North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone (NSRZ), which covers the urban core of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme, beat 11 other finalists to win the Enterprising Britain 2007 title.

The various NSRZ projects set up over the past six years have helped to reverse the decline by encouraging and supporting more than 500 new start-up businesses in the local area as well as instituting many innovative education projects, including a ‘live’ fruit trading floor game for primary school students, which has proved a fun and innovative way to teach the basics of profit and loss.

John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, says: ‘The achievements of the North Staffordshire Regeneration Zone illustrate what can be achieved if a community works together to improve their local economy. Through strength and determination, as well as a well thought out business plan, NSRZ has transformed North Staffordshire into a successful and rewarding place in which to work and live – it is a truly worthy winner of Enterprising Britain 2007.’

Enterprising Britain, which is run by the Make Your Mark campaign, is a national competition that celebrates and recognises the most enterprising places in the UK.