Event Summary
NorthFold: Delivering growth across Wigan and Bolton | Summary + gallery
Transformation is coming to Greater Manchester in the form of NorthFold, a far-reaching strategy to deliver £356m to the UK economy by 2035 through leveraging the current strengths and future potential of Wigan and Bolton.
One of the most exciting projects in the city region, NorthFold (formerly the Wigan-Bolton Growth Corridor) was the focus of a Place North West conference held on 27 November at Bolton’s Toughsheet Community Stadium.
Representatives from Bolton Council and Wigan Council, along with prominent private sector leaders, provided a general overview of NorthFold, highlighted how companies can get involved, and outlined the scheme’s delivery strategy.
The NorthFold event was sponsored by Bolton Council, Wigan Council, and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. It was chaired by Place North West editor Julia Hatmaker.
Expert speakers
- John Clapham, chief operator officer at University of Greater Manchester
- Anna Dawe, chief executive of Wigan & Leigh College
- John Heaton, managing director of the Heaton Group
- Sue Johnson, chief executive of Bolton Council
- Richard Knight, director of strategy and planning at Peel Land
- Cllr Nick Peel, Leader of Bolton Council
- Audrey Peers, head of business development at MIDAS
- David Proctor, assistant director of planning and regeneration at Wigan Council
- Aidan Thatcher, director of place at Wigan Council
- Kevin Whitmore, director at Cavendish
- Mel Wilson, director of infrastructure and real estate at Deloitte
Cavendish’s Kevin Whitmore was not particularly impressed by chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget, which had been revealed the day prior to the NorthFold event. Credit: Place North West
Budget reactions
- Those attending not impressed by Budget – popular words used to describe it where “underwhelming,” “disappointing”, and “uninspiring”. There were some fans though, with a few people describing it as “stabilising”, “reassuring”, and “encouraging”.
- Whitmore described it as “an old-fashioned Labour budget” due to its inclusion of higher taxes and welfare spending
- Labour’s decision to backdown on changes to landfill tax was praised
- Leeds City Fund was highlighted as a potential gamechanger if rolled out elsewhere if the business retention zone model is rolled out across the country allowing the mayors a chance to collect taxes and use it on what they think their communities need
READ MORE: Main takeaways from the Budget as Reeves promises to rebuild economy
NorthFold by the numbers
- £356.3m GVA
- £239.9m additional annual household spend
- £25.1m additional annual visitor spend
- £7.3m annual business rates
- 6m sq ft of industrial
- 312,200 sq ft of offices
- 215,300 sq ft F&B
- 96,900 sq ft of retail space
- 86,100 sq ft of educational space
- 43,100 sq ft of gym and indoor sports use
- 21,000 new population
- 16,500 new jobs
- 9,000 new homes
- 600 hotel beds
Leader Cllr Nick Peel and Sue Johnson represented Bolton Council at the event, while David Proctor and Aidan Thatcher spoke for Wigan. Credit: Place North West
Delivering NorthFold
- There is a 10-year plan to deliver NorthFold
- NorthFold includes six catalyst projects:
- Bolton Town Centre regeneration – £1bn masterplan to grow the population by 5,000 and introduce more leisure, hospitality, commercial, and residential space
- Wigan Town Centre regeneration – A series of projects that includes the £135m Fettlers scheme that includes a hotel, market hall, and 400 homes; as well as the £180m revamp of Eckersley Mill into a thousand homes, a food hall, and thousands of square feet of office space
- Haigh Hall – A £44m project to revamp the historic building into an event space, gallery, and café
- Hulton Park – A £250m initiative to build 1,000 homes, a school, hotel, and internationally renowned golf course
- Health Innovation Bolton – Set on more than 800 acres, this is a public health innovation zone with 2.7m sq ft of health-led employment space and thousands of homes
- NorthFold Food Innovation Centre – A proposed national cluster for food innovation and advanced manufacturing that pulls on the area’s strong ties to food giants Heinz and Warburtons
- Work is already being done to turn NorthFold into a reality, especially in the town centres where construction is well underway on the £135m Fettlers in Wigan and enabling works set to begin at Crompton Place in Bolton.
- Infrastructure is paramount, with work being done to introduce an East-West link road as well as improvements set to be made at railway stations in Wigan
- Change in politics should not impact NorthFold, according to Bolton Council Leader Cllr Nick Peel, who emphasised that this is a pan-party project with the mainstream parties committed to its progress
- More sites are due to be added to the NorthFold proposal, many of which will be for housing
- Collaboration will be key to NorthFold’s success, and we’re already seeing it in practice in how the two councils are working together along with the private sector to get the ball rolling on many of these projects
- Local businesses are encouraged to get involved by reaching out the councils
The second panel featured Heaton Group’s John Heaton, Wigan & Leigh College’s Anna Dawe, MIDAS’s Audrey Peers, Deloitte’s Mel Wilson, University of Greater Manchester’s John Clapham, and Peel Land’s Richard Knight. Credit: Place North West
NorthFold and the government’s agenda
- Skills gap – Wigan & Leigh College is well-placed to deliver skills training in NorthFold, particularly in construction and food and drink manufacturing
- Sustainability – Elements of the green agenda set to feature in NorthFold include district heat networks, the use of renewable energy, improvements to public transport, and creation of green space
- Life sciences and health – University of Greater Manchester’s Institute of Medicine was described as a “real health innovation engine” that will bolster the research ecosystem between researchers, clinicians, and industry because of its access to a diverse population and ability to help find health solutions that are suitable for a global community
- Housing delivery – More than 9,000 homes are in the pipeline at NorthFold, with the potential for more to be delivered
What’s Next?
11 December | North West Christmas Social
29 January 2026 | Lancashire Development Update
12 February 2026 | North West Industrial & Logistics
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