Like most north western towns Bolton has faced a continuous need to reinvent itself as, firstly, heavy industrial and more recently retail decline have posed a challenge. Here we will look at the latest initiatives to regenerate and redevelop the town.

Historically Bolton was a major textile town, at one time supplying around half of the world’s cotton textiles. Today the principal industries and employment here comprise modern manufacturing, business services, construction, logistics, retail and healthcare. Logistics North is one of the region’s largest individual logistics and manufacturing sites with around 4m sq. ft. of space and 5,500 people working here.

Bolton is at the centre of the regional motorway network and recently electrified rail routes have improved access to nearby centres. Manchester city centre is just 10 miles/20 minutes away by train. This has made working in Manchester an increasingly popular option for Bolton residents.

While Bolton Council is the local authority the borough comes under the auspices of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. The GMCA has powers over a range of activities including economic development, investment, planning, housing, transport and skills.

There is an ambition to create a Mayoral Development Corporation to cover Bolton town centre. The idea is supported by the local council as well as GMCA Mayor Andy Burnham. It is suggested that an MDC here could offer similar benefits to Stockport, also part of the GMCA area, where an MDC appears to have been highly successful in stimulating regeneration of the town centre.

There are a number of local initiatives which are aimed at promoting the town as an attractive place to live, work or invest including We Are Bolton and Brand Bolton. The Brand Bolton board suggests up to 4,300 full time equivalent jobs could be created here along with new housing to accommodate up to 5,000 more town centre residents. It also says that the visitor economy could be boosted by £11m pa.