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FESTIVAL OF BUSINESS By Ged Henderson and Rob Kelly


LET’S AIM BIG!


Lancashire is on a journey towards an elected mayor in 2026 and it is vital it seizes the massive opportunity to bring billions of pounds of government investment into the county.


That was the powerful message delivered by Mo Isap, chairman of the new Lancashire Business Board. In his first public appearance in the role, he declared: “We have the opportunity to really go big.”


He told delegates to the Lancashire Festival of Business that Manchester’s elected mayor Andy Burnham has a £13bn, 10-year


growth plan and the city-region was getting £1bn of investment a year as a result of its devolution deal.


Comparing that to Lancashire he said: “Over the last 10 years we have only had £1.5bn from government. We are not in the car park never mind in the room.”


In a rallying call to Lancashire businesses, he urged them to play their part in the devolution journey by creating a “united narrative”, highlighting what the county can deliver, its potential and its ambitions.


And he called on Lancashire and its


businesses to be “more ambitious, more daring, more proud and more loud.”


The Lancashire Business Board is made up of leaders from the county’s foremost regional, national and international firms. The independent body was set up as part of the county’s current ‘level two’ devolution deal with the government, which does not include an elected mayor.


It follows government guidance on the need to include private sector and employer views in local economic strategies.


Continued on Page 76


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