This article was written by Chris Lewis, our business writer at Southport’s Journey. Chris works with Merseyside Expanding Horizons and is the founder of The Big Onion, supporting people across Sefton to start and grow businesses and social enterprises. His work brings practical experience to conversations about local enterprise, high streets, regeneration and the people behind a stronger local economy.
Business, Place and Possibility
How Sefton can connect business growth, regeneration and community renewal to build a stronger local economy.
Following on from my previous article, High streets at a crossroads…a new vision for Sefton, it is clear that the conversation cannot stop at town centres alone. High streets matter because they are visible symbols of local confidence, but they sit within a much wider economic ecosystem that includes business growth, employment, skills, infrastructure and community wellbeing.
Andy Burnham’s early policy announcements in his first two weeks in office have brought renewed attention to place-based growth, local control and the need for a more inclusive economy. That is welcome. Too often, economic policy is discussed in abstract terms, when what really matters is how it translates into real opportunities for businesses and residents in places like Southport, Bootle and the wider Sefton borough.
For many businesses, the challenges remain significant. Rising operating costs, uncertainty in consumer spending, recruitment pressures and the need to adapt to changing markets continue to affect confidence. For smaller firms and social enterprises, these pressures can be especially acute. Yet it is precisely these organisations that often provide the innovation, flexibility and local rootedness that stronger economies depend on. The opportunity, then, is to build an environment in which enterprise is supported not only through investment, but through trust, collaboration and long-term thinking. That means helping new and growing businesses access practical support, making better use of local assets, and ensuring that regeneration is linked to skills, training and employment pathways.
Across Sefton, there is real potential to connect business ambition with community renewal. Whether through empty units being reimagined, new models of workspace, stronger supply chains or more joined-up support for entrepreneurs, the ingredients for progress are there. What is needed is the will to align them.
If Andy Burnham’s early agenda signals anything, it is that growth must be rooted in place and measured by its ability to improve lives. That is a message Sefton should take seriously. The future of our economy will depend not just on where we invest, but on how deliberately we support people, businesses and communities to thrive together.
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Southport’s Journey remains open to new writers, contributors, businesses and local voices from Southport, Birkdale, Ainsdale, Formby and across Sefton.
If you have a story, experience or idea that deserves thoughtful space, contact hello@southportsjourney.com.
Thank you to everyone who has written, contributed, shared photographs and trusted us with their work.
Here’s to the big moments, the quieter ones and all the people helping to shape what comes next.
Lizzie x
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