Game changers
Belfast Region City Deal
The Belfast Region City Deal (BRCD) was formally signed in December 2021, marking the first ever signed City Deal for Northern Ireland and securing substantial financial commitment from UK and NI Government and BRCD partners.
Representing a new way of working between central and local government and regional partners, the highly ambitious Deal secures £1billion of transformative co-investment across the region. It will create up to 20,000 new jobs as it is delivered over the next 10 years. It’s an exciting, oncein- a-generation opportunity to accelerate inclusive and sustainable economic growth for the region, making it a global investment destination. The Deal has been developed by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, Ards and North Down Borough Council, Belfast City Council, Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, working with Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University, Belfast Metropolitan College, Northern Regional College, South Eastern Regional College, the Southern Regional College and our government and private sector partners.
The BRCD will deliver more than 20 highly ambitious projects and programmes over the next decade. The programme is now well into delivery, with construction commenced on several landmark projects, contracts awarded, and competitions launched across many more. The most advanced projects are now recruiting and upskilling staff, constructing new premises, co- designing projects with industry, procuring next generation technology and equipment, and moving fully into operation. Thirteen contracts have been signed for projects with a value of more than £620 million, with Studio Ulster moving into full operations early this year.
The BRCD’s ambitions for inclusive growth will be delivered through four investment pillars:
Tourism and regeneration: Boosting tourism and regenerating our region – creating world-class visitor attractions and investing in towns and cities to provide a year-round destination that will provide standout in international markets.
Innovation and digital: Achieving world-leading competitive advantage in key sectors: building our innovation and digital capability - facilitating invention, commercialisation and widespread adoption as a driver of economic prosperity and increased wellbeing.
Employability and skills: Enabling a constant pipeline of appropriately skilled talent to support the job opportunities resulting from the BRCD programme of investment.
Infrastructure: Connecting people to opportunity and services through enhanced and sustainable infrastructure.
Visit belfastregioncitydeal.co.uk
| Title | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| AMIC - Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre | A 10,500² state-of-the-art facility at Global Point, Newtownabbey, for advanced manufacturing and engineering businesses. | Innovation and Digital |
| Bangor Waterfront | This redevelopment will make the city a ‘destination of choice’ once again, reflecting the location’s individuality and shared heritage and culture. | Tourism and Regeneration |
| Belfast Rapid Transit Phase 2 | Developing the system to the north and south of the city and extending the existing CITI route to serve Queen’s University and City Hospital. | Infrastructure |
| Momentum One Zero | Transforming NI’s digital economy by increasing the volume and range of digital innovation taking place and developing skills to meet industry needs. | Innovation and Digital |
| i4C Innovation Centre at St Patrick’s Barracks | An innovation and clean technology centre of significant scale in Ballymena for SMEs, encouraging open innovation, collaboration and support. | Innovation and Digital |
| iREACH Health - Institute for Research Excellence in Advanced Clinical Health | An NHS, industry, and research facility, facilitating world-class clinical research to deliver better treatments to improve people’s health. | Innovation and Digital |
| Belfast Stories | A landmark visitor attraction, public space and creative hub close to Cathedral Quarter, which will speak to the essence of Belfast and its people. | Tourism and Regeneration |
| Carrickfergus Regeneration | Regeneration as an authentic heritage-led tourism hub; the ‘must-visit’ starting point of the internationally recognised Causeway Coastal Route. | Tourism and Regeneration |
| CDHT - Centre for Digital Healthcare Technology | Accelerating a dynamic, productive, open innovation ecosystem for the development of innovative medical technology devices and diagnostics. | Innovation and Digital |
| Lagan Pedestrian and Cycle Bridge | This iconic pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Lagan will connect south and east Belfast to the city centre, further activating our waterfront. | Infrastructure |
| Mourne Mountain Gateway Project | Redefining the majestic Mourne Mountains visitor experience, establishing a visitor centre and creating a mountainside Gondola experience. | Tourism and Regeneration |
| Newry City Centre Regeneration | This investment will deliver a civic and regional hub, theatre/conferencing facilities, public realm improvements and Grade A office provision. | Tourism and Regeneration |
| Design Smarter Digital Twin Centre | Providing common, shared physical and digital infrastructure to support the development of digital twins, focusing on maritime, aerospace and defence sectors. | Innovation and Digital |
| Destination Royal Hillsborough | Establishing a high-quality, leading visitor experience, while regenerating the village with an enhanced, sustainable culture and heritage offer. | Tourism and Regeneration |
| DTFF - Digital Transformation Flexible Fund | A collaborative NI-wide project supporting small and micro businesses to be active in digital transformation, supporting inclusive growth. | Employability and Skills |
| Hytech NI Project | The £15m project will invest in the hydrogen economy and extend the capabilities of the two planned BRCD projects AMIC and i4C. | Infrastructure |
| Newry Southern Relief Road | High-standard relief road to improve traffic flow and connectivity. | Infrastructure |
| Shed 1.0 and Innovation Hub | State-of-the art innovation space for the creative industries in Holywood. | Innovation and Digital |
| Studio Ulster | Centre of R&D and innovation excellence in virtual production on Belfast’s North Foreshore, as part of the expansion of Belfast Harbour Studios. | Innovation and Digital |
| The Gobbins Phase 2 | An iconic staircase structure will link existing cliff top and cliff face paths, significantly increasing visitor capacity. | Tourism and Regeneration |
Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor
100 miles. One Corridor. Unlimited Potential.
The Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor (DBEC) represents a landmark initiative that unites stakeholders from across this dynamic region in a shared vision for inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Spanning eight council areas and encompassing one-third of the island’s population, the corridor offers unparalleled opportunities to leverage our collective strengths and build a thriving economic ecosystem.
An established global investment destination
The corridor is the island of Ireland’s most sought-after investment destination and is already home to both leading global enterprises and a range of successful local SMEs. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, Northern Ireland continues to have access to Great Britain and EU markets for goods - making it the only place where businesses can operate free from customs declarations, rules of origin certificates and non-tariff barriers on the sale of goods to both GB and the EU.
Perfectly positioned for investment
- Scale: 2.2 million people living across the corridor (over a third of the island’s population)
- Talent: 34 per cent of working age population educated to at least third level qualification
- Connectivity: Well-connected transport networks (six seaports, two airports)
- Business-friendly: 38 per cent of the island’s business base located on the corridor
Key sector clusters for growth
Several clusters have developed along the corridor in specific key sectors where there is growing demand - financial services, life sciences, agri-food, digital services, and renewable energy. Investments in collaborative approaches help businesses expand internationally, leveraging expertise developed within clusters to access new markets.
Our current areas of focus
- Making DBEC a live-and-do business destination by achieving sustainable growth through collaborative and cross-border R&D, enabling infrastructure and developing a highly skilled workforce
- Sustainably developing strategically important infrastructure - prioritising improvement and upgrading of cross-border rail, road and utilities fundamental to future success
- Enabling businesses to do business better by fostering a culture of support for innovation and enterprise
The corridor offers an outstanding quality of life with world class education systems, access to innovative talent and unparalleled connectivity across the region. For investors, this means a strong cross-border economy with a collective focus on sustainable economic growth.
For more information visit www.dbec.info or email [email protected].
Belfast
Accelerating city centre living
Belfast is fast becoming one of the most attractive cities in the UK and Ireland to live, work, socialise, study and invest in, with bold ambitions to become home to an additional 66,000 residents and increase the number of homes in the city by 31,600 by 2035.
The development of over 2 million ft2 in city centre office space since 2015 has created a vibrant, liveable city centre ecosystem, with global occupiers making Belfast their city of choice. Belfast has seen significant regeneration in recent years, including the stunning new Ulster University campus, multi-million investment in Belfast Grand Central Station and wider Weavers Cross development, as well as major development of purpose-built managed student accommodation across the city centre. This is an exciting time in Belfast for residential development – and a huge opportunity to increase our city’s residential population.
Private and public sector partners are collaborating to accelerate city centre living and bring forward residential opportunities at scale across all housing tenures; reimagining the city centre through placemaking; improving connectivity between the centre and the surrounding communities; and investing in our cultural offering to create a culturally vibrant city centre – a place people want to work, live, study, socialise and invest in.
In a major move forward to accelerate city centre living and housing regeneration across the city, Belfast City Council recently selected GRAHAM as its long-term private sector partner to work alongside the Council to deliver £630m housing-led regeneration programme.
Visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/citycentreliving
Home of urban innovation
The Innovation City Belfast (ICB) partnership, formed by seven of the city’s key public sector, private sector and academic institutions and supported by the Belfast Innovation Commissioner, is harnessing place-based investment, including the £1 billion Belfast Region City Deal, to build on our collective strengths and knowledge to establish Belfast as a globally significant destination to invest in innovation. Together, we’ve made Belfast a great place to hatch new ideas, grow a business, solve urban challenges and impress the world.
- Over £330m investment in five new university centres of research excellence.
- £54m innovation R&D funding to help grow the region’s most innovative industry sectors, stimulate collaborative innovation and tackle complex urban challenges.
- £39.5m investment in world-class wireless connectivity and data infrastructure to support research and business innovation, to help create new urban services and data enabled solutions.
- Belfast designated a UK 5G Innovation Region, unlocking the economic and social opportunities presented by advanced wireless technologies.
- A Smart Belfast Urban Innovation programme that is directly tackling major urban challenges.
Visit www.innovationcitybelfast.com
Belfast Net Zero and climate resilience
Belfast has made good progress since launching the Belfast Resilience Strategy and Net Zero Carbon Roadmap in 2020. We have adopted ambitious net zero targets: 66 per cent reduction in scope one and two emissions by 2025, 80 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050.
A Belfast Local Area Energy Plan provides a pathway to achieve those targets by modelling the city’s energy system and building a pipeline of priority net zero projects, including a heat network and rooftop solar PV, including a Decarbonisation Plan for Queen’s Island. This work supports the planned development of a Net Zero Tech Park in Belfast’s Innovation District to support and grow an existing cluster of clean tech companies to develop and commercialise new net zero technologies.
Meanwhile, the Belfast Retrofit Hub was established to bring all the key stakeholders together to catalyse retrofit across the city. The hub will help decarbonise the built environment, with plans to develop a series of pilot projects alongside the UP2030 project which is designing net zero neighbourhoods. A Belfast EVI Strategy is also being developed.
Other initiatives include a 15-year tree planting scheme under the Belfast One Million Trees project and the UPSURGE project, which is using council-owned vacant land to test nature-based solutions, co-designed with local communities, and the Belfast Sustainable Food Partnership and programme, which is scaling community growing schemes. This work is led by the Belfast Our Planet Board and has culminated in Belfast achieving an A score in its annual submission to the Carbon Disclosure Project (a global reporting framework) and ranking 9th in the Global Destination Sustainability Index in 2024.
Visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/climate-change
Embracing our waterfront
Stretching over 220 miles, from wild coastlines and beautiful beaches to thriving coastal towns and iconic world-class waterfront developments, the Belfast region has an enviable maritime location steeped in maritime manufacturing and engineering heritage.
Global shipbuilding titan Harland and Wolff draws on over 150 years of marine manufacturing experience to support the needs of the maritime, offshore and renewable energy sectors to inspire a growing cluster of innovative maritime technology companies who are using this tradition and expertise as a springboard.
Belfast has launched its vision to make Belfast’s waterfront a truly iconic location to work, socialise, live and play. Spanning over 10 kilometres along the River Lagan, the Waterfront Promenade Framework provides a generational opportunity to reshape Belfast’s relationship with its waterfront and to maximise the area’s potential to provide environmental, economic and social benefits for all of Northern Ireland. Bangor Waterfront, a prime waterfront regeneration project in the heart of Bangor, proposes to redevelop 3.3km of prime water’s edge location into a thriving seaside destination. Funded through the £1bn Belfast Region City Deal programme of investment, it will deliver a mix of public spaces, creative events, activities, attractions and experiences for residents and visitors; reconnecting the city centre with its waterfront.
Belfast Harbour’s strategy, Advance Regional Prosperity 2025-2029, sets out plans to invest £208 million in major port improvements and £105 million in the ongoing regeneration and development of the Harbour Estate and waterfront. As a Trust Port, Belfast Harbour is entirely self-financing, reinvesting all post-tax profits into the continuous development of the port and estate to drive economic growth and enhance benefits for the city and region.
