A TOWN UNITED IN ITS CITY ASPIRATIONS
It has a cathedral but not the city status it believes it deserves. Now businesses across Blackburn are uniting behind the campaign to change that.
The town is bidding to become the third city in Lancashire as part of a national competition to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Business leaders believe success this time - Blackburn lost out to Preston when it applied for city status in 2002 - will boost its Covid recovery and help attract further investment, with more companies choosing it as a strategic location.
That view is backed by an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report that revealed cities are more likely to experience higher income.
When Preston conducted its successful city campaign, council officials said it helped put it ‘on the map’ and was a selling point when talking to developers and investors.
The decision to go for the city title comes on the back of neighbouring Darwen’s successful £25m bid for government Town Deal funding.
Ilyas Munshi, commercial director of EG Group, a global business which has built its new £40m headquarters in Blackburn, says the town is already on the map when it comes to business. He believes city status would attract even more attention.
He adds: “As an international business, we regularly entertain senior executives from leading retail brands from various countries around the world. They are always impressed with the quality space, infrastructure and business acumen that Blackburn represents.
“Blackburn has all the hallmarks of a city and securing this recognition would naturally attract further investment into the borough and enhance the place profile both in the United Kingdom and internationally.
“City recognition would also facilitate additional opportunities, such as developing an effective skills base to meet the needs of local businesses, that will allow individuals to actively pursue professional careers and also establish their own businesses.
“There are also opportunities to promote as a place to visit from a tourism perspective as it has a history that would interest many. The growth of this would attract much needed investment into arts, leisure and retail sectors.”
Martin Kelly, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s director of growth and development, also believes a successful bid will make the borough’s offering even more attractive.
He says: “City status will help Blackburn get the recognition it deserves and will play a key role in helping attract investment.
“It will also be an acknowledgement of the diverse business community we have here that is powered by innovation and enterprise built on a fantastic heritage of making things happen.”
Caroline James, managing director of commercial property specialist Trevor Dawson, agrees. She says: “The town is in a prime location and a combination of private and public sector investment has helped to place Blackburn on the map. Securing city status will increase its proposition as a great place to do business.”
There is also a view that city status will also help to attract more people to come and live in Blackburn, helping deepen its talent pool.
Ian Brown, chairman of business group Hive, says: “Blackburn is a great place to live and work and city status would endorse that.
“But we are increasingly attracting established businesses to relocate here, and that’s complemented by a commitment from our larger businesses to Blackburn which creates a healthy and positive business environment.”
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Khalid Saifullah, managing director of Star Tissue, one of the UK’s leading independent manufacturers of hygiene paper products, says Blackburn is already behaving like a city.
He says: “We’re rightly known for manufacturing and innovation, but it goes beyond that. Entrepreneurship is rooted in Blackburn and that gives us influence.
“We have high quality jobs available. There is a rich diversity in the population that is much more integrated than outsiders realise.
“Over the last 10 or 15 years we have transformed. Look at the success of our schools and businesses, look at the infrastructure improvements, at our town centre. In fact, ‘town centre’ doesn’t do it justice, we have a city centre.
“We might be a town, but we behave like a city. It’s a city feel with a town and community spirit.”
Lisa Kennery, director at business advisory and accountancy practice Pierce, says Blackburn’s key strength is “unity” and the strong connections businesses have with each other. She believes city status “will push the town to a new level.”
Miranda Barker, chief executive of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, believes a successful bid would benefit the whole county. She says Lancashire has a city strong in tourism in Lancaster, and Preston is a city with strength in the finance and professional sector.
She adds: “It would be right for the county to have a city that leads on advanced manufacturing – what makes this county special on a global scale – and that’s Blackburn. It would be right for Blackburn to be recognised as a new city for the North.”
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