A manufacturing company has opened an "innovation centre", securing 430 jobs in the region.
PZ Cussons, famous for its Imperial Leather soap and this year celebrating 125 years in business, has created the £26m centre on the old Agecroft coal mine site.
The centre houses three departments in two buildings with 156 workers in production, technical, administration and management roles.
Two thirds of the staff at the centre work in manufacturing while the rest work in research and development. The site was bought from North West Development Agency and took two years to build.
>> Vote in our latest web polli-map: All the news from around the North West on our interactive map 