LOOKING BACK
By Dan Clough
In this feature we delve into our archives to revisit some of the stories we have shared over the past two decades
Celebrate Lancashire Day with the county’s business community!
YEARS 5
ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP CHAIR DEBBIE ON THE
RIGHT LINES September/October 2021
Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) chair Debbie Francis was at the forefront of our landmark 100th edition.
Having been managing director of Direct Rail, Debbie had only just taken on her role at the LEP, which she held until it was disbanded in March 2024.
Speaking about the Government at the time’s levelling up agenda, she told us: “I’m seeing people quoted saying that London needs levelling up. People are losing sight of what levelling up is supposed to be, somewhere along the line we’ve lost what it was.”
Debbie believed everyone needed reminding of the bigger picture, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who she would have ‘loved to have a chat with’.
She said: “The levelling up debate started because of the big argument about how much more was being spent on transport in the south, compared to the spend in the north. It was about that infrastructure spend.”
With a background of successful senior roles in the rail sector, Debbie said she believed better transport connectivity was central to improving the fortunes of Lancashire and the wider north of England.
She said: “There’s a whole heap of reasons why transport investment is, to a great extent, the answer to levelling up. If you put that investment in, you open up choices. Businesses will grow, people can get to skilled jobs.”
Debbie now acts as non-executive director for many boards, and chairs the Harwich Haven Authority in Essex, as well as the Halle Orchestra.
DARWEN September/October 2016
10 YEARS
EXCITING TIMES FOR BLACKBURN WITH
It is somewhat fitting that in our edition of 10 years ago we featured Blackburn with Darwen in our Lancashire Hotspot feature. See page 36 to find out all about investment and regeneration in the area in this edition.
The Blackburn landscape looked somewhat different a decade ago, but then-council director of planning and prosperity Brian Bailey was bullish about the borough’s prospects.
He said: “We are way ahead of many other parts of the country in having an approved local plan, with 80 new commercial and housing sites coming forward for development – a figure that would have been unheard of five years ago.”
At the time, the £30m Cathedral Quarter development was still under construction.
Brian said: “It provides a historic cathedral cloister, grade A offices in Blackburn to compare with the best in Manchester, but at very competitive rents, a new 60-bed hotel, new restaurant spaces and a high-quality new square.”
Brian also talked about the thriving business community which was benefiting from the borough’s approach to investment and collaboration.
He said: “Hive Business Leaders’ Network was established in 2012 with the aim of transforming Blackburn and Darwen into a world-class place to do business. It won recognition in the Enterprising Britain Awards 2014.
20 YEARS
AN AMBITIOUS VISION FOR PENNINE LANCASHIRE September/October 2006
Anthony Wilson, the brash Mancunian journalist, music mogul and self-styled serial entrepreneur, was the cover star for this issue.
Anthony, who passed away the following year, spoke to us alongside former Miss UK Yvette Livesey, about Livesey Wilson Ideas Management, the consultancy that had been brought in to reinvent East Lancashire.
Speaking to Lancashire Business View from the Three Fishes in Mitton, Anthony said: “East Lancashire is not the place you would expect to find a restaurant like this. There are so many positive things happening and we want to shout them out to the world.”
Livesey Wilson, having been brought in by government agency Elevate, had been invited to come up with some ‘blue sky thinking’ and came up with a number of proposals on a social, cultural and infrastructure level that would make a different to the region and its population.
Among the suggestions they made was to change the name ‘East Lancashire’ to ‘Pennine Lancashire’ which very much strikes a chord with the ongoing debate about the names of the new authorities under local government reorganisation.
Others included a fashion tower, football visitor attraction, new public squares, loft-style apartments along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and improving transport links between Lancashire and Greater Manchester.
LANCASHIREBUSINES SV
IEW.CO.UK
Date: Friday 27 November 2026 Time: 12.00pm – 5.00pm Venue: Burnley Football Club
• Network with like-minded leaders from businesses of all size and sectors
BOOK NOW Become a patron
Put your business at the heart of Lancashire Business Day.
Show your support for the county and raise your profile across Lancashire’s business community.
Contact Joanne Hindley on 07442 949697 or email
joanne@lancashirebusinessview.co.uk.
Brought to you by #LBD26
In association with:
Patrons:
Charity Partner:
17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
