62 DEBATE


Daryl Platt Blackpool & The Fylde College


We are focused on the aspects of education and training which are needed to push the local economy, help develop a skilled workforce, secure employment, drive outcomes for students and promote equality.


We’ve got 1,800 businesses locally, regionally and nationally who choose to work with B&FC and we are the largest provider of degree education by an FE college in England.


A big thing for us is having strong working relationships. We work with the council and across the enterprise zones. We can go to those businesses that are investing here and co-create what they need to make them successful when they get here and, in many cases, help businesses that are coming to the town recruit.


The big opportunities we see are energy and digital. We’ve got the Lancashire Energy HQ campus; there’s a hydrogen hub we’re working with to exploit new technologies as they come along and making sure we get the skills needed.


From a digital perspective, we’re starting to see huge demand for data analysts, cyber security and, as tourism becomes more e-comm based, we’re seeing those skills starting to arrive.


We have a 100 per cent employment rate for people attending our digital and computing courses, most of them have secured a job long before they finish the course.


Peter Swann Coolsilk


We came here after developing a music venue brand. I


travelled here


to watch the Royal Variety Show and saw the potential in the area. I just fell in love with the place.


Our venue was very successful and we looked at our position on the Promenade and the lack of a five-star hotel. We have developed that project over the last few years and are now looking towards one of the most prime hotels in the country, next to the Tower.


The work that has been done locally to develop Blackpool over the years has been immense.


We continue to try and deliver and we are looking to see if we can get our own brand diner open, hopefully in August. We are working on how we get through these difficult times, because we know at the end of it the UK tourism business will flourish, if we get the support.


I’m also looking at the possibility of a horse racing meeting on the beach between two piers. It would be an event televised throughout the world. There are so many things that can be done in Blackpool. Don’t just limit it to what’s been done or what we’re doing now.


Now is a perfect opportunity to train and invest in our young people. Give them an idea of the rewards that are there if they work hard. If we become a year-round resort, that will help us with employment and the knock-on effect of people staying here.


Ben Mansford Blackpool FC


Like a lot of businesses, we have not had one penny come in since our last game was cancelled because of coronavirus. That game alone was worth more than £200,000 to us.


If we are asked to play a game without audiences or play half or a full season without


audiences, then we are going to lose more than two-thirds of our income. So, the challenge for us is immense.


It is a real shame, because the new owner Simon Sadler came with a real plan to invest and we’ve spoken a lot to the council about a new training facility.


Like a lot of businesses, we had plans to invest in infrastructure to grow and we’re simply now putting fingers in the hole of the dam to try and get through to when we can get some cash in.


I think, and I hope, that the ‘Back in Blackpool’ marketing that we launched around January, will push on.


We need to have a bright, young and exciting team on the pitch to give the locals, the people that Blackpool and this town matters to, a team that they can relate to.


When the football club was doing well in the Championship and had that 12 months in the Premier League, I’m sure that was worth a significant amount to local businesses and the council.


We’d love to reach for the stars, but the first thing is we’ve got to become connected to local communities again, both business and fans.


Kate Shane Merlin Entertainments


Merlin’s attractions in Blackpool include Sea Life, Madame Tussauds and the Tower. In terms of profile and diversity of offer, Blackpool is the most significant cluster in the whole of Merlin globally.


Our ongoing relationship with Blackpool Council goes from strength to strength. It is a pleasure to work with them.


In terms of the future, we have plans, we are speaking to the council about investments, other offers and opportunities.


Merlin is here and here to stay. Blackpool Tower is a flagship attraction, Nick Varney our chief exec talks about it regularly and is very proud of the fact Merlin is operating businesses in Blackpool.


People are excited about the Blackpool Central development plans. They are going to be our neighbours and it’s fantastic, it is going to be a game changer. Add to that investment in the transport infrastructure and it just creates this big picture.


We’ve got a densely populated area; we’ve got an outstanding college. People are achieving a great education and great results, but we seem to be a net exporter of talent and we’ve all got a responsibility to create opportunities for local young people.


Brand Blackpool is very strong and well-recognised. Yes, its tourism and entertainment, but it is all the other opportunities that are ready to come through. Aqua Comms and the cable being the main one.


Jane Cole Blackpool Transport


Over the last five years Blackpool Council has invested heavily in supporting Blackpool Transport to make sure that we renew our assets.


The infrastructure will be enhanced more next year when we take the tramway from the Promenade, up Talbot Road to Blackpool North Station. We’re connecting to the main rail routes, so we’ve got a very good fundamental infrastructure in place.


Through the Future High Street Fund, we’ve put together a proposal to extend the tram network to create ‘a loop’ that goes from Kirkham, through Lytham St Annes; connects into Blackpool, up to Fleetwood and then back round to Poulton-le-Fylde station.


It’s a fantastic proposal, giving an alternative to travelling to Blackpool by car and the ability to get round the area and opening up Wyre and Fylde for growth as well.


At the height of the season we have 650 employees, 43 of those are on an apprenticeship programme with Blackpool & The Fylde College. The college is really helping us to future-proof and keep people in the town.


We’ve got to keep decarbonisation at the front of our thinking. With the transatlantic cable coming in we’ve got to think about a digital transport strategy and look at transport as mobility, as a service.


We’ve also got to embrace other ways of getting round and all that has to come into a hub to supplement the main infrastructure that Blackpool Transport is providing.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72