Wirral Council Leader, Cllr Steve Foulkes told a packed audience of business leaders that together they were on the right track to creating a strong and dynamic Borough but there were still significant challenges to overcome.

Cllr Foulkes, who was speaking at the Invest Wirral annual conference, held at The Floral Pavilion Theatre and Conference Centre on Tuesday 1st November, outlined the work that the Council is doing to encourage investment into the Borough through opportunities such as the £4.5bn Wirral Waters development, including the Peel International Trade Centre (ITC) which received planning permission in September.

On the same day that a new 90,000 sq ft Asda superstore opened in the heart of Birkenhead creating hundreds of jobs for local people, Cllr Foulkes spoke of the need to tackle Wirral’s low job density rate (57 jobs for every 100 of the population) by supporting existing businesses to grow.

Cllr Steve Foulkes, Leader of Wirral Council said: “We have big challenges to face but they are challenges that I, as Leader of Wirral Council am determined to meet. I want Wirral to be a place where entrepreneurship is encouraged, where jobs and wealth creation are championed and where, above all else, is a great place to invest, work and live. It is why we will continue to support Peel in their attempts to attract investment for Wirral Waters and also why we have introduced a number of new business support measures for our existing businesses such as The Wirral Apprentice, The Wirral Intermediate Labour Market, a new Social Enterprise Team and a Business Angels network.

“Our business support is, I believe, targeted in ways that we can use our resources and connections to make a positive difference to the private sector and we are determined to make Wirral the most business friendly area in the country.”

Over 300 representatives from the Wirral business community attended the conference and heard presentations from Asif Hamid, Chief Executive of Birkenhead based The Contact Company and Acting Chair of the Liverpool City Region LEP, aswell as Wirral Council’s Chief Executive Jim Wilkie who outlined further the Council’s business support measures and Andy Leach, Chief Executive of The North West Fund who spoke about raising finance for business.

The conference was organised by Invest Wirral the Council’s business support team. One of the team’s main aims is to build on and strengthen the links between the Local Authority and the private sector and a key tool in this mission has been the further development and enhancement of the Invest Wirral Business Forum. Forum membership now stands in excess of 2000 and is proving to be a real hit with the local business community. The Forum is FREE and sign up is easy, simply visit www.businesswirral.com and follow the brief registration process.