Delegates from Cheshire West and Chester Council will be in Leeds next week sharing an exhibition stand at UKREiiF with Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington Cheshire East Council and Warrington Borough Council to showcase investment opportunities across the region.
The UK's Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum is an annual event attracting national and international investors and developers. The event takes place over three days May 20 to 22 at the Royal Armouries Leeds and Leeds Dock.
This year’s event expects to welcome over 16,000 people to the event attracting over 1,750 investors hearing from 1,250 speakers and over 150 exhibitors.
Councillor Nathan Pardoe, Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy, Regeneration and Digital Transformation said: “We are returning to UKREiiF this year with new investment opportunities across our region and a strong track record showing significant growth over the past 12 months.
“The first phase of Chesters Northgate development was completed last year and preparations are progressing well for phase two that will welcome new housing into the historic city centre. We have started construction of a new history centre in Chester, one of two buildings to house the precious archives collection. Our regeneration projects in Ellesmere Port, Winsford and Northwich are all underway.
“We are based at stand XX where delegates can hear more about ORIGIN, Ellesmere Port. The Industrial property market in Cheshire West and Chester has seen a significant 116 percent increase from 2019. Overall, 120,136 sqm of transactions took place across 43 deals throughout 2024. 73 percent of the total floorspace was in Ellesmere Port.
Chester Northgate
The Council will be discussing future phases of Northgate with developers. The Northgate Regeneration Area is in the heart of the historic centre of Chester, creating a regeneration opportunity of approximately 2.7 hectares.
The area sits alongside the completed Northgate Phase 1 which opened in November 2022, delivering a new destination indoor market hall, cinema, multi-storey car park, commercial and business units and a new public realm. Alongside that is the highly successful Storyhouse Theatre which includes Chester’s main library.
The guiding principles for future development, are for high quality design and innovative solutions for the spaces and enhancing accessibility throughout the area.
This phase could be a distinct area with a contemporary feel, whilst still complementing and respecting the historic, cultural, and mixed-uses of the city centre.
The next phase will look to develop potential uses for the area including residential, commercial, leisure, educational, and cultural. Quality public spaces and a clear movement pattern for pedestrians in and around the area with strong linkages to adjacent areas (particularly through from Watergate Street to the Northgate Phase 1 area and to the Cathedral) will underpin the area’s attractiveness and performance.
The scheme will be looking to generate social value and community benefit, maximising the opportunities for Chester to develop as a learning city, and as a place to live, work and play.
ORIGIN Ellesmere Port
ORIGIN was launched in 2023 at UKREiiF ; delegates from across the UK and worldwide will be able to hear the latest news from the Ellesmere Port Industrial area and the world leading green technology that is shining a spotlight on the region.
ORIGIN Ellesmere Port has 1,300 businesses supporting employment for 24,100 people. There are four distinctive development zones, which have attracted over £750 million investment to date including Regatta, Jaguar Land Rover / DHL, Westland Horticulture, Marks and Spencer, ESSAR, Peel (Protos), URENCO, Cheshire Oaks, Thornton Science Park. The ORIGIN area forecasts an increase to 1,463 businesses, providing employment for 30,000 people by 2040.
ORIGIN boasts transformational projects now under development to respond to the Climate Emergency. Most significant is HyNet, an industry-led initiative to develop world-leading Carbon Capture Usage and Storage and Hydrogen Power.
Essar EET
Essar Energy Transition (EET) is creating the UK’s first low carbon process refinery at ORIGIN Ellesmere Port. EET plans to invest US$ 2.4 billion in developing a range of low carbon energy transition projects over the next five years.
EET has taken over the Thornton Science Park to transform the 66-acre site into a hydrogen and carbon capture facility.
EET Hydrogen, will deliver 1.35 gigawatt (GW) of blue hydrogen for the UK market, with follow-on capacity set to reach 4GW. The investment programme will play a major role in accelerating the UK’s low carbon transformation, supporting decarbonisation and creating highly skilled employment opportunities.
Fulcrum
Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc., is a clean energy company pioneering the creation of renewable, fuels from landfill waste, a £16.8 million grant from the Department for Transport Advanced Fuels Fund is supporting development of Fulcrum NorthPoint, a residual waste to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) facility located at the Essar Complex in Ellesmere Port. The plant is expected to have the capacity to transform about 600,000 tonnes of residual waste into approximately 100 million litres of low-carbon SAF per year when it enters operations in 2027.
Protos
Protos in Ellesmere Port connects energy intensive businesses with sources of low carbon energy. Advanced Biofuel Solutions Ltd (ABSL) is developing its first large-scale industrial plant, situated in the Protos energy park.
ABSL have a Joint Development Agreement with Greenergy to develop, construct and operate up to five waste-based biofuel plants in the UK. The first plant in Protos will convert 133,000 tonnes of waste into biomethane or biohydrogen for use in HGVs or buses.
Together, the five plants would replace millions of litres of fossil petrol and diesel used in transport fuels, saving 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, with the output of the plants sufficient to power 5,000 HGVs.
Amongst others, Encyclis is currently moving forward with an industry-leading plan to develop the UK’s first energy from waste facility with carbon capture. The Encyclis facility is a key addition to the Protos hub, bringing together innovative technologies and connecting energy-intensive businesses with sources of low-carbon energy. The hub has the potential to support over 3,000 jobs, with over £700m invested in the local area.
Stellantis
ORIGIN hosts the UK’s first manufacturing plant dedicated solely to electric vehicles, producing the Stellantis group’s all-electric small van (It is also the first Stellantis plant globally dedicated to electric vehicle manufacturing). The Plant has been transformed for EV production following £100 million investment. The first car produced in Ellesmere Port was the Vauxhall Viva, in 1964, Stellantis will become an electric-only brand by 2028.
Delegates to UKREiiF can hear about the future investment opportunities across ORIGIN and the region.
Added Councillor Pardoe: “We launched our 2025 Property Review earlier this month and look forward to sharing the headline transactions with developers and investors in Leeds showcasing what the borough can offer from industrial land, office space and transport links.”