Warrington – an economic powerhouse!

TWO independent surveys of national and regional business data rank Warrington firms at the top.
The Sunday Times/BDO has recently published its national Top Track 100 and Liverpool University has published its list of the North West’s top 200 businesses – and both prominently feature Warrington-based businesses.
In the North West, the findings of Liverpool University ranked the top 200 businesses by turnover.
The list of the top 10 best performing businesses is dominated by Warrington-based companies, with four included compared to only one each for neighbours Liverpool and Manchester.
It is a similar picture for the top 20 – Warrington has six
businesses listed, compared with Liverpool’s three and Manchester’s two.
A total of 17 Warrington-based businesses feature in the top 200 generating a combined turnover of nearly £19 billion.
The Sunday Times/BDO statistics of private companies based on sales show Warrington-based European Metal Recycling placed 9th, up from 14th in the previous year, with sales of more than £3bn and Warrington-based engineering recruitment consultancy Fircroft as a new entrant in 85th place with sales of £725m.
Fircroft grew its sales 29 per cent to £725m last year due to booming oil and gas sectors.
It provides technical staff and generates 80 per cent of its turnover overseas, having recently opened offices in Iraq, Norway, and Trinidad and Tobago.
These robust business statistics back up four other independent sets of statistics produced this year by Centre for Cities, Municipal Journal, Santander and Duport relating to the economic performance of the borough.
Leader of Warrington Borough Council, Cllr Terry O’Neill (pictured) said: “This is further good news for the town. We are one of the few locations in the UK where the economy is continuing to grow. We have ambitious plans in place to increase growth and build the economy even more.
“Our growth plan, Warrington Means Business, sets out our plans that will encourage enterprise, create jobs and opportunities for employment for the people of the town and protect our future”.
Steve Park, managing director of Warrington and Co – the borough’s partnership for driving growth, said: “Warrington has become a regional and national economic powerhouse.
“The local economy is performing well even during these austere times. Regionally and nationally Warrington is seen as the robust location of choice and we are rolling out our regeneration and development plans that will future-proof the local economy and consolidate and strengthen our position even further”.