“We’ve just got a lot of really good people with a good cultural background.”
He adds: “A lot of businesses that would feel at home here just don’t realise it. The population, the setting, all of the things that we love about it.”
Kate Ingram, director of economy and development at Burnley Council, says advanced manufacturing remains an important component in the borough’s economy. She says: “It’s changing very rapidly, and the skill sets in that sector are changing.
Newtown Mill Continued from Page 23
He says: “The backbone of Burnley today are the medium-sized employers, a lot of which are family companies.”
However, he worries that the government has a lack of understanding when it comes to them. He says: “There is a feeling that we’re not wanted and some of the policies they are putting in place run the risk of people saying, ‘I might as well just sell and somebody else will take it out of the borough’.”
When it comes to recruitment, he believes it is important to get young people interested in engineering in their formative years. “Getting kids interested is really important. It’s when I learned, making things with bags of bits and screwdrivers and old radios and old TVs.”
He is full of praise for Burnley based training provider Primary Engineer, which has developed a range of ways for schools to engage with engineering, describing its work as “putting the foundations in”.
He adds: “And it’s not just engineering. The kids are learning to work together, they’re learning forensic skills, they get resilience.
“It’s setting them up to be lawyers, or insurance people, or engineers, or anything, really. So that’s something which we’ve now built into Burnley and other towns are copying. It is that investment in the future.”
He has also invested heavily in the redevelopment of the former Burnley Grammar School building to create The Landmark, a digital tech hub for digital start-ups, SMEs and micro-businesses.
He says: “It was created so businesses could set up here, stay here and grow here. What we want is them to come in there, grow, and go into bigger premises.”
Stephen Greenwood is commercial property partner at Farley’s Solicitors. It has opened a new flagship central office at Shuttleworth Mead.
He says there are challenges when it comes to the recruitment and retention of senior people and adds: “Burnley shouting about what it’s like as a place to live, all the attractions in the town, is massive; it’s really important for us.
“We’ve now got our office at Shuttleworth Mead just before junction 8, we’ve got the big sign up, so I’m hoping people commuting to Manchester, with an hour’s drive ahead of them, realise that they’ve got a great business on the doorstep.
“And if they then look around Burnley, they’ll Wes Kellow Stephen Greenwood Joanne Hindley Laurence O’Connor
realise what other great businesses there are and opportunities, and hopefully that will retain more people here.”
Looking at the strengths of the borough’s economy he says the varied nature of the businesses based here offer opportunities.
He adds: “There’s a lot of engineering, manufacturing that other parts of the country might not have; there’s a wide range of skills. And we’ve also got real quality professional services to support that, as well as the college
“We see businesses in the creative digital sector that are growing as well, and we know what their challenges are.”
“We do still have some significant issues around deprivation, and particularly long-term unemployment, and those unemployment figures haven’t changed in probably two or three decades. We need to break that cycle.”
Wes Kellow, commercial and development manager at Burnley Leisure and Culture, says the large-scale investment that has been ploughed into the borough is having an impact.
He lists regeneration projects including Newtown Mill, Pioneer Place, The Turf to Town work improving the route from the football
So, if we can attract people to stay in Burnley
by offering services and improving them, then we’re onto a winner as well. There’s a real shared idea around the town
and the university providing the people to supply those industries. It is all linked.”
Laurence O’Connor is managing director of insurance brokers Financial Affairs and chairs the board of the the Burnley Business Improvement District. He says of the borough: “If you mix the hard work, doing what you say when you will do it, and put that in with the integrity and the culture of the people that are in the town, you get a perfect mix.
stadium to the town centre and Crow Wood Hotel and Spa on the outskirts of Burnley.
He says: “There’s been real change. You can see investment going, there’s more offering. Look at Crow Wood, an outstanding facility, people go there from all over the country.
“So, if we can attract people to stay in Burnley by offering services and improving them, then we’re onto a winner as well. There’s a real shared idea around the town.”
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