New partnership formed to promote Rochdale’s £600m growth

Steve Marsh, Carol Hopkins, Richard Tang, Steve Rumbelow, Councillor Allen Brett

A new partnership of leading Rochdale businesses, including Zen Internet, Tetrosyl and The Casey Group, has joined forces to promote the borough’s growth, which is set to total more than £600m per year, with the creation of 19,000 new jobs.

The partnership was officially launched in front of various business leaders from across the region at Zen Internet’s Rochdale HQ on Wednesday 17 January, where they heard about the borough’s remarkable growth story.

With over £200 million invested in the area over the past five years, and hundreds of new businesses set up over the past seven years, the borough has gone from strength to strength.

This growth is expected to continue under the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, which will bring 15,500 new homes, create 19,000 new jobs and increase the borough’s GVA by over £600m per year.

The event was opened by Founder and Managing Director of Zen, Richard Tang, who said: “I’d like to thank you all for the good work done in Rochdale, and thank you all for contributing to the programme.

“We have launched the 'Rochdale Prospectus' as part of the Rochdale ambassadors to tell the world the good news about Rochdale and encourage businesses to invest in Rochdale.

Zen, which employs 450 staff members, was set up in 1995 by Mr Tang, and has a £64m turnover.

Speeches were also given by board members Chief Executive of Rochdale Borough Council, Steve Rumbelow, and Paul Dixon, of Molesworth Bright and Clegg, plus Daniel Nolan, Managing Director of PR agency Eword, Steve Marsh from Boulting Environmental Services (BES) and Rochdale Development Agency’s Carol Hopkins.

Mr Rumbelow said: “Businesses are in a fantastic position to sell Rochdale. They recognise that Rochdale is a good place to do business from and put Rochdale on the map.”

Mr Dixon added: “I started two-year apprenticeship as a lawyer here in Rochdale. What kept me here? The town is unique: greenbelt forms 75% of the land, we have fantastic countryside, Hollingworth Lake which produces Olympic sailors, a rich heritage, amazing schools, restaurants and pubs, plus a great community. It was all of this, and yet none of it that kept me here. It was the people: they are friendly, honest, industrious.

“There is something special in a town like Rochdale which was built by the people, which can make changes and a difference whilst being part of the town. We didn’t hesitate: help us tell the world how good it is to live and work in the north west’s best-kept secret, because that’s what Rochdale is.”

Mr Marsh told of the success of BES, which was established in 2002 and is based at Sandbrook Business Park. The company provides some of the leading pharmaceutical companies such as Glaxo-Smith Kline (GSK) and AstroZeneca with specially designed constructions for specialist facilities such as clean rooms and laboratories across the whole of the UK. The company is now looking to expand with a satellite office in the south east, plus potential work overseas.

The new partnership of businesses will work in collaboration with the Rochdale Development Agency to further promote the borough and drive additional inward investment, as Rochdale seeks to attract more success stories to join the likes of ASDA, JD Sports, FootAsylum, Eddie Stobart and Argos, who already base operations in the town.

With a huge regeneration programme currently underway in the town centre, even more businesses are expected to invest in the local area in the near future.