A landmark partnership to connect the Northern Powerhouse and the Midlands Engine has been agreed by seven local authorities and two Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).
The Northern Gateway Development Zone aims to create 120,000 new jobs by 2040, deliver more than 100,000 new homes and unlock new growth and investment opportunities in the region.
The Northern Gateway Partnership is a collaboration of seven local authorities – Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Stafford , Staffordshire, Staffordshire Moorlands and Stoke-on-Trent - and the Cheshire and Warrington and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEPs.
The two LEPs have also signed a concordat committing them to work together to to deliver sustainable targeted growth and optimise the benefits of HS2 investment.
Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEPs chairman, David Frost, said: ‘Staffordshire and Cheshire are in a pivotal location at the heart of the UK, linking the Midlands Engine with the Northern Powerhouse.
‘This innovative new partnership represents a great opportunity with massive potential by working together to benefit local people by bringing jobs and growth to our area.’
