Workforce
With massive investment in schools and further education, a ready workforce is one of Rochdale’s best assets.
We have a diverse economy with a strong manufacturing focus as well as a growing service sector and an abundance of information and technology companies. Almost 7,000 businesses employ in excess of 74,000 people and there is a working population of 145,000.
Rochdale borough has 75 primary schools, 14 secondary schools (of which four have a sixth form), six special schools and within a ten mile radius there are 38 independent schools. Rochdale is also benefiting from more than £150 million between 2009 and 2014 through the Government’s Building Schools for the Future scheme.
Huge investment in Hopwood Hall College’s two campuses in Rochdale and Middleton will enhance its already impressive facilities, range of courses and training for more than 11,000 students.
We are also on the doorstep of one of Europe’s largest university complexes. The five universities across the Manchester city region cater for more than 100,000 students.
The borough has been ranked first for sustained improvements for achievements at Key Stage 2 for its 75 primary schools and is one of only seven local authorities in England to be awarded Beacon Status for Healthy Schools.
Kingsway Business Park is located on Junction 21 of the M62 and draws on a labour pool of up to 8 million people within a 60 minute drive time. The Park has exceptional transport provision to, from and around the business park including shuttle buses interlinking with Rochdale's bus and train stations, car sharing schemes, cycleways and walkways. Greater Manchester's Metrolink tram system is scheduled to have its own dedicated stop on the Park by 2012.
The Rochdale area workforce offers employers looking to locate to Kingsway Business Park a wide range of skills to draw upon from those with traditional academic qualifications to those who are vocationally trained.
Perhaps more importantly there are four university institutions within Greater Manchester, which provide a total pool of over 100,000 students, of which 23% are studying at postgraduate level.