John D Blackburn
This study looks at all companies registered in North West England and where their total assets are more than £6,500,000.North West England consists of the five counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The region has a population of 7 million and 3.5 million jobs.There are two large conurbations centred on Liverpool and Manchester.The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the key movers and shakers in the corporate sector. Only key data has been isolated, particularly the company’s net worth and total assets, but also their full name, date incorporated, registered office, activities, shareholders, directors (with date of birth, occupation and nationality) and number of employees.Two indicators of size are used: net worth and total assets. These are preferable to turnover which is influenced by profit margins and whether the companies are capital or labour intensive.A short summary of the corporate sector in North West England:The region generated £165 billion GVA in 2016, exceeded only by London and the South East. This made the region the third-highest contributor of all the UK regions. The region’s growth was 1.3% but still below the national average of 1.6%.There are many pockets of high growth within the region: parts of Cheshire and Greater Manchester, Warrington, and Blackburn and Darwen grew at a higher than average rate.The region’s strategic importance to the government’s Northern Powerhouse programme has attracted public and private sector investment.The value of construction work in the region jumped to more than £4.6 billion for the three months to August 2018, up £600m or 15% compared with the same period in 2017. Total construction output in Great Britain increased 1.5% for the period year on year, making the region’s growth 10 times higher than the average.Manchester is ranked number one for city centre growth and jobs: population growth (2002-2015) was 149%, and jobs growth (1998-2015) was 84%. Greater Manchester has one of the highest number of business start-ups per 10,000 people out of all UK cities.
