Lancashire Entreprise Zone close to wooing first tenants

DEALS for the first tenants at the Lancashire Enterprise Zone around the BAE Systems are close to being signed.

Lancashire Council and BAE Systems officials managing the project said at a briefing to regional journalists that some 23 parties had expressed interest in investing on Samlesbury site, which is focused on advanced engineeering and manufacturing, not just aerospace.

Of this number, a smaller group of up to five are at an advanced stage in discussions and want to be on site in 2014-2015, while one party is on the verge of signing a Memorandum of Understanding to invest.

BAE and Lancashire County Council have secured £12.4m from the Government to drive the project forward. Ground cut at Samlesbury will take place before the turn of the year and Warton in 2014. In total the Lancashire Enterprise Zones are expected to create up to 6,000 jobs for the region.

The Lancashire Enterprise Zone comprises 72 hectares at Samlesbury and 74 hectares at Warton – BAE’s other site some 15 miles to the north west of Samlesbury, which will be the focus for the initial development as land there is more accessible and infrastructure is already in place.

Dave Baird, Enterprise Zone programme manager at BAE Systems said: “There is a healthy level of interest in the Lancashire Enterprise Zone, there is such a strong heritage in manufacturing in Lancashire.

“It is important to stress that the development is not all about aerospace. When we are talking to potential tenants, the discussion is not so much about location, but about skills provisions and their future training requirements and with more than 84,000 people employed in Lancashire in manufacturing, there is that resource here.

“One party has agreed to sign a MoU, while we hope another three or four will do so in the next few months.”

BAE officials would not identify the interested parties but is is understood several of those looking to invest in the short term are suppliers to the defence company on the F35 Joint Strike Fighter programme, which has lured £150m investment from BAE to Samlesbury over the last five years.
 
Another hook to lure tenants will be the creation of a Regional Training Academy, which aims to provide “through life talent pipeline” and will provide between 400-650 apprenticeships per year and will be up and running by 2015.

Meanwhile the government said today it is making an extra  £100m available to Enterprise Zones to help them complete key infrastructure projects and successfully compete for the new businesses that.
 
The money will fund projects such as road building and land clearance that will unlock areas previously idle, turning them into prime economic sites that will bring home new businesses and help the local economies grow.
 
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: “Enterprise Zones are at the centre of our plans to back business, help local economies grow stronger and give the UK that competitive edge.
 
“The Zones are showing progress with over 180 businesses, half a billion pounds of private sector investment and nearly 4,000 jobs, and many more in the pipeline.
 
“We want to help them grow further and faster and this extra £100m investment will ensure they have the infrastructure in place to successfully attract even more businesses and create many more local jobs.”