by Stephen Chapman
A new £5.6m programme has been launched to help SME manufacturers use the latest digital technologies.
CW4.0 will offer free hand-on support and local R&D to companies in Cheshire and Warrington.
The programme is open to manufacturers at every stage of digital transformation, from those needing to understand how emerging technology can benefit their operations, through to businesses further along the adoption curve looking to trial and implement cutting-edge tech - including sensor technology, advanced scanning, 3D printing, robotics, artificial intelligence and data analytics.
The programme is the successor to LCR4.0, which ran for 3 years and supported more than 300 SMEs in the Liverpool City Region.
Sarah Townsend
The company has said it is fully committed to its operations at the Ellesmere Port oil refinery, including plans to decarbonise its activities and produce sustainable fuel there, despite reports that the company is nearing collapse.
Essar Oil UK, which bought the 2,000-acre Stanlow Oil Refinery at the Cheshire enterprise zone from Shell in 2011, has been in urgent discussions for weeks over efforts to stabilise its finances, Sky News reported on Friday.
Whitehall officials have reportedly been warned of the company’s declining financial position amid fears it might be close to collapse. Further talks are due to be held this week.
Sarah Townsend
Work can officially start on the first Northern leg of the UK’s high speed rail project after the proposals were enshrined in law on Thursday.
Local stakeholders including Cheshire East Council, the Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership and lobby group Transport for the North welcomed the granting of Royal Assent to the HS2 Phase 2a Hybrid Bill, which contains legislation governing the part of the network to be built between Birmingham and Crewe.
The Act of Parliament cements in law the Government’s commitment to this section of the route, following prior approval of the first phase of the project in 2017.
27 Jan 2021, 10:20
The Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership said it is unlikely to attend the four-day property expo in Cannes, despite organiser Reed MIDEM maintaining the event will take place in June as planned.
A spokesperson for the LEP said: “No formal decision has been taken, but there appear to be a lot of challenges to overcome if we were to attend.”
Instead, MIPIM 2020 was incorporated with the company’s other related events in Paris last September.
Then, last October, it was decided that March 2021 would be too soon for this year’s expo because of the effects of the pandemic and the event was rearranged to take place from 7 to 10 June.
Sarah Townsend
A scheme to deliver 125,000 sq ft of employment space across 13 industrial units at Artis Park has received a £5m loan from the Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership to spur its delivery.
The financing is the first loan the Cheshire & Warrington Development Fund has made since it appointed real estate consultancy CBRE’s investment advisory team, (part of CBRE Capital Advisors) to manage the fund in early 2020. This was a follow-on to the North West Evergreen Fund and was announced in March.
The £10m industrial scheme is being delivered by a joint venture between the development arm of Eric Wright Group, Maple Grove, and Kier Property Developments.