A Cumbrian council has launched an ambitious 10-year strategy to help the economy grow and the area thrive.
Cumberland Council’s 52-page strategy was developed with local communities, industry leaders, education partners and regional stakeholders.
In the foreward, leader Mark Fryer and chief executive Andrew Seekings say: “
the strategy sets out a clear vision for a thriving, inclusive and resilient Cumberland economy over the next decade.
Leader of Cumberland, Cllr Mark Fryer, said: “Cumbria stands at a pivotal moment. This strategy sets out an ambitious direction of travel – a clear, confident plan for how Cumberland can harness its strengths, confront its challenges, and build a thriving, resilient economy for the decades ahead.
“At its heart, it’s about unlocking potential.”
Cumberland has over 280,000 residents and 11,200 businesses. It contributes £7.3 billion to the UK economy.
The strategy seeks to deliver an improved economy and opportunity for all across Cumberland with a focus on boosting prosperity.
It has identified opportunity around clean growth, advanced manufacturing and nuclear; the visitor, leisure economy and culture; the rural economy and natural environment.
It said strategic investment opportunities such as Pioneer Park, the Port of Workington Clean Energy Hub, and Kingmoor Park were set to diversify and strengthen the local economy, making Cumberland a key player in the UK’s clean growth agenda.
The strategy said by enhancing and promoting the area’s visitor, leisure economy and culture would attract visitors and investment and support local businesses.
Around £1.35bn of direct economic impact was attributed to the visitor economy in Cumberland in 2024.
Harnessing Cumberland’s natural assets and strong land-based industries would lead to sustainable growth, by promoting tourism, supporting innovation
in agriculture, expanding renewable energy, and developing ecosystem markets — while ensuring environmental sustainability, community resilience, and improved health and wellbeing for residents.
It said the sectors were supported by digital and technology strengths, which would support new ways of working.
The strategy’s objectives include:
- Giving the best start in life to children and young people: preparing children and young people for work through support which inspires ambition and readiness, encompassing early years, education, Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) services, and health and wellbeing.
- Growing a skilled and talented workforce: securing the attraction and retention of talent and connecting people to opportunities to ensure that we have a pipeline of appropriate skills available.
- Collaborating to support early intervention: keeping people in work through preventative support and co-ordinated service delivery to ensure people and places receive the support they need.
- Improving health and wellbeing: responding to the wider determinants of health and the role of leisure and recreation and public services in supporting healthy fulfilling lives, enabling people to enter and remain in work.
- Enabling economic and social inclusion overcoming barriers to labour market participation and creating opportunities to access work for all.
- Delivering attractive and investible places: creating places to live, raise families, study, work and conduct business, raising our profile and helping to attract and retain residents and businesses to fuel economic growth
- Harnessing the natural environment as a driver for sustainable growth: making best use of natural assets and strengthening the rural economy to support livelihoods and generate economic growth.
- Providing a quality housing offer: that includes the range and quality of housing, in the right locations, required to attract and retain the workforce and to support the rejuvenation of towns.
- Increasing connectivity: covering strategic and local transport, digital and energy connections, to support investment and enable residents and workforce to be able to efficiently access training and work, regardless of where they live
- Supporting businesses to start and grow: to support the creation of jobs and productivity improvements and support businesses to be agile, innovative, resilient and responsive to external trends and drivers.
- Securing investment in enabling assets: to support economic growth in local opportunity sectors including clean growth, advanced manufacturing and decommissioning; visitor and leisure economy and culture; and the rural economy and natural environment.
- Creating and sustaining a diverse range of good quality jobs: to maximise opportunities, prosperity and quality of life for our workforce and communities.
- Unlocking strategic employment sites: to provide support required to unlock sites that can attract investment and drive economic growth.
- Strengthening the foundational economy: providing the goods and services that support quality of life, in the places people live.
It said it would deliver the strategy via partnership working, including developing masterplans, enlist government bodies and make the most of regional opportunities.
It said it would secure investment and support private businesses to secure access to investment and promote and champion Cumberland.
The authority said implementation of the Cumberland Economic Strategy was already underway with the first phase focusing on business support, skills development and investment in key infrastructure projects.
Cllr Fryer added: “This strategy marks a major milestone for Cumberland. It reflects our ambition to build a dynamic economy that works for everyone – one that nurtures innovation, supports local enterprise, and ensures our communities benefit from new jobs, skills and investment.
“Cumberland has enormous potential, and this plan gives us the roadmap to unlock it.”
The strategy will be shared with investors and partners at the Cumbria UKREiiF pavilion in Leeds from May 19 to May 21.
