About Britain's Energy Coast /
West Cumbria is a unique place with assets that are of global importance.
The sub region has the reputation of a world-leader in nuclear energy, with wide-ranging expertise in skills ranging from decommissioning and environmental remediation to engineering and manufacturing. In the 1950s West Cumbria became home to the world’s first industrial nuclear power station. Today Sellafield is home to 50 per cent of the UK’s civil nuclear workforce and 36 per cent of the UK’s civil nuclear industry.
Traditional industries, such as mining and steel making have also played an important role in shaping West Cumbria. Places such as Workington were dominated by these industries, but over time have had to adapt to the changing economic landscape and have branched out into other fields such as commerce and retail. The very nature of West Cumbria’s history and relative isolation means that it boasts some of the closet and friendliest communities to be found.
It is not just heavy industry that has an impact in West Cumbria. The sub-region boasts mile-upon-mile of stunning coastline encrusted with Georgian gems such as the town of Whitehaven and Maryport. The coastline, doubled with the close proximity of the world-famous Lake District National Park means there is huge potential for tourism.
GEOGRAPHY
Britain’s Energy Coast™ stretches from the former tourism hot spot of Silloth in the north to Barrow-in-Furness in the south It holds a population of around 150,000 people living in an area characterised by large, sparsely populated rural areas with small urban centres and three large towns, Whitehaven, Workington and Barrow-in-Furness.
Part of West Cumbria lies within the Lake District National Park – a world class tourist brand. However, it also represents a physical barrier between West Cumbria and key markets in the North West and North East. The area is a designated Strategic Regional Site – providing a strong innovation ecosystem and centre for knowledge transfer at West Lakes Science and Technology Park, south of Whitehaven.
West Cumbria is remote from large settlements and is 40 miles away from the M6 and the West Coast Mainline rail links. The A595 is the main road link north (an hour from Whitehaven to Carlisle) and south (to Barrow). The A66 links both Whitehaven and Workington by road to the east and the most direct route to the M6 and West Coast Mainline Rail links.
ECONOMY
West Cumbria is a £2.8 billion economy. The area’s economic performance is driven by the dominance of the nuclear industry and the restructuring of older manufacturing industries such as manufacturing and ship building.
There is a higher than average representation of employment in manufacturing (including nuclear) and research and development. Between 2000 and 2005 manufacturing declined by 28 per cent and public administration by 13 per cent, with growth focus in business services and tourism related activities.
Growth in economic output has been slow, reflecting a decline in manufacturing output and the relatively low representation of financial and professional services. Recent economic data suggests that things are improving, not least due to considerable public investment over a sustained period. The latest data shows that Gross Value Added (GVA) in West Cumbria grew by 5.3 per cent (2003-4) compared to 5.7 per cent in the North West.
West Cumbria has a stable and growing business base. There are around 6,200 employers in West Cumbria employing 55,000 people, with lower start up rates but also lower levels of business failures than the regional average. Economic activity rates and employment rates are also slightly higher than the regional average. Benefit counts for West Cumbria are also lower than for the region as a whole.
Information on average earnings and average income levels gives a mixed picture – reflecting high earnings within the nuclear sector, but low earnings elsewhere, together with the presence of higher than average numbers of relatively wealthy older people who have chosen to live or retire near The Lake District.
In the later part of the 20th century perception that the nuclear industry, manufacturing and engineering did not provide attractive employment prospects led to a significant exodus of young people, although there is some more recent evidence that this exodus is slowing down. West Cumbria’s population declined by 2.8 per cent between 1991 and 2001, with a disproportionate loss of 30 per cent of young people over the same period.
The cluster of nuclear and related manufacturing and engineering activity at and around Sellafield in Copeland has earnings and output levels closer to the regional average. But the long-term nature of contracts in the sector, and the only very recent opening up of new opportunities and markets, has meant that skills levels, wages and output have not yet grown in the same way as the wider region and UK.
The current changes in the nuclear sector, from immediate opportunities in the £300 billion global decommissioning market to the longer term solutions for waste and new build, provide West Cumbrian businesses and people with the economic opportunity to transform economic performance, if the skills and techniques can be attracted and developed to enable them to engage in the new markets successfully.
West Cumbria is the UK’s most important location for nuclear and related advanced engineering, with around a third of the UK’s civil nuclear sector. The nuclear industry provides around 40 per cent of West Cumbria’s GVA. The Sellafield site accounts for over 12,000 direct jobs. There are also 2,630 indirect jobs with the combined total accounting for 22 per cent of West Cumbria’s workforce and 47 per cent of Copeland’s.
The last three years have seen above average increases in house prices and increasing demand for high quality housing from incoming people responding to the change in the nuclear sector. This has led to growth in renting and real estate. Construction has also seen strong recent growth as has the hotel and restaurant sector.
