{"id":646004,"date":"2025-12-21T09:48:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T09:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/646004\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T09:48:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T09:48:18","slug":"transformational-north-wales-investment-zone-given-official-go-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/646004\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Transformational’ north Wales Investment Zone given official go-ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The leaders of Flintshire and Wrexham Councils \u2013 Cllrs Dave Hughes and Mark Pritchard<\/p>\n

Alec Doyle<\/strong>, Local Democracy Reporter<\/p>\n

Two north Wales counties have been given an early Christmas present after the UK and Welsh Governments officially confirmed the launch of the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Zone.<\/p>\n

The news, announced on Friday 19 December, comes after Flintshire County Council\u2019s Cabinet joining Wrexham County Borough Council\u2019s Executive Board in signing off on the first major grant programme connected to the zone \u2013 the SME Manufacturing Grant.<\/p>\n

The 10-year Investment Zone programme will see key sites in Flintshire and Wrexham including the Deeside Gateway, Deeside Industrial Park, Wrexham Industrial Estate and Warren Hall near Broughton designated as low tax zones for advanced manufacturing businesses, with exclusive access to grant funding and support.<\/p>\n

It will also open up funding for apprenticeship and education programmes to ensure that the local workforce in North East Wales is trained and equipped to offer the skills those businesses need, aiming to make the region a specialist advanced manufacturing hub.<\/p>\n

It is anticipated that by utilising \u00a3160 million of UK and Welsh Government grant funding, the Flintshire\/Wrexham Investment Zone will generate around 6,000 jobs and \u00a31 billion of investment.<\/p>\n

Leader of Wrexham Council and Chair of the Ambition North Wales Corporate Joint Committee \u2013 the strategic body co-ordinating the project \u2013 Cllr Mark Pritchard said: \u201cBy focusing on Advanced Manufacturing, Innovation, Skills and Infrastructure, the Investment Zone will play a vital role in driving sustainable economic growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will help create high-quality jobs and strengthen the region\u2019s position as a powerhouse for advanced industry in Wales, and I\u2019m delighted that the UK and Welsh governments have given their formal approval. This is the start of a really exciting journey for Flintshire and Wrexham.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cllr Dave Hughes, Leader of Flintshire County Council, added: \u201cThis is a hugely positive step. The new Investment Zone will give us a platform to attract new investment, ideas and opportunities \u2013 supporting businesses, creating jobs and inspiring the next generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlintshire and Wrexham already have an incredible base of innovative, world-class manufacturers, and the Investment Zone will allow us to build on this and help unlock the region\u2019s massive potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

Major boost<\/strong><\/p>\n

Welsh Government\u00a0Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, Rebecca Evans, said the launch of the zone was a major boost for Wales.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Flintshire and Wrexham Investment Zone will support the delivery of our Economic Mission by attracting major investment, creating thousands of well-paid jobs and cementing the region\u2019s reputation as a hub for advanced manufacturing and innovation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis announcement is the culmination of extensive partnership working by regional partners and government. It presents a huge opportunity to unlock growth and deliver significant benefits for businesses and communities in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UK Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens said the Investment Zone would \u2018supercharge\u2019 the regional economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK Government is investing \u00a3160 million in this Investment Zone to supercharge economic growth, drive private investment and create thousands of new well-paid jobs which will put money in the pockets of people in north Wales,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is huge potential for growth and for building on the advanced manufacturing expertise that already exists in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted that we are moving forward with the programme which will have a transformational impact for people living and working in north East Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n the people of Wales.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The leaders of Flintshire and Wrexham Councils \u2013 Cllrs Dave Hughes and Mark Pritchard Alec Doyle, Local Democracy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":646005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,4884,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-646004","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115756932982882606","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=646004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/646004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=646004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=646004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=646004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}