Today it is thriving with 1,425 companies and a highly skilled workforce of around 45,800, reaffirming the area’s reputation for dynamism, enterprise and industrial excellence.
Eleven years ago, however, the picture was quite different with the park in severe decline. In an attempt to halt this regression, the government established Trafford Park Development Corporation (TPDC) in February 1987.
With a brief to “secure the economic and physical regeneration of the Trafford Park Urban Development Area”, the Development Corporation has been responsible for some 1,146 hectares (2,750 acres) stretching from Manchester City Centre out to the M63 motorway as well as the former British Steel site at Northbank, Irlam.
Over an 11-year period the Development Corporation has breathed new life into the world’s oldest industrial park, attracting £1.75 billion of private sector investment and nearly 1,000 companies, leading to the generation of some 28,000 jobs. New infrastructure legacy In 1987, the roads into and around Trafford Park were clearly inadequate for the purposes of the park’s companies, many of which depended on efficient transportation links.
Eleven years on and TPDC has completed its infrastructure programme. Some 47.4km (29.4 miles) of new and upgraded highways have been completed, in addition to another 72.2 km (44.9 miles) of improved footpaths.
One of the most important road schemes is the new Eastern Spine, which will help connect the park with the city centre. This forms the third and final phase of the three-spoke road network, following the enhancement of the southern gateway via Parkway to the M63 and the construction of the new northern gateway in the form of Centenary Way, linking Trafford Park with the M602 thanks to the opening of Centenary Bridge. The bridge is the first low level opening bridge to be built over the Manchester Ship Canal since its construction in 1894.
In addition to the new bridge and upgraded roads, footpaths and cycleways, the Development Corporation has released necessary land required to assist with bringing Metrolink through Trafford Park.
Creating jobs TPDC has exceeded the targets set in 1987, particularly in terms of investment and, more importantly, the number of jobs which have been attracted. While the physical side of regeneration – roads, buildings and environmental improvement schemes – are important, the Development Corporation viewed them as means to an end, putting great store in companies employing people and creating job opportunities. The key aspect was to give local unemployed people the chance to compete for the jobs generated. That link between jobs and the unemployed was central to the Corporation’s approach.
Training packages
In addition to attracting 28,300 new jobs since 1987, the Development Corporation has supported 14,245 training places for local people. It concentrated its efforts on offering both new and existing companies training packages to encourage them to recruit from the pockets of high, long-term unemployment around the borders of the Trafford Park area. Investment success
Figures show that Trafford Park continues to be one of the UK’s most successful business locations. US companies Photronics and Omega Engineering both constructed new European headquarters.
Photronics, the world’s leading manufacturer of photomasks, a key element in the production of semi-conductors, has built a 3,900 sq m hi-tech facility on Wharfside, and at Northbank Industrial Park the first two phases of Connecticut-based Omega Engineering’s complex are also now ready.
A bright future
When Trafford Park Development Corporation winds up in March 1998, key responsibilities will be passed to other organisations such as the local authorities, Manchester TEC and Manchester Investment and Development Agency Service (MIDAS).
Trafford Park now faces the next 100 years better equipped to resume its role as a leading international business location TPDC announced that during 1997: l new/converted development amounted to 84,600 sq m (910,800 sq ft) l more than £369 million of private sector investment was attracted l 100 companies moved into the Trafford Park area