4 PUBLISHER’S VIEW
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PUBLISHER’S VIEW
Richard Slater, Publisher
t: 01254 297870 e:
richard@lancashirebusinessview.co.uk www.lancashirebusinessview.co.uk
Could it be the penny has finally dropped in Lancashire’s many town halls? If so, it is about time.
As the county continued its battle with the coronavirus crisis, the news that all our council leaders had agreed in principle to explore a combined authority was a welcome piece of good news.
Seen as a major step forward on the road to devolution, we can put it no better than Alyson Barnes, leader of Rossendale.
The chair of the District Leaders Forum said: “The interest in a combined authority for Lancashire stems from the ability to access greater government funding to assist the growth of businesses and stimulate the economy.”
Quite. And as nothing focuses the mind like a crisis, we’d urge our leaders to get on with it.
That means not getting side-tracked by rows over where lines should be drawn on the new local government map of Lancashire.
Frankly business leaders, and the people they employ, aren’t that bothered about whether their elected representative sits in a council chamber in Preston, Clitheroe or Lancaster.
What they are bothered about is an economy that is growing and delivering for them.
They can see the benefits that devolution is delivering for Manchester and its surrounding towns and Liverpool and its city region. And they can also see that Lancashire is missing out.
So, we’d urge our politicians to listen to business, look to the future and what devo can bring in terms of investment and local control and just get the thing done!
The same message could also be delivered to our national government as the deadline towards getting a trade deal with the EU edges closer.
The impact of the pandemic has halted growth and plunged businesses in all sectors into crisis. The road to recovery will be hard, and it will be made even harder if we don’t get a deal with our nearest and most important trading neighbour.
This edition of Lancashire Business View features our annual Hot 100 list of the county’s most profitable SMEs.
There has been little movement in terms of the overall sales, employment and profit figures compared to 12 months ago - a sign of strength and stability but also an indication that last year’s growth may have been stunted by the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
Lancashire’s SMEs are no strangers to challenging times. Those attributes of strength and stability will stand us in good stead as Lancashire begins its recovery.
We are also heartened by the work being done by the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership to the planning and decision making that will be needed to get the economy moving again - and the central role business leaders are playing in that.
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Editorial: Ged Henderson, Tim Aldred Principal photography: Clive Lawrence Artwork and layout: Crafted Design Printed by Peter Scott Printers, Burnley
Lancashire Business View is written, designed and produced by Northpoint Publishing. Lancashire Business View and LBV are registered trademarks. The views expressed by our columnists are not necessarily shared by Lancashire Business View.
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ISSN: 1757-479X Rachael Norris,
head of marketing and events
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Stephen Bolton, commercial director
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