Government to tempt Chinese investors with £5bn of Northern Powerhouse projects

The investment opportunities vary from huge residential schemes to new infrastructure projects.

They include the 2,000-acre Advance Manufacturing Innovation District in Sheffield, the 1,000-home Pall Mall scheme in Liverpool city centre and MediaCityUK in Salford, where plans are afoot to double the size of the scheme with the addition of new studio, residential and retail space. 

The pitch list also includes Unity in Doncaster, which is a major regeneration and infrastructure project that will create 3,100 new homes, a transport interchange, and a school.

The full list comprises:

• Kampus, Manchester: Investment in Henry Boot Developments and Capital & Centric’s £200m mixed-use scheme in Manchester city centre
• Future Carrington, Trafford: Investment in a scheme from developer HIMOR that could deliver up to 1m sq ft of commercial space and 900 homes.
• Liverpool Waters, Liverpool: A land sale that will form part of Peel Holdings’ £5bn project to transform the city’s northern docks.
• Kirkstall Forge, Leeds: An opportunity for investment in developer CEG’s new neighbourhood project that will comprise 1,050 new homes, 300,000 sq ft of offices and 100,000 sq ft of retail, leisure and community space.
• Sirus Minerals, Polyhalite Project, Whitby, North Yorkshire: Investment in the first potash mine to be built in the UK for over 40 years, with a full production capacity of 20m tonnes per annum, directly creating more than 1,000 new jobs.
• MediaCityUK, Salford, Greater Manchester: Peel Land & Property and Legal & General’s landmark scheme that houses the BBC, ITV and others. The project needs a further £1bn investment for an extra 2.3m sq ft of space.
• AeroCentre, Doncaster: The next phase of a development to create new offices, logistic units and aviation hangars for Sheffield airport.
• Pall Mall, Liverpool: Investment in a major regeneration project delivering 1,000 new homes and 400,000 sq ft of office space alongside retail, leisure and community facilities.
• Protos – Ellesmere Port, Cheshire: An energy project with investment opportunities in gas-fired power generation, energy generation, industrial development, and rail and berth infrastructure, generating over 3,000 new jobs.
• Stockport Exchange, Stockport: A chance to fund Muse Development’s project that will deliver a 50,000 sq ft spec office building and hotel that will operate under the Holiday Inn Express brand.
• Unity, Doncaster: A major regeneration and infrastructure project that will create 3,100 new homes, a transport interchange, school, and community uses. There is also an opportunity to invest in commercial space for manufacturing uses, 6,000 new jobs, a new power station and a materials recycling facility.
• Vaux, Sunderland: Investment in a regeneration scheme providing offices, leisure, a hotel, residential and retail space.
• Advance Manufacturing Innovation District, Sheffield: Investment in a 2,000-acre centre of excellence for advanced manufacturing in metals and materials. Over 4,000 new homes will also be created in the district. 

The list was whittled down from an initial bank of more than 40 schemes, which were submitted by all of the local enterprise partnerships in the North of England to the government.

The investments are open to international investors, and will be showcased to Chinese investors this week as the country’s vice-premier Ma Kai and his delegation meet with Theresa May and Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

“These real-time and market-ready projects will build on the successes of the Northern Powerhouse region, which has for centuries been a global hub of commerce, science, technology and innovation,” said international trade secretary Liam Fox.

“Setting out opportunities like these show to Chinese investors, and to the world, that the UK remains open for business.”