobs, but we want to keep that momentum going and make our borough the best place for business in the region.”

Companies including car care giant Tetrosyl and engineering firm Riley and Sons have announced moves to the borough, 14 new stores (including a new restaurant) have moved to Rochdale town centre after taking advantage of the council’s £100,000 business rates sale, and Marks & Spencer and Next confirmed they will be the anchor stores in the new Town Centre East shopping development.

Hong Kong-based property development company G Suite was recently given the go-ahead to convert the 200,000 sq ft Warwick Mill in Middleton after working with the council to secure the site and get its plans for a global business hub agreed.

Steve Rumbelow, the Chief Executive of Rochdale Borough Council, said: “The level of private sector investment confirms the growing confidence investors have in the borough, with huge amounts of investment in both Kingsway Business Park and Heywood Distribution Park, as well as the recently announced support for the town centre development.

“We saw a marked increase in inward investment during 2015 and that brings with it greater wealth and opportunity. The fact that we are seeing companies from overseas working on projects that will create hundreds of jobs shows that Rochdale has real strengths.”