LEADING THE REGION

2008 marks another significant and successful year for both the NWDA
and the region as we make important progress in driving forward our
strong ambition for England’s Northwest – to continue the transformation
of our economy.

The SNR calls for a stronger, more strategic
role for RDAs, and is designed to strengthen
the importance of economic priorities at a
regional, sub-regional and local level. In many
ways it reflects the strengths of our existing
approach in the Northwest and our strong
relationships with business, Government Office
for the North West, the North West Regional
Assembly and Local Authorities.
Here in the Northwest we have already
begun to take the first steps in developing and
implementing an integrated regional strategy
for economic development, planning,
housing and transport. Working with partners,
we are currently agreeing clear priorities for
the region and identifying how we can
strengthen capacity where needed to deliver
economic development.
It is clear that the secret to the region’s
success thus far has been down to
determination, setting clear priorities and
strong partnership working. I’m pleased that
many of our partners in the region continue to
share this ambition and vision for the
Northwest. I would like to thank you for your
ongoing support in helping to make this vision
a reality.
The progress of the region over the past 5
years has been remarkable. Our major cities
have experienced unprecedented growth and
we have created over 180,000 new jobs and
secured £2.4 billion of private sector
investment. We have been able to achieve this
because as a region we have agreed our
priorities and have been determined to deliver
on these.
The Agency’s strong focus on providing
strategic leadership has played a vital role in
ensuring we create new economic
opportunities and tangible results for the
regional economy. As outlined in the
Regional Economic Strategy (RES), it is clear
that the focus on investing in significant
transformational projects is already
paying dividends and impacting positively
on our economy.
April 1st marked the start of an important
period for the Agency in terms of
strengthening our strategic leadership role as
we took responsibility as Chair of Chairs for
the 9 Regional Development Agencies. This
requires the Agency to act as the direct link
into central Government on behalf of the whole
RDA network until October 2008.
The Chair of Chairs period will be
challenging, however it will also give the
Agency greater impact at a national level, a
higher profile and added responsibility for
agreeing new goals and targets that will
determine activity in the Northwest and
throughout the country, particularly as the
Government’s Sub-National Review (SNR)
takes shape.

Bryan Gray,
Chairman,
May 2008