STEVE Park, chairman of Warrington and Co, talks manufacturing in his latest column.

MANUFACTURING activity is on the up which is great news for the economy, especially in Warrington.

November showed the fastest growth in the sector in nearly three years and it was the eighth successive month of growth in manufacturing.

Warrington is a town traditionally built upon manufacturing; historically, steel- particularly wire, textiles, brewing, tanning and chemical industries.

As times and technologies have changed our entrepreneurs have adapted and our key business clusters now centre around the energy sectors, precision engineering, telecoms and software, distribution and logistics and business support services.

Albeit diminished in scale, manufacturing is still vital to the UK economy and it is vital to the Warrington economy too.

The days of the UK leading the world as a mass manufacturer are long gone, but where we excel is in innovative precision manufacturing and in engineering knowledge.

Here in Warrington, Hiden Isochema based at Gemini are a prime example of a manufacturer producing world class, precision, high-tech measuring equipment.

Making sure that manufacturing companies are able to recruit local people is essential not just in ensuring their continued presence in Warrington but also in growing the wider local economy.

Early in the New Year we will be launching a Skills Forum that bring employers and skills providers together to ensure students have the skills needed by industry to grow the economy.

I hope to provide updates on this throughout 2014.

We are working hard with business to maintain and help grow our manufacturing core and at Warrington & Co we are a key partner in Chester University’s £10m bid for a University Technical College.

This new facility will specialise in nuclear and engineering skills and would be a significant boost for the manufacturing future of the town. We’ll hear the outcome next month.