Is there a Team Lancashire ethos? How can we create that team and how will that help us create new growth opportunities?
RW: As an academic institution we play an anchor role to try and pull things together. Do we play as Team Lancashire? Probably in certain areas. As well as aerospace there’s now a North West space cluster and a health med type cluster. We try and play roles in all.
LO: I do feel part of that Team Lancashire. We set the business up because manufacturing companies have always been really difficult to get into but when you’re in with them they’re really loyal and they’re great to work with.
Annette Weekes
Manufacturing’s in our DNA, it’s in our makeup and it’s very much who we are
JP: Manufacturing’s in our DNA, it’s in our makeup isn’t it, in Lancashire and it’s very much who we are. Before we sat down with the formalities Dean and I were speaking about how interesting, how exciting it is to work for manufacturing businesses as professional service providers, because you get to see what they do.
Bryan Welch
opportunity for the county but we need to think about skills for them as well.
The youngsters that will be attracted to NCF are the same youngsters that will be attracted to BAE Systems and to businesses like my own. We need to really think as a community how we’re going to work that and how we’re going to get enough people so that we can fulfil all of this work.
ME: There has always been this growing need for skills and for better or worse, the NCF coming in is refreshing that debate. People are talking about this need to attract and retain skills.
It is also refreshing the conversation around lifestyle, economy and culture, which companies in the tech supply chain in particular need to attract staff here. There is also an expectation for Grade A office space.
It’s not just a techy interface, it’s a tangible thing and you can get a better understand of the business by walking round the factory and seeing the process and seeing what actually gets made. That is Lancashire, that is the ecosystem because that’s who we are.
IM: When it comes to Team Lancashire, one thing that strikes me is the size of the county. How do you make sure there’s as much aspiration and opportunity in the north as there is in the east, in the west… that’s really hard.
Have we enough people? Have we enough housing that people can afford and want to live in? Have we enough schools for them to go to? Schools take people to the right educational levels for their aspirations, whatever that may be.
We have to recognise as a county digital is great, digital is coming. We’ve got to work out how we attract people.
ME: We’ve been talking about skills and the Lancashire Skills Partnership has done some phenomenal work over the last five years.
ME: We have so much depth in R&D and innovation in Lancashire. That’s really exciting and people are starting to see that.
JP: We’ve been here for a couple of hundred years but it’s the innovation of the local business community that keeps us on our toes and makes us evolve as well. Particularly in manufacturing and engineering.
IM: We’re in a period of time now where reshoring, onshoring in the UK is a big agenda and in Lancashire we’ve got a massive opportunity. Let’s go make it happen, because if we don’t move now others will have and we will struggle in the future. Let’s go forwards.
ME: There is this huge opportunity. There’s something about businesses getting out there and being proactive, both in terms of developing their own skills and creating a network. That will pay dividends. It will be the informal conversations between businesses that are going to have the massive impact in the next five or 10 years.
AW: When it comes to the spending commitment on defence Lancashire is so well placed, because we have everything, to maximise that opportunity. We’ve got great assets like AMRC and UCLan.
LO: I feel that manufacturers don’t sell themselves enough. They need to tell people they make fantastic, amazing things. Shout about it.
Lancashire does lead the way in a lot of this, we have some great examples.
There are significant businesses here and there is bigger picture stuff that can be done in terms of lobbying regionally and nationally and saying what we need.
AW: Having access to local professional services that are specialists is essential, they know the issues of the industry. We’re lucky because there is such a cluster here.
IM: Going to people who know the area, who know the business, is really important when you need to ask, how can we get that done?
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