About Us
Our core purpose is to maximise the region’s competitiveness to
build a stronger economy.
Competitiveness is the key to England’s Northwest economic
success – the essential element in the development of our region’s
businesses, its people and its places.
We work to maximise the region’s competitiveness, delivering
effective responses to both short-term challenges and longer-term
opportunities. We do this by supporting the region’s
businesses, by assisting new startsups, by
encouraging investment in the
region, by leading the region’s £119 billion
economy in innovative
and sustainable
directions and by delivering real opportunities for
the seven million people who live within our boundaries.
We use our economic expertise to shape the growth opportunities
of important industry
sectors and help guide the development of the skills needed
to match our economic ambitions.
Our investment is carefully targeted at initiatives that unlock
the widest possible economic benefit. Our work is set out in
the Regional Economic
Strategy. We are currently developing a new single
Regional Strategy called RS2010.
Find out more about our areas of
work.
Regional Development Agencies
The NWDA is a Regional Development Agency. Regional Development
Agencies are Government-funded public bodies set up by the
Government in 1999. (Except for the London Development Agency,
which is a functional body of the Greater London Authority and was
established in 2000.)
There are nine Regional Development Agencies in England: the
NWDA; Yorkshire Forward; ONE North East; East Midlands Development
Agency; East of England Development Agency; London Development
Agency; South West of England Development Agency; South East
England Development Agency; and Advantage West Midlands.
Regional Development Agencies were set up to help improve the
quality of life and economic prosperity in the English regions.
They aim to achieve this through driving economic development and
regeneration, developing business competitiveness and improving the
skills base.
RDAs work with the Government but are independent of party
affiliation.
As a business-led organisation, the NWDA provides a crucial link
between Government policies and the needs of the region’s
businesses. It is our job to create an environment in which
businesses in the region can flourish.
Find Out More