MORE than 40 St Helens businesses are helping to develop City Growth St Helens, one of the most ambitious regeneration projects in the country.

Businessmen and women met for a networking and consultation dinner at the town's Hilton Hotel to drive forward action plans in five key business clusters which will help boost the economic success of the borough. These are Building Materials and Construction, Distribution and Logistics, Furniture and Furnishings, High Technology and Tourism and Leisure.

City Growth chairman, Andrew Smith, managing director of the ST Group, said: "This dinner was a milestone in the development of the clusters as five action plans were shared. The idea behind the clusters is that by working together, companies can address common issues like the workforce or marketing and drive forward regeneration from a business perspective which will bring investment and jobs to St Helens".

The action plans will address issues including development of the workforce, enhancing links with education and training providers, cultivating networking and business to business transactions and crime and security.

He also announced that the City Growth board has allocated £25,000 of its budget to implement the action plans. Each cluster team will have a business champion to lead it forward. Three have so far been identified - Adam Waterworth, managing director of Haydock Park racecourse for the Tourism and Leisure cluster; Kevin Cliffe, of Lake Technologies for High Technology; and Barrie Potter, of Ena Shaw for Furniture and Furnishings.

The City Growth strategy, launched in November 2003, is a £300million, 10-year economic development plan that puts the interests of businesses at the heart of regeneration.

Councillor Andy Bowden, St Helens Council's Executive Member for Urban Regeneration said: "City Growth is already delivering a fast moving programme of exciting initiatives which will act as a catalyst for the injection of jobs and investment and I welcome the news that local businesses are supporting it and helping to develop it further".