Continued from Page 27


“Manchester agents are talking about the M65 corridor, something they didn’t do five years ago. It’s now an established corridor, so that’s why it’s important to bring forward the opportunities.”


Nicola Clayton is Blackburn College’s director of business development and external engagement and also chairs the town’s Business Improvement District (BID) board.


Pointing to the positive impact the investment in Cathedral Square has had, she describes the masterplan as a “jigsaw puzzle” with its pieces including skills delivery.


The college has invested heavily in its own campus as it looks to meet the needs of employers, including ploughing £1.3m into cyber and digital facilities. She says: “We’ve got some fantastic businesses in the area and it’s important that we provide those skills so that those businesses want to invest.


“The more businesses that locate here, the more houses that need to be built, the more the population will grow, and more people will have disposable income.


“For us, it’s about making sure that we’re providing those local people with the skills to be able to take those jobs.”


Accountancy practice Pierce is based in the town centre and its offices sit next to a large chunk of the area earmarked for regeneration,


Director Simon Diggle says that it has no plans to move out-of-town and values the visibility its current home gives the business. He hopes that the regeneration will deliver of a “city centre vibe” that will be a major positive when it comes to recruitment.


He adds: “I’d like to see is a fully collaborative approach between the private and the public sector to get joined-up thinking and unite in one direction.”


Simon would like to see a mixed offering developed, including residential, along with opportunities for young entrepreneurs and smaller, nimble businesses to have a base in the town.


He talks of the need for both “inward investment and inward movement” and he says: “You need to get people in and make them stick, keep them in the town centre.”


Daniel Boulton, director at WHN Solicitors, agrees. He says: “We’re never going to have a town centre that’s got huge national retailers in it, that’s gone. So what we need to replace it is a mix of residential, creative industries, leisure, and retail.”


He adds: “The plans for Blackburn are great and even without Morrisons they need to go ahead. The Thwaites site is a fantastic spot to be redeveloped.


“Developing skills is another issue. With hybrid working post-Covid, talented people are working for firms in Manchester or even London because they only need to go into the office once or twice a week.


“We need to make the town attractive to people like them and also develop our skills here for local businesses so they can do more to keep the local talent in the area.”


Hannah Allen, chief executive of Blackburn Richard Slater


Lancashire Business View (Chair)


Daniel Boulton WHN Solicitors


PRESENT: Hannah Allen


Blackburn and Darwen Youth Zone


Nicola Clayton Blackburn College


Councillor Phil Riley Blackburn with Darwen Council


Simon Diggle Pierce


Mick Smith Together Housing


and Darwen Youth Zone, has skills high on her agenda. Her organisation has worked closely with the council, adult learning centres and Blackburn College to create a highly-successful youth hub.


She explains: “The youth hub basically is about getting young people into work, and since inception we’ve seen 700 young people go into employment from our membership.


“We’ve got 5,000 members, one in seven of the young people in the borough, who all need jobs. So, we talk to businesses and ask, “What do you need? What skills do you need?”


And she adds: “Businesses keep young people in mind because they are the future employees and leaders of your business. So invest in them, invest in skills and give them an opportunity, because they’ve had a pretty hard time over the past few years.”


When it comes to creating employment opportunities, Mick Smith, social landlord Together Housing’s group director of commercial services, says that it is important not to overlook people living in the borough’s more deprived areas.


He says: “We are looking at how we can have more of a social impact. We have an employment hub in the town centre that we’ve run for the last two years.


“It has been really successful and we’ve helped over 600 people into work. In many cases they are entry-level jobs, but they’re important at the same time as the higher-paid jobs.”


Hannah Allen also highlights the many cultural events and activities taking place in and around


the borough, adding: “Bringing that creative stuff and the economy together is so important.”


The development of Blackburn’s cultural quarter is another growing success story, with an increased food offering in the area around King George’s Hall, the jewel in its crown, and work to transform Blakey Moor Terrace


Blackburn Rovers commercial and integration manager Yasir Sufi says: “I take friends into that area now, and a lot of them are saying to me, ‘I can’t believe this is Blackburn’. The work planned around King George’s Hall will take it up another level.”


He points to the tens of thousands of football fans that attend Rovers’ Ewood Park ground each season. The challenge for him is driving that footfall from the ground into the town centre; both before and after games to boost the local economy.


He poses the question: “How do you get people using the town centre, but then travelling to the stadium and then back again? It’s areas like that where we need to have conversations.


“We’ve been working with the council on different car parking schemes, bussing people in, trying to get park and ride schemes up and running.”


He adds: “I believe a lot of towns and cities are envious of what we’ve got here in Blackburn. There’s everything you’d want from a town centre; health, education and leisure.”


Simon Diggle believes Blackburn needs to shout louder about what it’s got. He says: “You have not got to be shy in coming forwards, you’ve got to tell people, let then in and show what the town can offer.”


Stephanie Ashcroft Fruity Llama


Caroline James Trevor Dawson


Yasir Sufi Blackburn Rovers


28 BLACKBURN WITH DARWEN


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