In order for Workington to maintain its position as the main retail and commercial centre in West Cumbria, it is essential to create an appealing town centre that is accessible to all and complements its rich heritage. To this end, the Town Deal Board has allocated a significant investment of £4 million towards improving the gateway to Workington's town centre. The proposed enhancements include:

• increasing the number of green spaces in public areas,
• reducing the emphasis on vehicles,
• enhancing wayfinding, and
• improving infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians.

The Workington Sports Village projects aims to build on existing and proposed sports and leisure facilities close to Workington Town Centre to create a multi-purpose sports village that will provide high quality inclusive and accessible sporting facilities for both community and professional clubs that will be sustainable in the long term.

The proposals would include:

• the redevelopment of the existing ground at Borough Park to create a new shared stadium for Workington Reds and Workington Town to provide a new modern stadium that will meet the aspirations of the clubs and provide a foundation for their future progression.
• the new stadium would sit alongside a new community facility based around an artificial grass pitch with the potential to introduce other facilities to support a range of other sports.
• the new facilities would be located closed to the Workington Leisure Centre where a new outdoors events space and outdoor gym is to be built and close to the well-established cricket and bowling club and the aim would be to provide a hub of sporting excellence.
• it is also proposed to provide investment in the improvement of existing playing pitches at Moorclose to provide a satellite facility for the Sports Village and meet to meet the wider demand for high quality playing pitches in Workington

The Workington Innovation Centre is a proposed flexible town centre office space solution for start-up and growing businesses in West Cumbria, as well as high quality co-working space for local knowledge workers.

This major investment recognises the limitations of existing office provision in Workington. Similar schemes have been successful around Cumbria and in comparable communities around the country. The project will help to ensure west Cumbria’s entrepreneurs can invest locally, as well as allowing local residents to benefit from changing employment patterns, particularly following COVID-19.

The facility will be housed in a flexible, energy efficient office building, on the Central Car Park site on Central Way in Workington. This will be part of a wider planned regeneration of this major town centre site, designed to augment and extend the existing town centre. Other uses for the site are likely to include housing, café/restaurant provision and community facilities.

The Port of Workington is a key asset for the town and has the potential for expansion and growth. The Towns Fund offers the opportunity to enhance the role that the port plays in the local economy by bringing forward new development land there, and on the Oldside site, to its north.

As key landowners Allerdale Borough Council and Cumbria County Council would work together develop serviced land around the Port and at Oldside, allowing it become a key location for the logistics and the clean energy sector within west Cumbria.

These are sectors where Workington and the wider region already excels, and this investment will support new jobs and help place the town further at the heart of the national government’s clean growth agenda.

In today’s economy digital skills are no longer optional. Employers report significant numbers of difficult to fill vacancies due to the lack of general or specific digital skills.

This project will secure the provision of high level, specific digital skills – the skills required to build a career. These are the skills that employers report a difficulty in sourcing and identify as the skills required to drive productivity growth. Crucially these are also the skills that will provide resilience in a turbulent labour market.

Workington benefits from a range of high quality institutions within the Cumbria skills system. These institutions deliver a range skills interventions to young people, adults and employers in the area building the workforce that employers need now and in the future.

This project builds on the breadth of the skills offer in the area and focuses on addressing what is widely considered one of the most significant skills challenges facing the economy – digital skills.

The Workington Digital Accelerator will be an investment in a high quality skills cluster within existing facilities to provide Workington with an axis for the delivery of high level, specific digital skills which can be summarised as follows:

• Data analysis, curation and visualisation
• Cybersecurity
• Client relationship management (CRM)
• Digital Design and Marketing
• Machining and manufacturing technology

In addition, the Workington Digital Accelerator will look to promote the acquisition of baseline digital skills as a route into employment and digital skills as a driver of enterprise and entrepreneurialism.