David Smurthwaite
Grant McGeever
Jac Jordan ADDING TO THE ATTRACTION
It has, Rossendale’s director of economic development David Smurthwaite says, been “quite a journey”. He’s talking about the valley’s transformation from an industrial revolution powerhouse, when its shoe and slipper makers led the world, to where it stands today.
David says: “We have gone through a lot of positive change in recent years, in terms of our towns in particular, and how we are attracting new people and businesses, particularly along the M65 corridor.
“We have quite a number of genuinely world- leading businesses in the borough which have made it their home here, which are growing and expanding.”
However, despite that positivity, he adds that there is no room for complacency, with work still to be done.
He says: “We see that if we’re going to attract and retain people who are going to make this their home, especially if it’s a home for their business, and attract the right talent and skills for their businesses, we’ve got to make an environment which is vibrant and interesting.
“It has to be something on a par, if not better, than they would get in our rival areas, say in Manchester or wherever, and that’s very much what we’re focused on in terms of our economic answer.”
David adds that it is important Rossendale’s towns shine as high quality, safe and interesting communities.
Giving an example, he says: “In Rawtenstall we’ve got a lively and safe night time economy and we’re working to build on that. The development of the market is the next stage in that.”
David also points to the work being carried out in Haslingden to create a new town square and building on its heritage and “beautifully built environment”.
Part of the aim of all this work is to attract more people into the valley. He says: “If people are moving out of Manchester, which a lot of people are, where are they going to go to if they’re looking north of the city? Well, why not pick here? And that’s what a lot of people are doing.
“So, we need to meet their aspirations but, equally, it’s about how we retain people in the valley. They’re looking for exactly the same sorts of things. It’s that push and pull.”
At the west end of the valley, in areas such as
Helmshore, Haslingden and Edenfield, there has been strong growth with new business sites “coming on board” and interest from developers.
David says: “We’ve got to make those sites work. It’s about how we work with our partners to ensure that those come forward because we have a lot of businesses that have huge growth plans, and we want them to be in Rossendale, so that’s a key thing.
“We only retain about 50 per cent of our jobs in the area. So, for every person of working age, we only have 0.5 actually work here, and we need to reverse that.
“We’ve got people living here, we’ve got the skills, they’re working elsewhere. So again, how can we turn that round?”
Grant McGeever is managing director of Haslingden based Rospen Industries, a family firm owned by his parents. The engineering company specialises in creating processes for sectors including food, chemical and construction.
lovely spot, and I hope that it can replicate what Rawtenstall’s delivered in perhaps a smaller way, but certainly that’s got a nice feel to it.”
He adds: “Then we’ve got our property investment side of things where we’re providing space and more and more we’re finding people are moving in with fresh ideas.”
David Smurthwaite says there is still a challenge to bring more developers in and to ensure they are delivering different types of housing.
He says: “Our housing target is an 80 per cent increase, and it’s how do we get the right house in the right place and that means that we need different types of developers.
“We probably need to look at what Greater Manchester has done in terms of urban development and how we bring different people in to do different things, looking, for example, at population densities.
“We’ve got a big challenge, which we’re now We have gone through a lot of positive change in
recent years, in terms of our towns in particular, and how we are attracting new people and businesses, particularly along the M65 corridor
He says the business has a wide and varied skilled requirement and believes improvements to the area’s towns will help when it comes to attracting the talent the business needs. He adds: “The better and more interesting places like Rawtenstall look, the easier it may become.”
Housing will play a part in that. John Boys, director at Rawtenstall based B&E Boys, says its residential developments are attracting more people from outside the borough.
He says: “In our latest developments we’ve been getting people from Rochdale, Oldham, places like that moving into those new houses, because they’re getting more for their money and it’s a nice environment to live in.”
John also points to the arrival of the larger national housebuilders into the valley as in indication of the rising interest in the borough.
His business has also worked with the council to deliver Haslingden Market. John says: “It’s a
starting on, beginning those conversations and looking at how we’re going to bring the people who are going to develop the business units, develop an extra few hundred houses a year and decide on the capacity, and how we get the skills to actually facilitate those.”
David Connor, director at WHN Solicitors, says that when it comes to recruiting talent one challenge for the practice, which has offices across the borough, is people’s lack of knowledge of places like Bacup and what he calls “the far end of the valley”.
He adds: “It can be quite difficult to persuade people that actually this is a nice place to work, this is a great place to come.
“So, it is really pleasing to hear that there is a vision for everywhere throughout the valley. I grew up in Bacup and I now live in Rawtenstall. I’ve been in the valley a long time and the changes have been enormous, particularly over the last 10 years.
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