Government going further and faster to bring growth to Wales

Working people and businesses across Wales are to benefit from reforms to drive investment and get Britain building. The Chancellor has committed to going further and faster to put more money in working people's pockets across Wales and deliver on the UK Government's Plan for Change. 

Below sets out specific benefits for Wales as a result of the Chancellor's decisions today (29 January).

Wrexham and Flintshire Investment Zone 

• Having confirmed funding for the Investment Zones programme at Autumn Budget, the government can now confirm that the Wrexham and Flintshire Investment Zone (IZ) will focus on advanced manufacturing.
• There are major international businesses in the region including JCB and Airbus, which the IZ will support, as well as the wider advanced manufacturing supply chain in the region. At present the IZ is expected to generate £1bn of private investment, creating up to 6000 new high quality jobs.
• The IZ's interventions will be focused around sites in: 
  • Deeside and Deeside industrial estate which houses Tata Steel and Toyota; 
  • Hawarden Airport, where Airbus are based; 
  • Llay Industrial Estate – which houses a number of key aerospace businesses; and 
  • Wrexham Industrial Estate – which houses a wide range of advanced manufacturing business, including JCB. 

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

• The UK government is investing £63m into the Advanced Fuels Fund in 2025-26 and has today set out the details of how it will deliver a Revenue Certainty Mechanism to encourage investment into this growing industry. These measures will encourage more investors to back production in the UK, bringing good, high-skilled jobs to areas like South Wales.

Inactivity Trailblazers

• Getting more people back into work is crucial if we want a dynamic economy, and it is good for jobless people too. Over nine million people are inactive, of which a record 2.8 million people are out of work due to long-term sickness. The outdated employment support system is ill equipped to respond to this growing challenge.
• We have committed £240m of investment towards 16 trailblazers including one for every MCA and one in Wales to tackle the root causes of inactivity, eight of which will be used to support the Youth Guarantee, the remaining eight will be focused on tackling health-related inactivity.
• The Inactivity trailblazers will be delivered across Wales.

National Wealth Fund Support

• The government remains committed to working in close partnership with the Welsh Government through the National Wealth Fund to maximise investment opportunities to deliver growth in all corners of the UK.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said:

I'm delighted that we are moving forward with the Investment Zone for Wrexham and Flintshire with £160 million from the UK Government to drive economic growth in advanced manufacturing.

In December I met leaders from the advanced manufacturing sector at Toyota in Deeside and visited two hugely successful supply chain businesses. I saw the huge potential for growth and for building on the talent and expertise that already exists in this part of Wales.

This Investment Zone will super-charge economic growth, create up to 6000 new jobs and generate £1bn of private investment which will have a transformational impact for people living and working in northeast Wales.

The Chancellor is also reviewing the Treasury's investment guidance in the Green Book to ensure it is being used to provide objective, transparent advice on public investment across the country, reporting at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

Pushing forwards with strategic infrastructure and investment across all four corners of the UK is key to delivering the UK Government's Growth Mission. Bringing the productivity of major cities to the national average would deliver an extra £33bn in economic output, and measures set out today extend beyond this to kickstart a decade of national renewal.

This is just the start, and further regional growth announcements will follow through the year. The government is hardwiring plans for regional growth into the Spending Review, and into plans for infrastructure, investment and the industrial strategy. The UK Government is also working with the Welsh Government to ensure the benefits of growth can be felt across Wales, including by partnering on the Industrial Strategy to support Wales's considerable sectoral strengths.

Tim Knowles, Founder and Managing Director of FI Real Estate Management, said: 

As an investor in Wrexham for almost 20 years, we're delighted to see the announcement that Wrexham and Flintshire will receive Advanced Manufacturing Investment Zone status, with three of our schemes on Wrexham Industrial Estate – Wrexham 1M, Wrexham 152, and Bridgeway Centre – forming part of the designated zone.

Across these sites, we'll be investing £115m to create new, high-quality industrial accommodation, supporting the creation of over 1,000 new jobs and delivering an estimated economic value of £1.2bn in Wrexham over the next 10 years.

This is a significant milestone for North Wales, and we look forward to working in partnership with stakeholders to leverage this opportunity for strategic investment in the area, helping to supercharge the region's advanced manufacturing sector.

In collaboration with local authorities and wider stakeholders, we need to ensure that we capitalise on all the opportunities this moment brings. We've long recognised the potential for North Wales to become a thriving hub for innovation, and we're excited that our developments can play an important part in this next chapter.

Mark Turner, JCB's Chief Operating Officer said:

JCB has been a prominent feature of the industrial and economic landscape in Wrexham and Flintshire for over 45 years. Innovation is the lifeblood of our business and we welcome the creation of an Investment Zone in North Wales and hope that it will attract many other businesses to the area. As an advanced manufacturer of precision engineering components, JCB Transmissions looks forward to other advanced manufacturing businesses coming to the area. This could go a long way towards building the supply chain resilience of existing manufacturing businesses in the area, such as JCB.

We place a lot of values on skills in our business and we look forward to the Investment Zone positively supporting skills development in the future. JCB continues to invest in our business in Wrexham and today's IZ announcement bodes well for the economic development of the area in the future.