Lancashire is open for business – breakfast seminar hears

A panel of business experts spoke about the advantages of doing business in Lancashire at a special event held in Blackburn.

The panel discussion, held in partnership with the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and the British Business Bank, was held at the home of Blackburn Rovers and attended by around 80 guests.

The audience at the event, titled Unlocking Lancashire’s Potential, heard from business leaders and professionals from across the North West.

The event is part of a series of seminars taking place across the North of the country.

Those taking part in the discussion were:
Grant Peggie – British Business Bank
Sue Barnard – British Business Bank
Dr Sam Westgate – Perfectus Biomed Limited
Martin Leeming – TrakRap
Amin Vepari – Lancashire County Council

First to speak at the event was Amin Vepari.

He said: “What we have as a county is incredible, there are some amazing things taking place here. To start with Lancashire has got the fourth largest aerospace cluster in the world.

“Some of the challenges around Lancashire are a myth, we are a very diverse county and we do not rely on one city as an epicentre of the economy.

“We have a diverse economy which is constantly evolving. We have a thriving rural economy and Lancashire’s universities now produce the highest number of STEM graduates in the whole of the UK.

“We have got some phenomenal credentials in the county that far outweigh the challenges and hurdles.”

Martin Leeming said: “Geography makes a huge difference to a business. In terms of location it is about customers, it is about suppliers and it is about a source of talent to keep the business going.

“Lancashire is as good as anywhere in the country and I don’t really see any challenges about being based in the county.

“As a business we reached a stage where we needed to look for help and assistance. My starting point was to go UCLAN in Preston. Through that it opened all the knowledge routes I needed to go down.”

Sam Westgate said: “I started as a consultant in recession and I quickly realised I needed other people.

“For me I got a business plan book, read it and then went to speak to the people at the science park where I was based. If you have a good plan and are willing to listen to advice then people are more than happy to help you.

“When I started out accessing funding seemed incredibly difficult, but in reality it was easier than I perceived it to be.

“Having the right advice and support from people, it helped us to get the kind of funding we needed.”

Sue Barnard said: “Most of the businesses who come to the British Business Bank tend to not know what they want that is why we sit down and have a conversation with them.

“That conversation can change the route that a business chooses to go down. That means that sometimes there are difficult conversations to be had.

“What we are trying to encourage is people in Lancashire to come forward now and start planning now, my advice would be not to wait until the last minute.

“We want people to think longer-term about accessing funding rather than waiting until the last minute.”

Grant Peggie said: “People and businesses come to us for all sorts of different reasons. We might see young tech firms which have just started up and we also have well established manufacturing businesses who are growing or moving into new markets.

“The good thing is the funding is relatively flexible. It can allow you to take on new staff, it can allow you to move into new premises or invest in new equipment.”

The event was one of the three seminars taking place. The next event to be held in the North West will be at Chester Racecourse on March 11th.

More details will be made available in the near future.