Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirms £160m investment zone in North Wales to go live next year

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told North Wales Live that the £160m north east Wales investment zone will go live next year. The zone - which is also backed by Welsh Government - will cover Flintshire and Wrexham.

UK Government support for the zone was first confirmed in the autumn Budget last year by the Conservative chancellor Jeremy Hunt. That was subject to business case approval and now the Prime Minister has said this investment should be in place by 2025.

The new status is expected to leverage an additional £1.7 billion of investment for the area and help create thousands of new jobs. Wrexham and Flintshire Councils have played a prominent part in the campaign to secure the zone status.

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The Investment Zone will focus on the important cluster of advanced manufacturing businesses in Flintshire and Wrexham to enable the sector to thrive, expand, and increase skills and wages.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was visiting Airbus Broughton today, told North Wales Live: “Wales is brimming with potential, and its world-leading industries are engines for growth and opportunity.

"I am determined to fast-track our support for Wales’ growth, and the Budget showed this government’s steadfast commitment to boosting opportunity by backing Investment Zones across Wales’ towns and cities, alongside Freeports on the Welsh coast.

“Today we’re going further by confirming that £160 million in UK Government support for the Wrexham and Flintshire Investment Zone is expected to go live next year. This will crowd in private investment and build on the skills and strengths that already exist in the area, including the key industries and world-renowned research institutions like Wrexham University, Bangor University, and AMRC Cymru.

“This joint initiative with the Welsh Government is great news for Wales. It’s also an excellent example of two governments working together in close, meaningful collaboration and the real change that our partnership can have on lives of working people across the UK.”

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