HOTSPOT BURNLEY
STRENGTHENING THE BOND
By Ged Henderson
Burnley Bondholders was created with a mission to drive forward the borough’s ambitions to become a place where businesses could flourish and want to invest.
There is no doubting that more than a decade after its launch it is a massive success story, with more than 200 members passionate about the benefits of being based in Burnley and loudly shouting about the positive direction the town is heading.
Its work promoting the town and campaigning for it, which contributed to the reopening of the economy-boosting train link between Burnley and Manchester, has attracted national attention from the media, local authorities and business leaders.
As well as changing negative perceptions of Burnley, the group has also played its part in attracting tens of millions of pounds of inward investment, including valuable government funding.
It also received widespread praise for its work when Burnley was named Britain’s most enterprising town.
So, it is little wonder that towns and cities across the country have tried to recreate the Bondholders using its blueprint, with varied success.
Now, as Burnley begins to emerge from the impact of the pandemic and looks towards recovery and growth, work has started to give Bondholders a reboot.
The aim of the exercise is to make the group even more relevant to its members and the community.
Neil Evans is managing director of uPVC manufacturer VEKA, which employs more than 400 people in the town and he has a leading role in that work.
He was appointed to chair the Bondholders, and the Focus Burnley Group which leads it, at the end of March and is looking forward in playing his part in steering the town further into recovery and attracting more investment.
VEKA has a long history as a supporter of Bondholders. Neil’s predecessor David Jones was active in the organisation and a vocal ambassador for the community.
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