DEBATE BLACKPOOL
IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
THE TIDE IS TURNING
With Blackpool Council, we brought together a top panel of decision makers, investors, businesses and
infrastructure and skills providers to discuss the major regeneration plans in hand, how Blackpool and the Fylde Coast is facing the impact of coronavirus and the growing message that it is open for business
Nick Payne Nikal Developments
The first thing that struck us when we came to Blackpool was its people. The politicians, the officers, the residents, the neighbours, the customer base; it all gave us a huge amount of confidence that investing in this area could be attractive.
We perceive ourselves a regeneration developer, so we’re looking at towns and cities and areas that are probably a little bit deprived.
When you look at our Blackpool Central site, you couldn’t get a more prime opportunity to create something quite different. It just seemed an absolute no-brainer.
The key driver for Blackpool was when we saw the serious intent about money coming into the town. Not beating around the bush, we’ve been to towns and cities where there is a lot of talk and nothing gets done.
In Blackpool when we want to do something, we get an immediate reaction, we get an immediate answer and in development terms, things can move very quickly, so that’s very beneficial for us and gives us confidence to invest money.
Our scheme is driven by a number of opportunities, but in specifics we’re looking to create new. larger public spaces and covered areas, and we’re very IT driven.
We’re looking to broaden the offer to attract new, wider audiences from around the country and globally, which will act as a trigger to increase hotel occupancy and improve the food and drink offering.
Andy Hudson Aqua Comms
One of the main factors why we chose to land our submarine cable in Blackpool is the people – the collaboration, energy and the ‘want’ for the project.
So, we set about the designing, engineering and building a new submarine system from Dublin, calling into the Isle of Man and then landing in Blackpool. It then it carries on across to Newcastle and away to Denmark across the North Sea.
There’s also a new transatlantic system that is being built, which forms part of this entire network. It’s not just a piece of fibre across the Irish Sea, it is a global piece of infrastructure and the point is that Blackpool is connected to the North Atlantic Loop.
It is a resilient, diverse high capacity network connecting the US with Ireland, UK and Denmark. The beauty of having a global network in Blackpool is as an enabler.
Blackpool is a number of milliseconds closer to New York than London. So, all the big investment houses that do daily, hourly, 24-hour transactions in the trading platforms don’t need to sit in London. They can realistically sit in Blackpool and have better connectivity to those platforms through the North Atlantic Loop.
Both Fylde and Blackpool have been fantastic in their support for the project and our investment story is helping stimulate further investment.
There’s no reason why the big ‘Over the top’ (OTT) media services that end in ‘book’ or start with a ‘G’, can’t invest in Blackpool or the surrounding area.
LANCASHIREBUSINESSVIEW.CO.UK
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