Stoke-on-Trent is no stranger to regeneration as the city has continually strived to reinvent itself over the last few decades. In this report we will look at what regeneration is currently underway or planned in the centre.

Regeneration began in earnest in Stoke-on-Trent with the 1986 Garden Festival, which resulted in the provision of new retail, commercial, leisure and public open space. It also served as something of a best-in-class example at the time for how ex-industrial land could be remediated.

Stoke-on-Trent is best known for its once globally significant ceramics industry. However, the wider area, although known as The Potteries, was also historically a centre for coal and steel. Transitioning from these labour intensive heavy industries has proved a challenge over the years.

The current economy in the area is predominantly based around services. Significant local employers include Bet365, which employs 5,000 people, and Vodafone, which employs around 1,000. Staffordshire University is also a significant contributor to the economy, to the vibrancy of the city, and to the property market.

The area’s Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone comprises 140 ha across six sites in the area. It is said that 2,000 new jobs have been created or are in the pipeline here and that long term there could be 9,000 new jobs in total as a result.

Stoke-on-Trent has a somewhat strategic location within the UK. It is only around 40 miles from both Birmingham and Manchester. The city has good road and rail connections to both but it is perhaps too far from either of these economic hotspots to feel the benefit. In some ways this is one of the city’s strengths, in that it offers far lower land and property costs and much underexploited potential.