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Flintshire economy update

Published: 13/01/2022

Flintshire’s Cabinet will be asked to agree the findings of a report on the Flintshire economy when it meets on Tuesday, 18 January.

Flintshire’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Councillor Derek Butler, said:

“Businesses in many sectors of the economy have faced an extremely challenging period due to the combined impacts of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. Disruption to trading due to Covid, supply chain problems and difficulties in recruiting staff have all tested the resilience of businesses.

“Despite the challenges that many businesses are facing, the economy of Flintshire has remained resilient as a whole and it has maintained its strong competitive position compared to other parts of Wales.”

The difficulties that businesses have faced with recruitment have highlighted that many young people in the region do not take advantage of the high quality careers that are available to them locally and further work is needed to raise the profile of excellent opportunities that are available locally and regionally. 

Although the town centres in Flintshire generally have fewer empty shops, the Council needs to work closely with businesses in town centres to better understand conditions for them and to ensure that support is provided to meets their needs.

The report also highlighted the need to increase the availability of properties and sites to help businesses to invest in the County as there remains a steady flow of interest to capitalise upon. The Council intends to submit proposals to the UK Government Levelling Up Fund to modernise commercial units to attract further business investment.

The report summarised the work being done across the region by both the North Wales Economic Ambition Board and the Mersey Dee Alliance to secure additional resources to help the economy to recover from the pandemic and lay the foundations for future success.