Economy
Widnes continues to be an industrial town and its major industry is still the manufacture of chemicals although there has been some diversification in recent years. In 2006 a new freight park, known as the 3MG Mersey Multimodal Gateway, was opened in the West Bank area of the town. This provides a link for freight arriving by road, air or sea to be transferred to the rail network. It is expected to create up to 5,000 new jobs. In 2010 the first phase of Stobart Park, a "multimodal logistics service for warehousing and distribution", and part of the Stobart Group, was opened. This consists of a 520,000 square feet (48,000 m2) refrigerated warehouse for Tesco.
In October 2011 it was confirmed that a detailed funding agreement for the Mersey Gateway project had been signed off by Government. The project is to build a new six lane toll bridge over the Mersey between the towns of Runcorn and Widnes that will relieve the congested and aging Silver Jubilee Bridge. It is foreseen that the new route will become a major strategic transport route linking the Liverpool city-region and the north west to the rest of the country and will also support sustained growth at Liverpool Ports and Liverpool John Lennon Airport and improve business productivity throughout the Mersey corridor. Due to the complexity of the project, and the potential for bidders to propose different technical, financial and legal solutions, Halton Council will use the procurement regulations’ competitive dialogue procedure to procure the project. The procurement process is expected to take two years, with a final contract being awarded towards the end of 2013.
There has been considerable development of shopping areas in the town. The Greenoaks Centre, a mall which was opened in 1995 is adjacent to the long-established Widnes Market which has both a market hall and an open market. Also adjacent is a Morrisons supermarket. In the Simms Cross area an Asda supermarket opened in 2004. A new shopping development, known as Widnes Shopping Park, opened on 18 March 2010, the flagship store being a Marks and Spencer shop. Other businesses involved in the development are Next, New Look, Boots, River Island and British Home Stores. The Outfit out-of-town chain outlet incorporates fashion brands, including Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Topman, Wallis and Burton. Other businesses included in the development are Wilkinson, Costa Coffee, Halfords, Gala Bingo and KFC.
In Autumn 2011 construction began of a Tesco Extra 24-hour store. The glass fronted 120,000 sq ft store has been built on the old B&Q site next to Ashley Way and was opened in March 2012. The store was built on stilts allowing a car park to be built underneath the store for around 600 cars.
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Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“It enhances our sense of the grand security and serenity of nature to observe the still undisturbed economy and content of the fishes of this century, their happiness a regular fruit of the summer.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)