Wigan Works is Wigan Council’s strategy to create new jobs, attract investment, develop skills in the workforce and improve infrastructure to boost growth. As the second most populated local authority area in Greater Manchester Wigan Borough is a key player in the making of a Northern Powerhouse. Wigan Borough has 320,000 residents and includes the large towns of Wigan and Leigh along with smaller towns of Ashton-In-Makerfield, Atherton, Tyldesley, Standish and Golborne. Wigan is ideally located for business between Manchester and Liverpool and is at the heart of the motorway network. It has excellent rail links to London, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham and is also well located to Manchester Airport, Liverpool John Lennon Airport and the Port of Liverpool and the Manchester Ship Canal, which handle more than 40 million tonnes of cargo a year. The Wigan Works vision is to create a place where people want to invest, live, work and visit. This will be achieved through the council’s business support teams to support business growth, investment in up-skilling the workforce and apprenticeships and development of a digital and physical infrastructure that enables the borough to reach its potential. Wigan Council’s Business Engagement team can be reached on: business@wigan.gov.uk, 01942 489190 or visit the Council’s website www.wigan.gov.uk/businessengagement.