74 DEBATE
Phillipa Williamson, leader, Lancashire County Council
There is a lot happening in Lancashire and it has not just happened overnight. We’ve
been planning for this for the last three to three-and-a-half years because we’ve always had an ambition and vision for the county.
Our challenge now is that there is so much going on and we really need to showcase it. That is exactly why I put my hand up to co-chair the Convention of the North this year. I thought, ‘Gosh, this is a massive opportunity here for us to really sell what’s happening’.
We are different, we are a polycentric economy and it’s a fantastic opportunity to show the advantages of that and to really market that.
The other thing that we’ve been very clear about is that we can facilitate, we can enable, we can talk to government more easily than others perhaps, but we aren’t the drivers of economic growth, business is, so we need to really support the entrepreneurs in actually doing that. So that relationship, these sorts of conversations, are absolutely pivotal.
We have a place in the North West, we have a place nationally and internationally and we need to shout about it.
Kate Wallace, deputy principal, Burnley College
National Cyber Force coming to Lancashire
is really exciting. We’ve made a significant amount of investment getting ready for it. And as with all of the exciting opportunities that are going to be happening here, Further Education plays a huge part in enabling their success.
It’s exciting because we want to upskill our young people and reskill our adults and keep them here in Lancashire and these opportunities mean people will want to stay. When it comes to skills, the colleges are all working collaboratively with businesses, with stakeholders, to make sure our curriculum is fit for purpose and we are actually going to meet the skills needs of the future when these projects come to fruition.
In terms of skills, the whole of FE in Lancashire is investing to ensure we’ve got the equipment and resources so young people and adults are training on the equipment that is going to be in these places in future.
We are a member of the Lancashire and Cumbria Institute of Technology and we work extremely well together to see who is best placed to meet the skills needed for a particular region or a particular area.
Andy Jasper, chief executive officer, the Eden Project
Eden Project in Cornwall has created jobs where there were no jobs and it basically has given people confidence to invest in their own businesses. It’s all to do with confidence from business leaders and that is the reason why Eden works in Cornwall and is also going to be the reason why Eden will work in Lancashire, in Morecambe.
In reality it cannot operate on its own. It’s the accommodation providers, other tourist attractions. It’s the restaurants, it’s the transport sector, taxi drivers, the ice cream sellers. When you start to realise that these are real people needing to invest in their own businesses to support this, that for me is the role that Eden has.
It also has the role to inspire people to get closer to the natural world, through the fact that you can actually do something to make the world a better place. Eden is going to shine the spotlight on Morecambe but also hopefully provide the confidence for people to actually invest and really take charge of the future.
Economic regeneration is complex and collaboration is absolutely key amongst all business sectors. The Eden Project will only work if we embrace collaboration and partnership.
Sophie Addison, marketing & ESG director, the Addison Group
We are a family business, an SME founded 48 years ago that works in a broad
range of sectors including defence, aerospace and medicine.
We’re on a journey to make our premises as sustainable as possible. We’ve got solar on all our roofs and we’ve built what we believe to be the first solar wall on a UK commercial building. The idea is that the facility will not pull any energy from the grid.
We’re members of the supply chains of big blue-chip companies like BAE Systems and Rolls Royce. Something like Eden Project coming into Morecambe is amazing because it highlights Lancashire and we can get the message out about what we do.
We’re seeing a way to grow but we wouldn’t have been able to do it without collaboration. We’re members of the North West Aerospace Alliance and Make UK Defence who really try to shine a light on the North West and the immense manufacturing and engineering facilities that are here in Lancashire.
It’s a struggle to find skilled people so we’re looking to work with companies on the Hillhouse site in Cleveleys and partner up with the colleges to build a mini-Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) there.
Miranda Barker, chief executive , East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce and Lancashire Business Board member
In terms of the board, it has been
great so far around the level of ambition, the people around the table saying this is about Lancashire not just punching its weight but really projecting the possibilities and the aspiration we have.
The government needs to hear our aspiration but it also needs to understand that potential. If it provides the investment we are asking for, not just for the big projects, but also to unlock Lancashire’s economic benefit, the whole of the UK will get that benefit.
The business board has had that aspiration so far and I want to see it carry on. The North West area director of the department of business and trade’s call is that Lancashire is still far too quiet nationally in terms of championing its cause. This is why we should be pushing forwards.
We have some really major opportunities, and also in the long list of projects featured in Lancashire’s economic strategy. It is important that we are pitching, putting forward projects, but also developing the infrastructure support that will really create those game changing economic opportunities.
We have to make sure the message is transmitted to government, the rest of the North West and the wider north. We’re in the game, we’re partners.
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