THE economy in Cheshire and Warrington is showing no signs of slowing down - cementing its position as an economic powerhouse.

It continues to be the second highest performing economy in England, outside of London, with average income per head rising by an impressive 3.3 per cent and the overall size of the economy now worth £32.48bn.

Released last week, the latest 2018 Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that for every resident goods and services are produced worth £34,896, the second highest in England outside of London, and growing at a faster rate than the rest of the North West of England.

The Cheshire and Warrington economy continues to outpace that being achieved across the majority of England and is now bigger than those of Sheffield, Leeds and Birmingham.

Christine Gaskell CBE DL, chair of Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), said: “Cheshire and Warrington’s economy is continuing its strong performance, with all three local authority areas positively contributing to consistent and sustainable growth.

"The LEP, together with our partners, are forging ahead with plans to grow our economy, by focusing on our key strengths in high-value manufacturing, clean energy and life sciences.”

The data comes as the LEP prepares to launch a £30m skills programme early in the New Year, which is set to benefit almost 20,000 residents and in turn improve the performance of businesses.