Introduction from our CEO

Professor Phil Leigh

Chief Executive Officer and Founder

Irish Sea Rim Ltd.

This report has been over a decade in the making. The Irish Sea Rim concept and story began in 2013 and evolved through my lived experiences and a sense of place that ties together the coastal cities and communities that face the Irish and Celtic seas. Over time, various iterations, ideas, models and values that underpin the Irish Sea Rim have been shaped and developed through countless meetings, collaborations, workshops, presentations, and consultations with stakeholders across the region.

The Irish Sea region, home to over 23 million people, has long been defined by its resilience. Forged over a millennium of political and economic change, its unique capacity not only to withstand shocks but to gain strength from them has been proven time and again, most recently by the upheavals of Brexit and the accelerating climate crisis. These challenges have inadvertently catalysed beneficial adaptations, from new trade routes to a renewed focus on energy security. However, this adaptive capacity has largely been reactive. We now stand at a critical juncture where we can transition from passively absorbing shocks to proactively shaping our future. The Irish Sea Rim provides the strategic architecture for this transformation to harness our region's vast latent potential and turn the sea that separates our six nations into a bridge for shared growth and prosperity.

At the heart of our mission is a fundamentally different approach to regional development. For too long, the focus has been on the 'triple helix' of government, business, and academia, a model that risks leaving behind the very people and communities that give our region its identity. We champion a ‘quadruple helix’ approach, bringing Place in as the fourth integral partner. For us, economic growth is not the end goal; it is the means to the more meaningful ends of community wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and a worthy future for all. By embedding this principle in everything we do, we ensure that the benefits of a rebalanced economy are felt in our coastal towns and post-industrial heartlands, not just our thriving urban centres.

This report details the tangible opportunities that our collaborative model unlocks. The Irish Sea region is already a global powerhouse in key sectors from the pioneering green shipping corridors between our dual anchor hubs of Liverpool and Dublin to our world-leading offshore wind and tidal energy projects. Our region is the epicentre of the UK's advanced maritime manufacturing, a globally significant life sciences hub, and a critical conduit for the world's data through our dense network of subsea cables. By acting as a trusted, apolitical broker, the Irish Sea Rim connects these assets, creating a cohesive innovation 'supercluster' that can compete on a global scale and deliver a powerful economic complement and counterweight to London and the Greater South East.

The following report presents not just an analysis but a roadmap for transformation. It is an invitation to our partners across all sectors and nations to join us in building this new paradigm for regional growth. By working together, we can secure a resilient, prosperous, and sustainable future, cementing the Irish Sea's role as a vital link for economic wealth, cultural exchange, and a powerful sense of shared community.

This report has been a collaborative approach and the team behind the Irish Sea Rim has been instrumental in supporting, researching, and delivering it. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we have in researching and writing it. We also thank our key partners the Connected Places Catapult, Liverpool City Region, the University of Cumbria, ARUP, GM Insights and Growth Flag, and the many stakeholders who have contributed to this report, and to the Irish Sea Rim more widely.