[T]rudy Harrison MP welcomed the Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth, Jake Berry MP to Copeland to highlight the area’s innovation, nuclear excellence and the priorities requiring investment.
Sponsored by Morgan Sindall, the event welcomed around 60 manufacturing and nuclear based companies along with Gen2, Lakes College and local secondary schools.
Copeland MP, Mrs Harrison, said: “The Northern Powerhouse is about boosting growth across the North, I want Government to understand just what our community is achieving in terms of world leading innovation. This area has more nuclear skilled people and businesses than anywhere else in Britain, countries across the globe look to our exceptionally safe supply chain with envy, yet we were not really featuring in the Northern Powerhouse strategies, I want to change that.”
Technologies developed to solve the complex decommissioning challenges at Sellafield are increasingly being deployed internationally, there remains huge untapped potential to grow this market especially as we leave the EU.
Following a summer of business visits, Trudy said: “decommissioning offers colossal opportunity, not just nuclear but also in the oil and gas industry. I am incredibly proud of the skills in this community.
“Of course, we are more than nuclear here in Copeland, so it was super to have Millom’s Tornado Wire showcase their growing company, which also exports agricultural fencing around the world, including camel, deer and even tiger fencing. It was also great to welcome Copeland’s Mayor, Mike Starkie.”
The well attended supply chain event followed a visit to Whitehaven’s harbour to view the £320,000 Old New Quay scheme, which saw £272,000 injected from the government’s Coastal Communities Fund.
In February, the Government launched the £400m Northern Powerhouse Fund for SMEs across the north, while £3.4 billion of investment through growth deals directly to the Northern Powerhouse has been provided to locally determined projects in a bid to boost economic growth.
In 2015, the North West was the fastest growing English region, while in the past year employment in the Northern Powerhouse rose at a faster rate than the UK average.
