Burnley football club also has a strong investment story. Former NFL star JJ Watt and his wife Kealia, who played ‘soccer’ for the US, have put money into the Turf Moor outfit.
So, what makes the borough such a magnet for investment? One word that comes through strongly talking to the business community is “ambition”.
Michael Cavannagh, from commercial property consultants Trevor Dawson, says the perception of the borough has changed dramatically, with its motorway connection and a can-do attitude playing big parts in that shift.
He says: “Burnley was probably seen as a bit of a backwater 10-12 years ago when it came to
“Burnley has grabbed the opportunity. We would send details of a property in the area to agents acting on behalf of national and regional companies and never get anything back from them. That’s now changed.”
Lukman Patel, chief executive of Burnley Council, speaks of the “ambition” of the business community and the pro-active champions for the borough that include its highly-acclaimed Bondholders business group.
He says: “What makes Burnley absolutely brilliant and the place to invest in is the people and people do business with each other.
“We’re not working in silos as a business community. The Bondholders are a fantastic
It’s a very inclusive business community. For any new business that comes in there’s no hierarchy. People talk and help each other out
property. The council has been very pro-active and in 2013 the town was named the most enterprising place in the UK.
“The Burnley Bridge development was a game- changer. It proved that Burnley could be a location for big box occupiers.
“And now all of a sudden, we’ve got Frontier Park happening, which is a step up again. Burnley is a destination, whereas it used to be seen as a bit of a cul-de-sac. You’ve now got huge companies such as Exertis here.
example of that, but it goes beyond that. We also have other fantastic businesses across the borough who really champion the place and in addition it’s a great place to live, work and play.”
He also points out the confidence the local authority has shown in the borough through the investments it has made. While other local authorities were buying properties in communities well outside their area or investing in the stock market Burnley took a “completely different step”.
Lukman says: “We basically said that we don’t know those markets, and secondly what message does that send to our business community, our institutions, our residents, if we ourselves are not investing in our borough?
“So, we took the bold move, high risk, to some extent, to invest in Pioneer Place, Manchester Road, student halls, and we even took a bolder step of buying our shopping centre.
“Probably not the most attractive in terms of returns but we can guarantee we’re showing the market that we are investing in Burnley.”
Chris Speakman, of Speakman Contractors, believes local businesses like his have been boosted by the arrival of major operations like Exertis, gaining work from them that leads on to further opportunities, not just in Lancashire but nationally.
He says: “I’m not the only one benefitting from the hard work that’s done in the background to bring these large companies in. Before you know it, we have to employ more people, we have to train more people. It’s growth within growth.”
He adds: “A lot of it comes down to partnerships. The council, the college, those working on regeneration projects, they are all so accessible.
“It’s a very inclusive business community. For any new business that comes in there’s no hierarchy, it’s all, ‘Yes, come on in’. People talk and help each other out.”
Continued on Page 36
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