InBusinessBurnley issue 10

Sector Special

Food and Drink Industry

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In Focus

International Burnley

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News

Burnley in the top 5 North West boom towns

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InBusinessBurnley

n i n h i C Ch

Issue 10

ÂŁ10,000 grant for micro gin distillery growth

Business Awards Special Feature Burnley Council‌supporting business growth

BURNLEY KNOWLEDGE QUARTER

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Vision Park represents an opportunity to relocate to the most exciting commercial development in the Lancashire region.

advanced business space OF F ICE S

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MA N UFACTUR IN G

for more information...

www.visionparkburnley.co.uk Michael Cavannagh michael@tdawson.co.uk

Chris Cheap chris.cheap@gva.co.uk

Welcome from the Editor

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urnley has got what it takes to become a boom town, according a recent feature in the Estates Gazette, who placed Burnley in the ‘Top 5 to Thrive’ North West boom towns.

Factors such as skills, connectivity and access to knowledge were said to be the key to success by senior economists, who felt Burnley had all the ingredients to boom.

Boom referring to a growing local economy, growing faster than the regional trend and with Burnley ranked top 10 in the UK in 2014 for private sector jobs growth we are on the growth trajectory ahead of many of our neighbouring towns and cities.

The most important factor for a boom town alongside connectivity and access to knowledge was skills. Burnley can now boast excellent connectivity with the opening of the direct rail link to Manchester earlier this year, excellent access to knowledge via our two universities, and we are working hard to generate the skills needed for our businesses to grow, by working with our schools, college, and University Technical College to improve attainment and skills levels.

The aim is to bring employers and education together, to own and collectively shape our vision for higher attainment and skills for the future.

Burnley bucked the national trend on employment growth from 2009 to 2013 standing at 7.1%. against 0.6% in the North West and 2% in Great Britain, and together with our partners and Bondholders we want to apply the same commitment and joint working on raising our education attainment and developing skills for the future.

Another fantastic demonstration of Burnley’s joint working to grow our economy.

9 Boom Town

22 Welcome to Burnley

30 Food Glorious Food

Joanne Etherington Editor 01282 477315 jetherington@burnley.gov.uk

Design

Burnley Business Support

36 International Burnley

For information on: finance for growth • relocation support • commercial property and land search • business directory • procurement support • international trade • manufacturing advice • and more MJ Hindman Graphic Designer

Contact the Council’s Business Support Team on

01282 477213 burnley.gov.uk/business graphics@burnley.gov.uk

Produced by Communications and Graphics, © Burnley Council 2014. [t] 01282 425011. Job_9758. www.creative-council.net Printed by Peter Scotts Printers [t] 01282 452221

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News HORSE RESCUE CENTRE READY TO WELCOME VISITORS TO BURNLEY

After receiving world class customer service training HAPPA’s Shores Hey Farm, Briercliffe, is ready to offer an ‘Excellent Welcome’ when their new visitor centre opened this September.

Staff at the Horse And Pony Protection Association (HAPPA) all attended the renowned Welcome to Excellence ‘Welcome to Burnley’ course this month which teaches participants how to develop their customer service skills and enhance a visitor’s and a resident’s perception of Burnley

as a destination that excels in customer service and providing a warm welcome.

The course was held in The Thursden Suite, one of two new conferencing rooms at Shores Hey Farm and was delivered by specialists in workforce training, The Via Partnership (Via). Via hold the North West licence to deliver Welcome to Excellence, one of the most successful customer service training initiatives in the UK. In partnership with Burnley Borough Council, the course was

tailored specifically for Burnley from the acclaimed Welcome Host Gold programme to enable staff to promote their business and Burnley as an attractive area to live, visit and work.

Helen Aldous, Via’s Training Manager said: “Welcome to Burnley is a bespoke one day programme that brings participants up to date with the latest techniques and best practice, gives an insight into customer expectations and shows how to consistently deliver the highest levels of customer service. This dedicated course and the customer-facing skills of teams such as those at HAPPA, will help sustain and grow visitor numbers to Shores Hey Farm and Burnley for years to come.”

HAPPA’s Chief Officer, Kay Brandist, spoke highly of the course. “Our staff members found the content interesting and informative and everyone commented on how much they

enjoyed the trainer’s delivery.

We will all use our new skills to deliver the best possible visitor experience at Shores Hey Farm and offer our guests one of the warmest welcomes in Burnley”, Mark Crabtree, Chair of the Burnley Bondholder Focus Group said: “The Group initiated the course in 2013 as part of our Burnley Brand campaign. I’m delighted HAPPA and so many other businesses are taking up the training and feel passionate about delivering the Burnley messages. A window sticker is currently in production which will be displayed by businesses who have been awarded the Quality Mark of excellence in customer service.”

The horse and pony rescue centre will offer many activities for visitor’s to enjoy as well as educational workshops, demonstrations, nature walks and open days throughout the year.

recommend the KTP scheme to all three parties; the company, the university and the associate.”

When asked about the success of the KTP scheme, Pi’s Managing Director Mike Riding said “Of all the government schemes designed to help small high tech companies, I think that this one is the most

successful providing access as it does to Universities. Pi is greatly benefiting from a great associate in Jeff and a great team at Lancaster headed by Professor Fielden.”

To If you are in business and wish to learn more about the Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme ktp.innovateuk.org

Process Instruments team up with University Professor to work on top secret R&D project Leading water analysis and monitoring experts Process Instruments have taken advantage of the government sponsored Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme to explore new innovations through R&D. For many years a government sponsored scheme, the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) has been bringing Industry and Academia together with a KTP associate employed by a university working on a project based in a company.

In April ‘14, Dr. Jeff Prest, recently of Manchester University, joined Pi as a KTP associate to work on a three year secret development of a new sensor to add to Pi’s acclaimed range of sensors for online water monitoring.

Whilst Dr. Prest is employed

by Lancaster University’s newly formed Chemistry Department,

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he spends most of his working week at Pi where he is involved in the development of a new water monitoring sensor.

The KTP scheme successfully provides a conduit for the transfer of knowledge ostensibly from Lancaster University to Pi. The transfer is often both ways and brings benefits to all parties.

When asked about his work at Pi, Dr. Prest commented “I can’t tell you what I’m working on as it’s secret, but I can tell you that I am really enjoying the commercial imperatives in Pi and the academic rigour associated with Lancaster University. I would certainly

Burnley business, first to benefit from Lancashire Business Growth Fund Support

Growing Burnley business, the Wykamol Group, are the first company in Lancashire to benefit from the £8million Lancashire Business Growth Fund (LBGF) pot, which was launched earlier this month to help businesses across Lancashire with business growth projects and accelerate the creation of more jobs across the county.

A substantial grant of £72,792 has been awarded to Wykamol from the fund to help them with their business growth project which will lead to the creation of 8 new jobs.

Wykamol, who are market leaders in the manufacture and supply of products for the remedial treatment industry, and leaders in pioneering new product developments, needed financial support to get a new powder plant off the ground and approached (LBGF) to enquire about support.

Tony Street, Wykamol managing director, said: “We are delighted to be the first business in Lancashire to benefit from the new fund and delighted with the support we received from the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce to secure the grant. The grant has enabled Wykamol to invest into new markets and bring more of our manufacturing in-house. Without the funding from LBGF I don’t believe the project could have gone ahead, so the support has been invaluable.

It will lead to an increase in UK manufacturing and an increase in our export business, which is why such government schemes were set up.

“We needed funds to get a new powder plant venture off the ground and we heard about the new fund from Access to Finance. We were the first business to apply to the fund, and everything went along very quickly from our initial enquiry on-line to submitting our written application. The application process is quite achievable and help and support is given along the way.

“If anyone is thinking of applying for funding, don’t be intimidated by the information required as help is always on hand to lead you through the process.”

Mandy Lockett, LBGF Programme Manager & International Business Director of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce said: “We are so please we have been able to support Wykamol with their growth and to see the programme do exactly what it was set up to do, to provide the funds to help finance new machinery, new premises or whatever is needed to grow a business.”

“The money is only on offer for two years so we need businesses in Lancashire to take advantage of it as soon as possible.. So if you’re a business based in Lancashire please give us a call to discuss your project ideas.

For more information on applying to the fund contact Stef Heywood, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce Tel. 01282 356454, or email s.heywood@chamberlancs.co.uk

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News

Global Health and Safety Award presented at ZF TRW in Burnley

The award is related to assessments of multiple areas of Health Safety and Environmental (H.S.E) best practice. There are normally between 6 and 10 of the 185 TRW worldwide businesses which meet the criteria annually. What makes the award even more significant is that it is the 7th year in 8 that Burnley has achieved the required standards.

It has now been recognised that this sets Burnley as the Best Performing TRW Plant related to Health, Safety and Environmental excellence in the World.

John Kennedy spoke to a group of employees made up of all departments and also the various plant and also departmental

safety teams. The key message was that there is nothing in the business which is more important than assuring the Health and Safety of employees and visitors and also stressed the vital role that everyone needs to play in protecting the environment.

This message was reinforced by Mr. Chaney who shared many of his experiences from plants he is responsible for worldwide.

Employees were then shown, for the first time, a Safety Training Film, featuring themselves which was recently produced with help from Burnley Borough Council.

During his 2 day visit Mr Chaney also performed a standardised benchmarking

Production Management Audit on the Burnley Plant. This is a process carried out in a consistent way in all TRW locations and assesses performance in Productivity, Quality, Manufacturing Strategy, Product Launch and overall Continuous Improvement.

Once again the Burnley Plant achieved an outstanding result in this area with the highest rating in all of the Global Body Controls business units worldwide.

Mr Chaney left with a really positive impression of not only the factory but also the Burnley area having been taken to Towneley Hall, and the surrounding countryside.

WHAT MORE SET TO SWEEP THE MARKET WITH NEW BROOMS A range of hardwearing wooden outdoor brooms is now being manufactured by Burnley company What More UK Ltd. Combining British-made quality with value for money, the wooden headed outdoor brooms are part of the DIY range marketed under What More’s acclaimed “Wham” brand.

Although better known for its innovative plastic Wham brand products – from storage boxes in all shapes and sizes to housewares and gardening

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lines – What More UK will be manufacturing traditional quality wooden brushware in-house.

“We might be living in a digital age, but who doesn’t need a proper quality oldfashioned yard brush from time to time?” asked What More director Tony Grimshaw.

“It’s a household essential, and that’s what Wham is all about – supplying top quality British-made housewares at the keenest possible prices through our network of retailers across

the UK and worldwide.”

What More UK now exports to 63 countries worldwide and holds the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade. It has more than 650 products, the majority manufactured at its purposebuilt facility at the Altham Business Park, in the shadow of Pendle Hill.

“Pendle is already famous for its brooms, and the witches that flew on them,” said Tony.

“We’re confident ours will soon be flying off the shelves too.”

New School of Medicine based in Burnley enrols students from 29 different countries

Burnley Bondholder joins Burnley Youth Theatre board Burnley Youth Theatre has welcomed a new trustee to its board. Dave Walker, owner of +24 Marketing in Burnley, has joined the 13-strong board to further promote and support the charity, based on Queen’s Park Road in Burnley.

Dave, who was approached through the Burnley Bondholders, will help to promote the charity and advise them on their marketing and social media strategies.

He said: “It’s a fantastic organisation with a lot of positive success stories. I’m delighted to be able to give something back to the community.”

Alicia Foley, chair of trustees, welcomed Dave to the board. The charity works with around 450 young people aged 0-25 each week and its trustees range from solicitors, parents, architects and teachers.

Alicia said: “We have a broad range of skills across the trustees. We had a skills gap when it comes to marketing and that’s where Dave comes in. He came along to one of our away days and had loads of ideas about how we can get the message out there about what we are doing and how we can raise more funds and our profile. We realise that we are doing a lot of good work but we are

not really vocal about it.”

The theatre has a donation-based policy so any young person can come with no money in their pocket and still be able to take part. Alicia said: “This means it’s even more important to bring in more money and fundraising so we can continue to offer this opportunity.

“We don’t want there to be any barriers to young people taking part.

For some young people, the theatre is somewhere safe to come, somewhere to get out of the house where they have no pressures. Everyone is welcome. Young people’s confidence grows and that’s what it’s all about.”

The organisation visits schools and holds workshops on current issues such as binge drinking, bullying and the pressures young people are under.

The organisation also holds a number of shows between its junior and senior sections and with touring production companies, as well as after school and weekend workshops and holiday clubs.

The new term at Burnley Youth Theatre begins on 7 September.

If you would like to know more about what is on offer for children and young people please call 01282 427767.

The first group of students have been signed up for a new medical degree at Lancashire’s new school of medicine, part of which is based in Burnley.

The University of Central Lancashire has enrolled students from 29 different countries on the new five year course due to start in September. The UCLan MBBS will attract the best global medical students to study and work in the NHS here in Lancashire.

Dr Damien Lynch, ELHT director of undergraduate education and, the self-funded programme is on course to get recognition from the General Medical Council.

Aimed at international students, specially those who lack opportunities in their own country, the new MBBS degree will teach medical sciences along with clinical and communication skills out of the university’s multi-million pound facilities in Preston and Burnley. Students will also undertake clinical placements at some of the busiest hospitals in the North of England as part of their course.

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust are among those working with the university to provide placements. Following a visit to UCLan School of Medicine, the General Medical Council has now officially committed to work with the university to enable the MBBS programme to acquire full GMC recognition.

Professor Cathy Jackson, head of the School of Medicine, said: “Our MBBS programme offers a more inclusive approach to typical medical education. The programme offers international students a stateof-the-art curriculum, exceptional practical clinical training, early patient contact and small class sizes, all delivered in the UK’s newest medical school. We have recruited a strong academic team well ahead of the launch, and thanks to the quality of the programme and our outstanding facilities, we are already receiving high calibre applications for 2016.”

Dr Damien Lynch, director of undergraduate education at ELHT, said: “The UCLan MBBS will attract the best global medical students to study and work in the NHS in Lancashire. Our partnership with the UCLan Medical School is a cornerstone of our plans to become a teaching hospital and we look forward to the research and teaching opportunities it will bring.”

UCLan’s new School of Medicine offers a strong portfolio of programmes and sits in the new College of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, offering a multi-professional approach to medical education alongside colleagues in pharmacy and dentistry.

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News

Singing Ringing Tree in top 21 Great British Landmarks The Independent has been on a quest to find the landmarks that truly define Britain in the 21st Century and asked their readers to select their favourite icons and we are delighted that Burnley’s famous landmark The Singing Ringing tree was nominated by their national readers bringing it into the top 21 landmarks in Great Britain.

The Sculputure, which won the National Award of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for architectural excellence was completed in 2006 as part of a series of four

Panopticon sculptures across Pennine Lancashire.

The Singing Ringing Tree attracts visitors from across the UK beyond and has been a huge YouTube hit. A video on you tube of the Singing Ringing Tree in fine voice has already received over 4 million hits.

The sculpture is a wind powered sculpture resembling a tree, set on the Pennine Hills overlooking Burnley.

Designed by architects Mike Tonkin and Anna Liu of Tonkin Liu, the Singing Ringing Tree is a 3-metre tall construction

comprising pipes of galvanised streel which harness the energy of the wind to produce a slightly discordant and penetrating choral sound covering a range of several octaves.

Burnley Council leader Mark Townsend said: “The Singing Ringing Tree has really put Burnley on the map, not just nationally but across the world. It’s attracted more than four million views on YouTube and international visitors have beaten a path up the moors to find out more about it. It’s exceeded expectations in every way in the nine years since it was

installed above the town.

“There is something about the cutting edge design and use of the steel pipes that make the Singing Ringing Tree such an iconic piece of public art that has captured the public’s imagination.

“I’d encourage anyone to come to see the Singing Ringing Tree, and then find out more about the other things Burnley has to offer.”

Plan a visit to the Singing Ringing Tree, which is surrounded by superb walks in the Pennine countryside above, you won’t be disappointed.

Coolkit wins Welsh Water Tender Burnley-based refrigerated vehicle specialist CoolKit Ltd has won a tender agreement to convert a fleet of vehicles for UK water company Dr Cymru (Welsh Water).

A total of eleven Ford vans used for the transportation of water samples will be converted into CoolKit temperature controlled vehicles to ensure that Dr Cymru conforms to the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2010.

The regulations demand that in taking, handling, transporting, storing and analysing water, any sample taken must be kept at a temperature and in conditions that will ensure the sample remains representative of the quality of the water at the time of sampling.

CoolKit Sales Executive Mark Beaton said: “In winning the tender, CoolKit demonstrated a deep understanding of the regulations, having converted vans for other water companies over the years, and also

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demonstrated our solution by supplying a detailed 3D CAD drawing of the completed conversion. This enabled the customer to visualise the specification of the conversion and to be confident that it met their stringent needs.”

CoolKit also supplied a full breakdown of the refrigeration unit’s capabilities, service and warranty, and also arranged a training day to ensure the team of engineers and drivers at Dr Cymru fully understood the vehicles and how to operate them.

Mark said: “The conversions have a partition, so that there is no common air between the compartments, to ensure that samples cannot be contaminated. The vehicles are also fitted with a refrigeration unit with dual evaporators and a heating facility as well as cooling so the samples can be kept at a constant temperature. A keyless running system that allows the vehicle to idle

without keys in the ignition for vehicle safety was installed to ensure that, when sampling at reservoirs, the refrigeration unit will keep running so samples are not affected when there is no electric standby power available.”

To monitor the temperature of the samples for due-diligence, CoolKit fitted Transcan2 temperature recorders with air and product probes as air temperature sensing alone may not provide a meaningful indication of product temperature. This recorder can store temperature data for up to one year and print records of the temperature in each compartment.

CoolKit also installed a high intensity LED work-lamp to make it easier to see in low light conditions and a retractable shelf in each compartment which can be pulled out of the vehicle by 500mm whilst holding a load of up to 250kg per shelf to make loading and unloading safer for drivers.

Physiofusion Win Prestigious Business Award Burnley based Physiotherapy clinic Physiofusion Ltd has been named as Professional Services Business of the Year at the prestigious Be Inspired Business Awards 2015.

Physiofusion, which provides physiotherapy and wellbeing services from 6 clinics across Lancashire and North Yorkshire, was chosen as the winner from an 8 strong shortlist that made it through the rigorous judging process.

When picking up the award Physiofusion clinical director, Sam House, said “After a really hard day, this has just made up for everything”. She added, “By winning a Professional Services award it’s obvious to us that we are delivering a high calibre service. This starts on the phone or internet, travels through the administration, takes a journey in the hands of skilled and caring therapists and ends with clients who feel we deliver exceptional results. Thank you for to all of our team for their hard work and dedication. They all have a part to play in the difference they make to people’s lives.”

The BIBAs are Lancashire’s largest, longest running and most rigorous business awards programme and Physiofusion were up against businesses that would be more likely to fall in to the ‘Professionals’ category such as accountants and solicitors. “This says a lot about our team as a whole and how Physiofusion are enhancing the profile of physiotherapy as a professional service”.

The last year has been Physiofusion’s most successful year yet and Sorrel Holland, Managing Director, added “It’s a great encouragement to everyone at Physiofusion to know that all of the hard work that has been going into the services we provide - at all of our clinics - has not gone unnoticed.”

More information can be found on www.physiofusion.co.uk or by calling 01282 453 110.

Burnley featured in Estates Gazette top five North West Boom Towns

Estates Gazette has featured the ‘top five to thrive’ towns in the North West and Burnley has been listed as having what it takes to make the ‘boom town’ status.

Factors such as skills, connectivity and access to knowledge could be the key to success and the Estates Gazette asked two experts to assess the prospects of five plausible candidates.

Analysts say the North West has some strong candidates for boom town status, if “boom” means a local economy growing appreciably faster than the regional trend.

Simon Bedford, partner at Deloitte, said: “To grow above the regional trend, a town needs to yoke itself to an economic sector that is growing above trend. Look at Burnley, for instance, which has allied itself to the aerospace supply chain sector, and is now doing quite well.”

Estates Gazette has recognised some of Burnley’s top developments such as; Vision Park – located next to the college campus.

The 45,000 sq ft first phase is completing next summer, with an innovation centre to follow. It will total 100,000 sq ft.

Simon Bedford stated: “Burnley is already doing very well. It is attracting a lot of aerospace jobs – the former Michelin site has been turned into the 84-acre Burnley Aerospace Suppliers Park.”

Burnley has recently been ranked in the UK’s top 10 for growth in private-sector jobs, and Experian says it has the best growth prospects in Lancashire. A new rail link to Manchester will yoke the town into the Northern Powerhouse.

Council leader Mark Townsend says: “We’ve got universities we didn’t have before, we’re sorting transport to bring the market closer to Burnley, and improving links to Manchester is a no-brainer, which has to boost the local economy.

We are growing our skills base and stopping it draining away to the big cities.”

“To grow above the regional trend, a town needs to yoke itself to an economic sector that is growing above trend.

Look at Burnley, for instance, which has allied itself to the aerospace supply chain sector, and is now doing quite well.”

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News World’s first urban bee hive cage is creating a buzz There’s a real buzz in Burnley following the creation of the world’s first urban been hive cage.

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urnley Council working in partnership with the Offshoots project has developed the world’s first urban bee hive cage which provides protection to honey bees.

The buzzing initiative has seen the first bee hive cage installed in Queen’s Park, Burnley with plans in place for the second one to go up shortly in Towneley Park.

Bees are vital to food crops, gardens and the countryside, but they are in decline. Some species are already extinct and others are declining in range. Funded through Nesta’s Rethinking Parks programme, the initiative aims to improve habitats for bees and other pollinators such as butterflies in Burnley parks and green spaces.

The design of the cage, which is made of perforated steel sheets, controls the flight of bees in and out of the hives, allowing good ventilation and provides protection whilst allowing people

to see the hives. The hives form part of an urban bee farm with more than 40 hives located across Burnley which are looked after by Offshoot’s beekeepers and a team of volunteers.

“As the council’s budget is reduced, we are developing ways of managing our parks at lower cost, such as introducing more wildflower meadows into parks. These encourage wildlife and provide excellent forage for honey bees, so it is a natural step to introduce bee hives.” said Councillor Bea Foster, Burnley Council’s executive member for leisure and culture.

Phill Dewhurst, Offshoots project manager, said: “If the prototype is successful we are looking forward to being able introduce bee hives into other parks and green spaces in Burnley and we see this as an idea that parks elsewhere in the country will be interested in.”

Work starts on new 543,000 sq.ft. National Distribution Centre Work has started on one of the largest new builds in the North West, the national distribution centre for Exertis, which is reloacting all of its 300 strong workforce to Burnley and has plans to create a further 300 extra jobs in the town.

Property firm Eshton, behind the Burnley Bridge Business Park at Hapton, has enlisted Bowmer & Kirkland for the project on behalf of Exertis. The company is one of the UK’s leading distributors of IT, communications and home entertainment products and services.

The 543,000 square foot base is due to be completed by May 2016 and includes a main warehouse and two mezzanine floors. As well as the staff transferring from Exertis’ current home, in Altham, it is envisaged that the workforce will expand from 510 staff to around 800 when it is fully operational, by early 2017.

Gerry O’Keeffe, Exertis UK and Ireland managing director, said: “We’re very excited to see work under way at Burnley Bridge Business Park.

“The new centre will greatly assist us in our mission of helping customer and vendor

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partners access an ever-improving range of services and opportunities, which drive their businesses forward, by allowing us to continue expanding our distribution operations.”

Exertis is a partner with 350 global technology brands and more than 14,000 resellers, e-commerce operators and retailers across Europe.

In its most recent results, the international company had a turnover of £2.3billion and grew by 22.4%.

The retailer will join YESSS Electrical Engineering, Birchall Food Services, Townsend Music and Equinox Building Services on the former Hepworth’s site.

Cllr Mark Townsend, Burnley Council leader, said: “The council is looking forward to officially welcoming Exertis to the town next year, onto the largest new commercial development on the M65 corridor for over 10 years. We’re not surprised at the continuing strong demand for space at the site, given the area’s strengths such as its enterprising spirit, outstanding logistical connections and large labour pool.”

James Chapman, Eshton’s managing director, said: “It’s great to see construction of the Exertis distribution centre get underway.

“This is physical proof not only of Burnley Bridge Business Park’s potential but how the commercial property sector is bouncing back.

“We are experiencing a surge in enquiries, which reflects the increasing demand in the area for high quality space and excellent links to the motorway network.”

The £50million initiative was kickstarted 18 months ago following a major European Union grant to build an access bridge over the Leeds Liverpool Canal at junction nine of the M65.

Gary Bradley, divisional director, Bowmer & Kirkland, said: “Construction of the building will be delivered locally through specialist teams and we are looking forward to showing Eshton and Exertis how we’ll turn their new distribution centre from vision to reality.”

The rest of the old chemical plant land has been allocated for housing, with 38 acres also set aside as a nature reserve.

BARNFIELD START NEXT PHASE AT INNOVATION DRIVE Barnfield Construction is delighted to announce that work has started on the next phase at the highly successful 400,000 sq ft Advanced Engineering Supply Park in Burnley.

Three new occupiers join international aerospace tooling manufacturer Kaman Tooling and BCW Engineering on Barnfield Construction’s new £60 million, 37-acre business park, Innovation Drive.

Built in keeping with the rest of the park the former car park land will soon be home to Elite 04 who will occupy a 15,000 sq ft unit, Kavia Tooling Limited will occupy 8,000 sq ft and Lomax Offshore Couplings who will occupy 3,500 sq ft.

Stuart Lemon, General Manager at Elite 04 Ltd commented “We’re really excited and proud to be moving our business operations to such a prestigious business park with award winning neighbours.

This move will help propel the business into the next stage of its development by enhancing the business performance in all marketplaces and we hope to create 10 jobs in the process.”

Chris Cole, Director at Kavia Tooling Limited said: “We are very excited to be moving our business to the new advanced engineering supply park in Burnley. This move enables us to target a diverse range of customers and help create future employment and apprenticeships. The help given

by Burnley borough council has been invaluable and we hope to continue the relationship well into the future.”

Tracy Clavell-Bate, Sales and Letting Manager at Barnfield Construction said:“It has always been our intention for the industrial units on the approach to Innovation Drive to be complimentary to the main estate in terms of use as

well as style. We are delighted to have pre let/pre sold to Lomax, Elite and Kavia and we are sure they will be pleased with the finished product. We hope their businesses go from strength to strength“.

Council Leader, Mark Townsend said: “I’m delighted to see the transformation of the former Michelin Site into the state-of-the-art Supply Park ‘Innovation Drive’. Interest in the site has been phenomenal, and I’m delighted to see Phase II underway so soon after launching the site last year.

Innovation Drive has proved to be a prestigious address in attracting

new businesses and I’m delighted to welcome Elite 04, Kavia and Lomax Offshore Couplings to the supply park.

“The new companies will bring approximately 50 jobs to Burnley between them and are set to create over 50 new jobs in the near future, effectively doubling their workforce.”

“Burnley is undergoing a huge transformation, with millions of pounds of investment in its business, transport, housing and education infrastructure. This investment is achieving impressive results with Burnley being awarded the title of Most Enterprise Area in

the UK in 2013, ranked in the UK top ten for private sector jobs growth in 2014, rated best in Lancashire for Growth Prospects

by Experian, and now a top five position as a North West Boom Town, which is attracting new businesses to the Borough.”

Barnfield completed the purchase of the former Michelin Site from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) in 2013.

The architect for the £1.5 million scheme is Campbell Driver Partnership and sales and lettings on the development have been handled by the in-house development team.

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News An £8million opportunity to grow Lancashire businesses

BURNLEY BUSINESS WEEK - A HUGE SUCCESS Over 300 people attended 29 events during Burnley Business Week, held earlier this year.

Business Week is organised by Burnley Council as part of its business support programme, to support local businesses with their growth. The week offered free workshops, seminars and one to one’s with business experts, providing the latest advice and training in all areas of business.

Free training sessions in sales, social media marketing, exporting, digital skills, book keeping, business start-up, online marketing, and much more, were fully booked, and the council was delighted with the take-up.

Some feedback from businesses who attended some of the workshops: “Thanks Burnley Council for an excellent Burnley Business Week, I picked up some great tips” Tom Richardson, Tek Tool Ltd “Excellent idea from Burnley Council to support Burnley businesses in this way, lots of support for business growth, #inspirational.”

“What a great week, many thanks from the iflorist team” Councillor Sue Graham, Executive Member for Regeneration & Economic Development said: “Burnley Business Week was a great success and I’m delighted to see such positive outcomes from businesses who attended the business week.

“This is the third Business Week the council has organised, with a wide range of support and advice sessions packed in to one dedicated business week. There was something to help all types and all sizes of business, as well as expert advice for people thinking of starting their own business, and I’d like to extend my thanks to our business support partners for helping us deliver the week.”

Kate Ingram, Burnley Council’s Head of Regeneration & Planning Policy added: “Burnley Council is committed to supporting business growth in Burnley and the council is working hard organising events such as the Business Week to create a pro-active business environment in order to support local business growth and attract new investment.

“Our support and close working with the private sector helped gain Burnley the title of Most Enterprise Place in the UK 2013, appear in the UK top ten for private sector jobs growth in 2014, and this year in the top 5 North West boom towns list.”

If you are a local business looking for support and advice on areas such as marketing; energy efficiency and reducing utility bills; accessing apprenticeships; access to business finance; recruitment; training; manufacturing; business start-up; export and international trade; don’t hesitate to contact the council business support team on 01282 477213.

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Businesses in Burnley and the rest of Lancashire are being urged to bid for an £8million funding pot aimed at creating jobs in the county.

The Regional Growth Fund supported Lancashire Business Growth Fund is a programme offering capital investment grants and international trade support to businesses across the county.

The programme has been launched by the county’s two accredited chambers of commerce – East Lancashire and North and Western Lancashire – in partnership with Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, and is intended to create 600 new jobs and safeguard a further 200.

Its key aim is to accelerate the creation of sustainable jobs by encouraging companies to bring forward growth projects on a bigger scale with a larger impact at a time when those jobs are most needed.

Businesses bidding for grants from the scheme can claim up to 20 per cent of the total project costs, with the remaining costs leveraged from the bank or investment.

To be eligible for the programme, projects must involve the acquisition of new premises, infrastructure, machinery, expansion, or another suitable form of capital investment. Businesses are also required to demonstrate how many jobs will be created through the project in order to be accepted on to the scheme.

The programme also has a fully-funded International Trade Support element to give companies that are looking to grow internationally tailored support to achieve their goals.

Mandy Lockett, LBGF Programme Manager and International Business Director of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is excellent news and welcome recognition by Government of the value, capability and potential of Lancashire’s industry. It will allow eligible businesses with ambition to grow to unlock and bring forward investment in machinery and premises that will help create jobs and add to the nation’s wealth. The Chambers have a strong history of partnership working, this programme being part of the wider Lancashire LEP strategy for encouraging private sector growth and complimenting business support packages available through local authorities and the Lancashire Business Growth Hub.” North and Western Lancashire Chamber of Commerce deputy chief executive Hugh Evans, who is leading the project for the Chamber, said: “Many businesses have aspirations to grow and expand but simply cannot find the cash they need to do so.

“This programme is the answer for those firms who can use these grants to help finance new machinery, new premises or whatever it is they need to grow their business.

“This money is only on offer for two years, so we need companies in Lancashire to take advantage of it otherwise we will have to send whatever goes unspent back to the Government.

“And if you are sat wondering whether or not your project is suitable for this fund, speak to somebody at the Chamber who can help you decide the best way forward.”

For more information on LBGF grants call 01254 356400 or email s.heywood@chamberelancs.co.uk

A BURNLEY company is celebrating its continued success by moving to an office more than double the size. +24 Marketing, based at Northbridge House in Elm Street, has seen a rapid increase in its client base and turnover and has just signed a further two-year deal at the site, worth a five figured sum.

The marketing agency offers website design, software development, creative design, marketing services and a comprehensive social media offering.

The company’s previous office had lots of creative touches including grass on the floor, picnic benches for meetings and inspirational and motivational quotes on the walls.

Dave Walker, owner of +24 Marketing, said the move into

+24 Marketing has recruited Lisa Woodhouse as its Content Manager to grow its expanding social media offering.

L

isa, a former Lancashire Telegraph reporter and assistant picture editor, brings with her a wealth of experience in writing copy and photography.

The mum-of-one, who lives in Bacup, has worked in newspaper for the past 12 years and has held positions including senior reporter, news editor, photographer and assistant picture editor.

She joined the team after being approached for the job by boss Dave Walker while interviewing him about another business venture.

Lisa said: “It was a chance meeting which in turn led to a new career path. I have loved my time in the local and regional press and I have met lots of amazing people and contacts.

“This new role will allow me to still write articles but this time it’s on behalf of the client. I know what makes a good story and I believe this is one of the key skills I bring to both +24 Marketing and our clients. My reporting background enables me to see the news value in items that others may have missed or overlooked.”

Lisa, 33, will be responsible for content on a number of social media platforms such as

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, as well as client’s blogs and press releases. She will also be taking the photographs and videos to accompany the content.

Dave Walker, owner of +24 Marketing, said: “Bringing Lisa into the team adds even more depth to our social media and PR offering.

“Lisa will be driving content for clients which will enhance their social media presence, their web content and generate positive news stories for them.

“Our social media management is extremely popular and in one case has seen our clients have 1000% return on investment in one fantastic month.

“Lisa will add the ability to take live video, imagery and content in the moment, recognising the fact people want content immediately and they’re not willing to wait for it.”

Contact Lisa on lisa@24marketing.co.uk

the larger offices had been a seamless transition.

He said: “We have been working hard to provide the best service to our clients.

“Due to our success we have been able to move to a larger office to accommodate our growing number of staff and we are looking forward to making our mark on the new working space.

“With larger units available at Northbridge House, there was no need to relocate.

“The move has been so smooth and easy. Anvic, which owns the building, is always there if we have any problems and the company always come up with a solution. You don’t get that experience with many managed office spaces.

“All the technology is here - the IP, telephone lines, great internet, parking and a welcoming reception for clients.”

In the past 18 months +24 Marketing has secured a number of new clients as well as retaining their existing customers. Staff numbers have increased from two staff to nine, with ambitious plans for the future.

Paul Dawson, Managing Director of Anvic Developments Ltd, said: “I am delighted to see how the +24 Marketing team is developing.

“They have moved before within the building as they have expanded, which is the concept of Northbridge House - to be able to allow businesses to grow easily and switch units.

“Over the years we have helped hundreds of SMEs develop and occasionally contract, and met the needs of their business as their business evolves.

“Everything is here and ready for a business to move in. They just need to move in with their pen and paper - or picnic bench in +24 Marketing’s case.”

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News

Burnley’s Woodland Spa named the best in the world!

The spa at Crow Wood Leisure has been named the global winner in the World Luxury Spa Awards.

It had been nominated in the World’s Best Emerging Spa category, which it won. Then a global winner was chosen from 22 categories and The Woodland Spa came out on top, seeing off competition from established luxury spa destinations such as Sri Lanka, the United

Arab Emirates, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Australia, with a record number of 4,433 votes.

Andrew Brown, managing director of Crow Wood Leisure which invested £4.5m. in The Woodland Spa in 2013, doubling its number of staff to 160, said it was a dream come true.

He said the business’ catering arm serves 7,500 covers a month and will exceed sales of £5.6m. when it welcomes its 100,000th visitor this summer.

He said: “The Woodland Spa represented a big investment and a big risk, but we felt that we had the location, the staff and the experience to make it happen. In under two years, we’re approaching our 100,000th customer and The Woodland Spa is being recognised nationally and internationally.

“We’re incredibly proud to be promoting Burnley and our region to the world.

Gone are the days when Burnley and the surrounding area could be depicted in stereotypical fashion. Cobbled streets and mill chimneys may be our heritage, but our present and our future is one where our

town is becoming a destination that offers sophistication and quality.

“Despite the quality we offer and the fact that our tremendous team have worked so hard, we were delighted to be in the running for the best global spa award. To win it outright is a dream come true.

Marna Lourens, the executive manager of the World Luxury Spa Awards, said: “We congratulate our overall Global Winner, from Burnley in the UK, The Woodland Spa that came in first with a record number of 4,433 votes. As a luxury emerging spa amongst the world’s best, this is a truly remarkable achievement and we believe that the business will prosper and grow. Maintaining and awarding the highest standards within the global luxury spa sector remain our primary goal.”

This latest accolade completes a highly prestigious hat-trick, as the spa won last year’s UK Day Spa of the Year award and the Best Spa in the North of England.

In further recognition for Crow Wood, the Royle Lane-based business has been shortlisted for Health Club Of The Year and Best Gym In The North at the National Fitness Awards 2015.

The business was the winner of Health Club of the Year in 2011, so everybody is hoping to see a repeat of that success.

Also Bertram’s Restaurant has been shortlisted as one of the final three in the Best Restaurant in Lancashire & Cheshire (Lancashire Life & Cheshire Life Awards). This comes as the latest accolade for the restaurant, which only opened its doors two years ago. Earlier this year Bertram’s was one of the contributing restaurants for the Great British Cookbook. A recipe from Bertram’s Head Chef Spencer Burge and his team featured in the book alongside those of celebrity chefs including Nigella Lawson, Rick Stein, Paul Heathcote, Michael Caines, Richard Corrigan and a host of others.

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Burnley wins European Award Burnley has been awarded the European Diploma from the Council of Europe for its work in improving relationships between the people of the town and people in other European countries.

Only 12 towns across the 47 member states in the Council of Europe received the award this year. Burnley being the only one in

the United Kingdom.

The Award was presented by the Council of Europe at the palais d’Europe in Strasbourg.

The bid was made through a partnership of Burnley Town Council and Burnley Twinning Association, which included references to: the work of Burnley Twinning Association in developing relationships with people from

its twin town Vitry-sur-Seine near Paris; the work of the council in sharing its expertise with other European countries; hosting factfinding visits from abroad; and the work of local primary schools introducing a foreign language and teaching children about the different cultural traditions of countries in Europe.

Top College to partner with Crow Wood Leisure for Equine Studies Craven College is set to offer students a major opportunity to study at one of the country’s best equipped sports and leisure complexes.

From this year’s Autumn term, subject to demand, the Skipton-based College’s Equine studies will be based at Crow Wood Equestrian Centre – here in Burnley.

Course leader, Joanna Baxter, said: “This is a brilliant opportunity – Crow Wood Equestrian Centre has three superb schools. There’s also livery for 50 horses on site, so students will get to study in a unique location that has a wealth of real life and work experiences. These include a competition environment, gallops, cross country course, state of the art arenas and good transport links.”

“The Crow Wood Leisure complex also has a health club boasting state-of-the-art gym facilities and The Woodland Spa, which has

just won the Global Luxury Spa of the Year Award! Places on our courses are limited, so I would urge anybody who is interested to get in touch as quickly as possible, so they can study in an internationally renowned sports and leisure complex.”

Courses available to students include Level 2 Horse Care –a one year programme that includes riding, turn out skills, feeding and watering, tack and equipment, horse handling and biology; Level 3 Horse Management – which includes a variety of options within the Level 3 and can be studied over one or two years generating UCAS points for further study or opportunities to gain vital experience for employment. There are additional BHS Part-time courses – BHS Stage One, Stage Two, Stage Three, PTT, Riding and Road Safety and also progression to a Foundation Degree Equine Science and Husbandry course

at Craven College Auction Mart Campus in Skipton, which has a strong emphasis on management within the equine sector and focuses on the scientific aspects and work in the equine ancillary industries.

Besides the opportunity to study in a first class environment, students will benefit from clinics with top trainers including Mat Turner, Joe Whitaker, Kath Pinington, Sue Pimbley BHSI, Sarah King-Wells, Patrick Print FBHS and Andrew Fletcher BHSI. Andrew Brown, Managing Director of Crow Wood Leisure, said: “We are really looking forward to working with Craven College – we have a superb facility here and we’d be very proud to see it helping shape the careers of the next generation of leaders in the Equine sector.”

If you would like to know more about Craven College’s Equine Studies at Crow Wood, contact Joanna Baxter on 01756 693 911/910.

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News

PROFESSOR JOHN PERKINS PRAISES BURNLEY’S YOUNG ENGINEERS

An expert on engineering in the UK has work for Vince Cable on engineering skills I am still learning about the towns and the spoken to business leaders in Burnley praising around the UK when I was involved in BIS. different areas,” said Prof Perkins. them for the work they are doing in the town.

“I have talked about Burnley and “One of the takeaway messages from engineering in the town with Susan Scurlock Professor John Perkins, spoke at a that was that it is really important who I am working with. The work that recent Burnley Bondholders event and believes the town is embracing a new to get young people interested and the Bondholders are doing in supporting scheme aimed at developing more skilled Primary Engineer is excellent and it’s involved in engineering, and to do something we are keen to support as well. engineers through education. that we wanted them to consider In 2012 Prof Perkins was the chief “Primary Engineer will encourage people scientific advisor to the Department for to take up the STEM subjects and hopefully taking the STEM subjects.

Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), and develop future engineers..” while at the department he wrote a report “As a result of that I came across the Through his work at BIS, Prof Perkins titled Professor John Perkins’ Review of Primary Engineer project, which I think is believes the country needs to start Engineering Skill. really important and I am keen to support it.” developing more engineers of the future to He is now backing a project called Primary Prof Perkins is now a strong advocate of block a skills shortage.

Engineer which is being pushed by the the Primary Engineer scheme, with Burnley He said: “The conclusion of the work I Bondholders and seeks to promote academic having the opportunity to become the first did was that we need a significant upturn in achievement and raise aspirations in the town town to fully integrate the project for children the number of skilled people going through a through the context of engineering in all the and students aged five to 19. career in engineering, starting with a greater local schools Prof Perkins said: “I did a lot of “I am relatively new to the northwest and uptake of people studying STEM subjects.”

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17

News

Sean Dyche visited VEKA to meet the team and see the manufacturing process in action. Seen here with MD Dave Jones in the Burnley plant's new showroom.

Burnley FC Manager demands excellence from Burnley - on and off the pitch The VEKA UK Group, based in Burnley, has been chosen to provide the high-quality PVC-U profile for Burnley Manager Sean Dyche's home renovation.

The VEKA windows and doors will be fabricated by long-standing VEKA customer, Glazerite, and fitted by Network VEKA member MG Windows. This guarantees an outstanding 'chain of quality' from raw materials right through to the finished project.

The windows have been carefully chosen to give the authentic look of traditional timber, without the maintenance. Bowater Doors, a company of The VEKA UK Group will provide the composite doors for the refurbishment.

Dave Jones, MD of The VEKA UK Group commented: “We're extremely proud of the systems we produce; the quality and expertise that go into them is the reason we've been leading the industry for so long.

“The fact that Sean Dyche, a man of such demanding standards, has chosen VEKA products and Network VEKA members to complete his refurbishment project further illustrates our commitment to quality.

“By choosing Network VEKA members - Glazerite to fabricate and MG Windows to install his new windows and doors - he is guaranteed quality and service right from the initial order stage. He has chosen the

RTC Safety Surfaces scoops 150 primary school contracts Since Sport England rolled out a project to surface 600 primary school play areas, Burnley-based RTC Safety Surfaces has completed a quarter of all contracts throughout England.

In the last year, RTC completed 150 of the Primary Spaces projects made possible by Sport England grants, equating to 28,000m² of wet pour safety surfacing.

Primary Spaces is a program developed by Sport England who have invested £18m of National Lottery funding into improving primary school’s physical education.

The fund was spent on primary schools throughout England who had little or no outside space. The schools who applied for and won part of the grant could choose from a range of packages to enhance their sporting facilities by providing multi-sport areas.

The various design options all contained activity surfacing that RTC Safety Surfaces had the specialist skills to install. This activity surfacing

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premier window and door organisation and like all Network VEKA customers - he'll enjoy a host of benefits.”

Replacing the existing timber windows in Dyche's home will make it more stylish, warmer and far more energy-efficient.

The Burnley FC Manager commented: “I'm looking forward to seeing the significant difference the new windows and doors will make. It was recommended that we choose Network VEKA members to complete the job, and I must say, the reassurance of having all those guarantees in place does put your mind at rest.”

embraced vivid designs with floor markings to create the sport areas.

RTC had to hand lay the wet pour surfacing and hand cut any shapes and graphics to transform the schools’ outdoor area.

However, as the work was tendered out to specialist companies from to groundwork contractors to playground equipment companies, RTC had to use its invaluable experience and industry knowledge, collated over the last 20 years, to secure the business.

So far, RTC Safety Surfaces have been trusted by ten companies for the Primary Spaces projects, gaining six new customers who choose RTC based of their unique expertise of wet pour graphics.

Mark Wesson, sales director at RTC Safety Surfaces, said: “The Primary Spaces funding programme has been a great success not only for the schools who have received the funding, but also to the play industry as a whole.

“Primary Spaces has allowed RTC Safety Surfaces Ltd to showcase our expertise of installing complex and technically demanding surfaces throughout the country. The whole team here have thoroughly enjoyed seeing hundreds of school play areas transformed to help the next generation.”

SUPPORT FOR BESPOKE EMERGENCY VEHICLE CONVERSION COMPANY Burnley Council’s Business Growth Programme assists 20 companies and leads to the creation of over 500 new jobs Supporting and working closely with local businesses and investing in the economic infrastructure is a top priority for Burnley Council and the council’s Business Growth Programme has helped several businesses achieve their growth potential and supported new businesses moving into the borough.

Over 20 companies have been assisted since the council’s Business Growth Programme was set up 2 years to assist business growth in the borough.

The programme has awarded approximately £392,000 in financial support to date, which has levered in over £10 million of private sector investment.

Council Leader Mark Townsend and Council Business Support Officer, Martyn

Hardacre, took a tour of Pick-up Systems, one of the growing companies who have received support through the council’s Business Growth Programme, to see first-hand how the council’s support has helped with their growth.

Mark Townsend said: “It was good to see how the council has assisted the business and the results the support has achieved.

The Business Growth Programme assisted Pick-up Systems with their relocation from Rossendale to Burnley, and with their new purpose built 18,000 sq.ft unit which has led to the creation of 21 new jobs.

“The rapidly expanding business, a market leader in the bespoke conversions of pickup trucks, specialising in emergency

and utility vehicles business, is going from strength to strength with countries across the globe placing orders.”

Mark added: “The council developed the programme to support local businesses who need the finance to grow, and to help attract new businesses and investment, when other funding streams aren’t available to them.

The council recognises that the success of our local businesses is key to the economic growth of our borough.”

Burnley Council’s Head of regeneration and planning policy, Kate Ingram, said: “The Council is building a reputation for looking to the future, working hard to secure investment and jobs to build the town for many years to come. The council’s

business support team works closely with our local businesses and businesses looking to relocate to Burnley to ascertain the best form of support to help with relocation and growth.”

“Our proactive work to support business growth and to promote the borough for inward investment is showing positive results with Burnley’s employment growth from 20092013 standing at 7.1 % against just 0.6% in the North West and 2% in Great Britain, with the number of businesses in Burnley growing by 6.9% between 2004 and 2013, and over one million sq.ft of industrial and commercial space taken up by new and expanding businesses in Burnley last year.”

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News Futaba Tenneco wins prestigious Toyota awards Futaba-Tenneco UK wins three prestigious awards from Toyota. These are Certificates of Recognition: two from the UK and one from TMC in Japan.

The first award is for “Supply” and FTUK have had zero miss deliveries for over 3 years, which is a fantastic achievement when you consider that FTUK supply over a million parts a month and hold less than 0.8 of a day’s stock on hand.

The second award was a VE award (value engineering), this is where FTUK have introduced innovative ideas to enable them to reduce the cost of the product to Toyota.

This particular VE was also recognised with a certificate from TMC (Toyota Motor Company) in Japan a fantastic accolade when you consider they are the world leaders in Kaizen (continuous improvement).

Finally FTUK have gained additional volume from Toyota and will be hiring an additional 21 employees.

Warburtons opens new £20m plant in Burnley Warburtons has officially opened its new £20m plant in Burnley, which will produce its growing range of sandwich alternatives.

With capacity to bake up to 34,000 Wraps and Thins products per hour, the sheet and cut line has been built in response to increasing demand for new and innovative bakery products.

Warburtons were the first to bring Sandwich Thins to the market in 2011, and the baker has existing Wraps and Thins plants in Bristol and Bolton, producing nine million individual products each week. Burnley was chosen as the latest location for investment due to its supply chain links and suitability for build.

Brett Warburton, executive director at Warburtons, said: “After many months of hard work, we are proud to open the newest, most advanced, sheet and cut line in the country. We first opened the bakery in Burnley back in 1981, our third at the time, and this site has been integral to the business success over the last 30 years.

“The investment is the latest decision to invest in the future of the business and over the past decade, we have invested over £400m in building new bakeries, refurbishing others and upgrading our distribution networks, and this opening clearly demonstrates our commitment to lead the way in innovation in the bakery industry in order to meet changing

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consumer demand.

“It’s created new jobs, we’ve largely used Burnley-based contractors and so that has helped the economy it brings prosperity to the area. We hope this investment keeps manufacturing at the heart of Burnley and hopefully we’ve supported the local economy by the capital spend and will continue to support by employing local people in the town.

“As a family business, we are able to take decisions for the long term and this investment in Burnley reflects our commitment to the site, while also demonstrating our continued ambition for future growth.

“This is now our sixth plant on this site, it’s a big bakery and it’s a vote of confidence and thanks to the people who work here.”

Alan Beardsworth, manufacturing manager, added: “The expectation is that we will be moving on to a four-crew system in the near future and that means we will look to bring in 60 additional staff on top of our current 250-strong team. It doesn’t only bring production jobs, but engineering jobs and management roles.”

Warburtons operates 12 bakeries and 14 depots across the country with the support of 4,500 people, producing more than two million products every day.

It is the largest baker in the UK and was recently named the UK’s most-chosen FMCG brand by Kantar World Panel.

Report shows Burnley is well placed for tech savvy entrepreneurs The report, from ebay’s Public Policy Lab, reveals that the location with the highest density of online businesses – calculated on the volume of small online retail businesses operating in a region and their subsequent sales, as a proportion of the local population is Greater Manchester, followed by Lancashire and then West Yorkshire.

Geographically this puts Burnley right at the heart of a booming digital northern powerhouse; situated on the eastern edge of Lancashire, bordering West Yorkshire and on the doorstep of Greater Manchester.

The nations capital, London, with its Silicon Roundabout and UK offices of some of the biggest online firms in the world trails in at a lowly number 26 in the poll.

The kind of businesses which have made up the ranking range from ‘homepreneurs’ to fast-growing businesses like Burnley’s Thingimijigs, which started with just an eBay account, £200 and a kitchen table.

The firm now sells branded gifts and accessories for children across the world from a purpose-built facility in Burnley and labels itself as “the one-stop shop for busy mums.

Rachael White, co-owner with her husband of Burnley’s Thingimijigs, said: “We sell across Europe and the world. This is a source of great pride for us because we were very much made in Burnley.

“Now we have a turnover of over £1.3 million per year.

“In the last 12 months, 46% of our parcels have gone to Europe as we’ve enjoyed notable demand for our products in Germany, France and Austria.”

Burnley’s credentials as the UKs most enterprising digital destination are further strengthened by online fashion giant Boohoo.com whose growing international brand has led to it posting record profits of £140million and growing in the town

with a purpose built 110,000sq ft expansion of its warehouse and distribution facilities.

Exertis, one of Europe’s largest and fastest growing technology distribution and specialist service providers with a £2.3billion turnover, have recently revealed plans for a brand new 500,000sq ft warehouse facility on Burnley Bridge business park.

Burnley can truly claim to be at the centre of a Northern Powerhouse’ of e-commerce which further highlights Burnley’s place as ‘most enterprising place in the UK’ in 2013.

The Daisy Group was founded in 2001 with a handful of staff by founder and

Burnley at the centre of a Northern Powerhouse of e-commerce

The top UK regions with the highest concentration of small online retail businesses are: Greater Manchester Lancashire West Yorkshire Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire Essex Cheshire West Midlands Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Shropshire and Staffordshire

executive chairman Matthew Riley and it is now one of the UK’s leading independent business communication providers.

Kate O’Brien, marketing director at The Daisy Group, said: “Many of the barriers that have traditionally discouraged people from starting a business, such as geography or property costs, no longer apply.

“If you have an internet connection, you can start a digital business, and in the North West, there’s no shortage of people encouraging you to join the digital revolution.

“There is a huge ongoing demand for technology and products that can make our lives easier so if you have an idea and the skills to develop new technology, it can easily be turned into a business.

“For those without a broad digital skillset, there is now an array of software tools and services now available to help people set up an e-commerce business.”

Burnley’s business community are fortunate to have the support of Burnley Council who are committed to developing the enterprise culture in Burnley; Helping entrepreneurs to start up, developing digital skills in Burnley’s businesses and encouraging small businesses to export.

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Feature : Welcome to Burnley

Welcome to Burnley a key contributor to the Northern Powerhouse vision

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Burnley is seeing record numbers of businesses relocating to the town, as a result of Burnley’s huge investments in its business, transport, housing and education infrastructure.

The investment is paying off, with several growing blue chip companies choosing to relocate here in the past year, with Vodafone Automotive UK, Exertis, Panaz, Sparta and Kaman Tooling UK, moving onto Burnley’s new ‘oven ready’ business parks.

Burnley is well connected and recognised as a go to place for businesses to grow and relocate and we are ready to embrace the opportunities which arise through the Northern Powerhouse.

Burnley has long recognised that smaller towns can play a vital role in the Northern Powerhouse vision, as hubs of economic specialisms, logistics centres and providing a nearby commuter, amenity and recreation offer.

The borough is already home to some global leaders in their respective economic specialism fields, from aerospace giants Aircelle, sound technology specialists AMS Neve, and a host of emerging hi-tech engineering concerns.

Leading business and government figures are already talking about Burnley in terms of the eagerly-anticipated ‘Northern Powerhouse’ with more opportunities for the borough to become a player of regional significance, and an attractive Manchester commuter belt proposition.

Burnley ticks all the boxes deemed essential for a Boom Town, including skills, connectivity, and access to knowledge, and a range of attractive sites for businesses including Burnley Bridge Business Park, Vision Park, and AMS Technology Park, with new land being released for business and housing growth for the next 20 years.

Burnley has undergone huge investment in education and skills, with two Universities, a University Technical College, and an Outstanding College with a specialist centre in manufacturing excellence, Burnley has everything in place to ensure it benefits from and supports the ‘Northern Powerhouse’.

Burnley recognised that good connections with Manchester were vital to ensure it benefits from the Northern Powerhouse, which is why it lobbied hard for the reopening of the Todmorden Curve.

Burnley’s new direct rail link to Manchester, which opened earlier this year, will open up huge opportunities for Burnley to feed into and benefit from the Northern Powerhouse vision.

It is estimated around £12million per year could be injected into Burnley’s economy once the full impact of the new direct rail link to Manchester is felt.

Not only is the faster rail link to Manchester set to open up a massive jobs market for residents, but top-level employers can become more accessible to ambitious staff looking to seize opportunities in Burnley.

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Feature : Welcome to Burnley

Blue chip companies move to Burnley

Panaz

Move to new design, manufacturing and distribution centre and celebrate 30 years in the Business In order to facilitate the expansion of their worldwide business, Panaz, who design and manufacture fabrics for the hospitality, healthcare and corporate markets, have moved their European headquarters to a new 80,000 sq.ft facility in Burnley. Tony Attard, CEO of Panaz Limited, stated that 20,000 sq.ft is made up of office space, a new design studio and a fully furnished Showroom and 60,000 sq.ft is allocated to manufacturing and distribution space.

Previously Panaz occupied three sites: the main manufacturing hub at Spring Mill in Fence, a satellite warehouse for large shipments and a separate showroom. The new facility is designed to consolidate all of these three sites into one, adding significantly to the efficiency of the operation and in preparation for future growth. In addition to this expansion, new digital print manufacturing machinery is being added to the operation to provide more design flexibility to clients and faster delivery times for bulk projects.

Panaz have been operating since 1985 and the site location move ties in with their 30th anniversary. To celebrate this achievement, Panaz held an opening day on Thursday, 11th June where guests were invited to view the new site and were given tours of the various operations,

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product presentations and machinery demonstrations. To mark the occasion, Tony Attard spoke to all the guests and staff, thanking them for the role they had all played over the past 30 years and indicated his plans he and the company have for the future. Panaz were extremely pleased to have Lord Shuttleworth in attendance at the Opening Day and after a few words he officially opened the new building revealing

a plaque in the main reception area. It was fitting for The Lord Lieutenant to be part of the celebrations as he had visited Panaz in the very early days and was well aware of how the company had developed both in the UK and overseas and how the business itself had grown over the past 30 years.

A defining aspect of Panaz has been its clear vision for the future of the business;

the company’s objective is to become the largest supplier of contract fabric solutions in Europe. With that in mind Panaz are now one of Europe’s leading suppliers of high quality decorative fabrics and wallcoverings for the hospitality, healthcare and corporate sectors. The key to their success has been the company’s drive to produce market and product differentiators in combination

with an obsession for design excellence.

The results are evident in a diverse and comprehensive range of beautiful, exclusive and durable fire retardant furnishing fabrics that are available globally.

Working world wide with an established subsidiary in the USA and a network of agents and distributors, Panaz fabrics are

accessed by internationally acclaimed interior designers who use the extensive portfolio of hospitality fabrics to furnish some of the most iconic interiors around the world, be they guest rooms in hotels or aboard ships, in lobbies, theatres, casinos or restaurants.

Since the inception of Panaz, the company has provided fabric solutions to healthcare interiors. Indeed the first design award presented to the company in 1989 was for their first collection of fabrics - called the imagination collection - which was won for design in the public sector.

Now Panaz fabrics are used extensively in public and private hospitals, healthcare clinics and senior living environments.

Healthcare interior design plays an essential part in the treatment of patients. It is important to provide an environment that promotes optimism to facilitate quick healing and safety to reduce fire hazards and hospital acquired infections. Therefore all Panaz healthcare fabrics are designed using appropriate colours with fire resistant properties and anti-microbial finishes.

A new marketing division created in 2013 is the Panaz corporate division which offers stylish, durable and comfortable contract fabrics for workspace seating, from desk chairs to break-out and reception areas. Using wool, high durability polyester fibres and a new generation of graphite based Polyurethane, these new collections offer stock solutions for office chair manufacturers.

Panaz has a continuous commitment to product excellence as upholstery fabric suppliers both in the UK and internationally, which has been realised by a constant flow of new collections, fabric constructions and technical developments. Over 10,000 stock items are available overnight from the new computerised warehouse and highly trained staff would be pleased to guide you to the product that suits your particular requirements. All the Panaz team are proud of their legacy as upholstery fabric suppliers in the UK and abroad and will continue to offer their clients the finest contract fabrics that use the best fibres, yarns and finishes.

Service is an important part of the Panaz culture.

All of the staff are committed to understanding and meeting the differing and changing requirements of our market and must endeavour to secure all customers as life time customers of the company. From the moment a client sends an email, picks up a phone or meets one of the representatives, all the teams want the Panaz experience to be exceptional.

The official opening day was a fantastic way to mark the first 30 years of Panaz and celebrate the hard work and tenacity of CEO Tony Attard, the management team and staff. The future is bright for Panaz; the optimism, skill and commitment from everybody involved as well as the ongoing support from Burnley Council to encourage and support local businesses will assist in the continued success and growth of this already successful and thriving organisation.

Vodafone Automotive

The new location for Vodafone Automotive UK has been officially opened by the Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire following a major refurbishment of the 10,000 sq.ft site.

Centred in Burnley and now the home of both the Secure Operating Centre and customer service operations for the UK, the first time these two business services have been combined in one building.

Over the coming months, the Secure Operating Centre will be audited by the National Security Inspectorate and accredited to NSI Alarm Receiving Centres (ARC) Gold approval standard. The Secure Operating Centre will also earn ISO 27001 accreditation for its information security standards, and will be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week from later this year.

The customer service centre will also be accredited to a number of industry recognised standards including Investors in People and ISO 9001.

As part of the move, recruitment for 30 new positions is currently in progress.

As a leading provider of connected car products and services, Vodafone Automotive provides Telematics, Stolen Vehicle Tracking and Usage Based Insurance solutions for fleets, vehicle manufacturers and logistics providers.

Andrew Smith, Managing Director, Vodafone Automotive UK, commented, “The opening of our facility in Burnley signals the start of the next chapter for Vodafone Automotive. These are exciting times to be part of the Vodafone family, and we are gearing for growth across all of our business sectors, including usage based insurance, telematics and stolen vehicle tracking.”

• New premises will combine the Secure Operating Centre and customer service operations in one location for the first time • Up to 100 people will be employed in the new building 25

Feature : Welcome to Burnley

PMP Utilities PMP Utilities Limited is a family run, specialist engineering business, which has grown significantly in both size and reputation within the Water, Gas, Power and Processing Industries.

Originally founded in 1983, PMP Utilities has over 30 years’ experience of safe working in high risk confined spaces; providing bespoke engineering solutions and becoming renowned for its ability to generate new and innovative solutions to often complex and difficult, ‘one-off’ mechanical engineering problems.

In July 2015, PMP with the help of Burnley Council, moved to its new headquarters on The Network 65 Business Park, just off Junction 9 of the M65.

Although the building was relatively new, the 16,000 sq.ft premises required significant financial investment and construction work, to ensure that the layout within the building would accommodate the company’s specialist services and anticipated growth.

The £1.3million building, which has an acre of additional yard space for both growth and storage, now houses a modern engineering workshop, equipped for bespoke milling, turning, welding and fabrication. The facilities also contain purpose built mobilisation and training areas, defined storage for rope access and confined space rescue equipment, including compressed air units for inhouse BA servicing and modern welfare areas for the 25 strong operational team.

The premises also allow PMP to securely store its dedicated stock of AMEX Pipeline Repair Systems, held for and on behalf of its Water and Gas clients. This unique mechanical repair system, both by way of the AMEX-10 and AMEX Vario Seal, is seen by both Steve and Andrew Taylor, the joint Managing Directors of PMP Utilities, as the main reasons for the need to relocate.

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Steve Taylor commented “Alongside the provision of confined space rescue teams to support PMP’s clients and main contractors on site, the AMEX System is seen as our main driver of growth over the next four to five years.

With over 4,500 seals already installed below ground, the AMEX-10 in particular has attracted a great deal of interest, particularly within the Water Industry where this ‘no-dig’ cost effective solution, provides a whole life asset repair – saving Water Companies millions of pounds through its use”.

Their experience and encouragement allowed us to discount other bordering regions previously considered, where the support was somewhat lacklustre or even non-existent.

Yet without the pro-active support and advice from Burnley Council, Andrew Taylor admits that the relocation would have been considerably more difficult.

“The team at Burnley Council provided us with the confidence to make the move from Haslingden. Their experience and encouragement allowed us to discount other bordering regions previously considered, where the support was somewhat lacklustre or even non-existent.”

Given the business’s move and confidence in its growth prospects, both Steve and Andrew believe that it is critical to look forward and continue to invest into the business, alongside the support of Burnley Council. “In particular”, Sean Haynes, PMP’s Contracts Director states, “through the uptake and growth in our skilled engineers, and the investment into new apprentices.”

“Robust and rigorous training in areas such as rescue techniques and specialist engineering, which can all be carried out within confined spaces, are a vital part of PMP’s training programmes, alongside more traditional engineering qualifications – all of which will enable our employees to make a significant contribution to the future of the company.”

“With over 120 years’ worth of combined experience within our management team, the business has a vast range of specialist knowledge to pass on to new employees and we are very much excited about the positive journey ahead.”

Steve Taylor concluded, “The assistance from Burnley Council, their consistent and continued encouragement and support for our move has enabled us to continue our commitment to our clients throughout all the industries we serve. It provides our clients with even greater certainty in our capability and allows us to take advantage of new opportunities for growth.”

Exertis Latest signing at Burnley Bridge, the largest distribution property deal in the region Burnley Bridge Business Park is set our existing workforce by not moving too to welcome its largest occupier after far away from our current base at Altham technology distribution business, Exertis, Business Park. signed a contract with developers, Eshton, “The new distribution operation we will for a 543,620 sq.ft national distribution build at Burnley Bridge Business Park will centre at the 70-acre park. prepare the company for further growth Exertis distributes more than 350 while giving us a strategic geographical technology brands and works with 14,000 base in East Lancashire that complements customers across Europe. Exertis is the our existing facilities in Raunds and Elland.” latest occupier to be announced at The fact that the park has attracted Burnley Bridge Business Park, following a major player of this calibre deals with Birchall Foodservice, to establish such a substantial YESSS Electrical and Equinox Building distribution hub here demonstrates Services Ltd. The planning application by once again the huge potential of Leeds-based developers, Eshton, was this site and reiterates Burnley’s recently given the green light by Burnley reputation as the Department Borough Council and the deal will make of Innovation & Skills’ ‘Most Exertis the largest occupier to-date Enterprising Area of the UK 2013’ as negotiations continue for space remaining at the £50m business park.

Construction work on the 543,620 sq Gerry O’Keeffe from Exertis ft unit is now under way month and will be commented: “Burnley Bridge Business undertaken by Bowmer & Kirkland. Exertis Park’s superb location at junction 9 of aims to become fully operational at the site the M65 makes it an ideal site at which by early 2017. to continue expansion of our distribution James Chapman, managing director business. of Eshton, added: “We believe this is the “We searched all over the UK for a largest distribution property deal in the suitable site, but here we can custom-build region this year and it is not only great news our own premises whilst also maintaining for Burnley Bridge Business Park but also

for the local area.

“The fact that the park has attracted a major player of this calibre to establish such a substantial distribution hub here demonstrates once again the huge potential of this site and reiterates Burnley’s reputation as the Department of Innovation & Skills’ ‘Most Enterprising Area of the UK 2013’.”

Burnley Council’s chief executive, Pam Smith, said: “The council is working hard to promote the borough and our development sites to attract new investment and continues to invest in new infrastructure that can rival sites across the region. Burnley Bridge is set to create many new jobs for the town and we look forward to our continued partnership working with Eshton to secure further occupants for the site.”

Delivered with the help of £3.85m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and support from Lancashire’s Growing Places, the business park is expected to create 1,400 sustainable jobs once fully-occupied.

The development was launched in February 2014 at an opening ceremony in The Cobalt Building, the first speculative unit to be completed on the site.

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Sector Special :

n i h C hin C BATCH BREW BURNLEY’S OWN MICRO GIN DISTILLERY

If

gin is your tipple, you’ll be delighted to hear that the family-run Burnley based micro-distillery, Batch Brew Ltd, are set to increase production and distribution of their handcrafted, internationally recognised, Batch Premium Gin, thanks to a grant from the Lancashire Business Growth Fund.

Batch Brew is the second Burnley business to benefit from the £8 million Lancashire Business Growth Fund (LBGF).

This was recently launched to help businesses across Lancashire with business

growth projects and is supported by the Regional Growth Fund.

Batch has been awarded a LBGF grant of £10,196, which alongside their own capital investment, has led to the purchase, installation and commissioning of their purpose built distillery facility at their Burnley premises, which includes a new tanking system, distillery equipment and metal counters.

Phil Whitwell, Director at Batch Brew Ltd, said: “I approached Burnley Council’s business support team to seek advice on funding for our business growth and

Batch Brew has already gained regional and international recognition, receiving plaudits from such esteemed establishments as Hammonds of Knutsford and the awarding of a Silver Medal at the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. They currently distribute through North-West wholesalers, but the new distillery will help them expand their market and they are currently working on deals with London wholesalers and with Spanish and Italian importers.

Phil Whitwell, Director of Batch Brew Ltd 28

they pointed me in the direction of the Lancashire Business Growth Fund.

“The fund was really easy to apply to.

You make an initial application on-line, and the process and criteria is very clearly explained. Our application was processed in 6 weeks from our initial enquiry to receiving our grant offer letter.”

“Since moving from Winchester to Burnley we have been overwhelmed by the support from the council and local business support agencies.

Moving to Lancashire was definitely the right decision and the LBGF fund has been a fantastic welcome in assisting the growth of our thriving gin business.”

Adding: “We believe ourselves to be as true a definition of a family-run distillery as there is. Our premium gin is lovingly crafted.

We don’t ask anyone else to produce our drinks and we source everything, from the bottles, to the botanicals and everything in-between. We produce and bottle by hand

Food and Drink to ensure quality and individuality, which the team are immensely proud of. ” Mandy Lockett, LBGF Programme Manager & International Business Director of the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce said: “We are delighted we’ve been able to support Batch Brew with their distillery, and to help with their growth plans, both domestic and international. The LBGF programme, to provide funds to help with new machinery, is available for Lancashire businesses to accelerate projects and create jobs.”

“Lancashire is at the heart of manufacturing and businesses need to take advantage of this opportunity as soon as possible.”

For more information on applying to the fund contact Stef Heywood, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce Tel. 01254 356454, or email s.heywood@chamberlancs.co.uk

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Sector Special :

Food Glorious Food Image courtesy of Simply Classic Bistros. www.simply-classic.co.uk

Successful Family Business Birchall Foodservice have grown to be one of the country’s largest and most well respected food suppliers to the catering industry Delivering a better experience The winners of the 2015 Burnley Medium Size Business of the Year pride themselves on “delivering a better experience”.

Birchall Foodservice offer multi-temperature foodservice to caterers across a wide variety of industry sectors throughout the North of England and North Wales, bringing together fresh, ambient, chilled, frozen and non-food products all on one delivery within 24 hours – a service which is generally unachievable for other key players in the industry.

But this “better experience” encompasses far more than the range and quality of the food and service they provide – it also reaches out into the nurturing and career development of their employees and the work they do in the community.

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Food and Drink “Birchalls have always been such a wonderful company to work with – so reliable and friendly – and after working with them for so many years, I felt like part of the family. The new building is magnificent. They deserve it because they have worked so hard.”

Barbara Pearson, Birchall Foodservice customer since 1969.

It’s a family affair Family businesses are a unique and special entity, and Hapton-based Birchall Foodservice exudes all of the quirks and qualities that this type of enterprise encompasses.

The company “proper” was established in 1939 by Edgar Birchall, although his father, George Chichester Birchall, started the ball rolling by opening an offlicence in Abel Street, Burnley, in 1915.

GC Birchall Ltd originally operated out of a mill in Trafalgar Street, Burnley, predominantly selling Lion brand eggs, bacon and other groceries to corner shops.

Edgar’s son Colin joined the business in 1964 at the age of 17 and, when his father unexpectedly passed away in 1978, Colin took over the business – and radically transformed it into a multi-million foodservice wholesaler covering a huge geographic

area. He held the role of managing director until earlier this year, when he stepped down and took on the role of executive chairman. His son, Justin, was appointed MD. Colin’s wife Christine has worked for the business since 1970 and holds the role of company secretary.

Justin’s wife, Louise, joined in 1999 as sales director, and Justin and Louise’s daughter, Courtney, is a trainee administrator.

So, with three of the five generations currently working in the business, the multi-million pound company is enjoying a hugely productive and successful year.

As well as scooping the Burnley Business of the Year award, they were also named runners-up in the prestigious Family Business United Family Business of the Year at a glittering awards ceremony in London – on the same night as the Burnley Business Awards.

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Sector Special : An employee’s view “I have worked for Birchall Foodservice for over 10 years now and in this time it has been a pleasure to work for the company. I started my time as a night team member picking and packing products to send to the customers.

Whilst picking on the night shift I was approached by my shift manager asking me if I wish to take on a supervisor’s position. At the time I was shocked to be asked as I wasn’t qualified to fulfill this position. After a sort time of thinking about it I decided to accept the challenge.

After letting my manager know I was going to accept, he also asked me if I would like to go to college and learn more about the role and become qualified to fulfil the position, and the company would cover all the cost regarding the course and I agreed. After working as the night team supervisor for a couple of years a supervisor’s position came available on the am shift which I applied for the job and, lucky for me, I was accepted. I continued working and performing to the best of my ability using my new skills I have learnt over the years.

After a few more years working as the am shift supervisor I was approached by a director (Justin Birchall) asking me how was I finding the supervisor’s position. My answer was I loved my job and will continue to keep the hard work up and at that moment he invited me into his office for a chat, my heart sank. I was sat in Justin’s office when he asked me how would I feel taking on more responsibility and becoming the warehouse manager.

I didn’t think I was ready for this as I was only 25 years old.

He then stated he would help me in every way possible to help me achieve this. He again would pay for me to go to college and night school so I could learn all the skills I needed to become a manager. He said ‘I see great potential in you Terry’ which nobody ever has. I agreed to take on the challenge and once again succeeded in completing my course.

I am now 31 years old and Birchall Foodservice has helped me achieve all my goals in life. I really don’t think if I had been employed by any other company I would have ever achieved what I have achieved in life. I still love working for Birchall Foodservice and probably will for the rest of my life. Birchall Foodservice is an absolute pleasure to work for.”

Terry Edwards

“Birchalls name is synonymous with quality and reliability. We pride ourselves on using only the finest products and we can trust them to source the best for us.”

Kevin Berkins, proprietor of the award-winning Fence Gate Inn, Fence

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Food and Drink

“Their new premises are so impressive and there’s lots of room for further expansion. The whole place is spotlessly clean and the fridges and freezers are massive!”

John Shaw, Beeches Butchers in Barrowford

Move on up 2015 has been an exciting year for Birchall Foodservice. In January they relocated to new premises on the prestigious £50million Burnley Bridge Business Park. The development more than doubled previous capacity to 64,000 sq ft, making their new HQ, Cobalt House, one of the largest privatelyowned foodservice depots in the UK. The new premises are built to the latest thermal and environmental specifications and include a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen and exhibition and training centre, where suppliers can showcase the latest product innovations to customers. This facility is also available to hire to suitable businesses.

To complement this new offering, Birchall Foodservice has appointed a development chef, Paul Dickson, to showcase the company’s product range to customers. As well as hosting in-house demonstrations, he has also been on the road visiting customers in their own businesses to show them the benefits of using the company’s own label Country Range products.

Justin Birchall explains: “Paul brings a wealth of foodservice experience to the business and is already proving to be a major asset to us.

“Our sales team can obviously advise our customers about our product offering but Paul is able to demonstrate their use in a practical way, as well as provide inspiration and guidance.”

Paul is an award-winning chef and a Craft Guild of Chefs Master Craftsman, with over 28 years’ experience working in kitchens all over London and the North West. He has cooked for royalty (The Queen), film stars (Leonardo di Caprio) pop legends (Robbie Williams) and sports gods (former Burnley FC and now Liverpool FC striker Danny Ings).

Paul adds: “I’m loving the opportunity to go out on the road and meet Birchall Foodservice customers in a variety of sectors and settings. The Country Range brand is widely regarded as the best own label in the foodservice business and it’s wonderful to be able to help and inspire customers in such a practical way. The feedback has been amazing.”

Food for Life Catering Supplier Member

Number of employees:

105 Turnover:

£18million Depots in:

Burnley, Wrexham, Durham, Sheffield and Stafford Founder member of the

Country Range Group 33

Sector Special : Image courtesy of Simply Classic Bistros. www.simply-classic.co.uk

“Birchall Foodservice have come a long way in the 25 years I have known them. It’s the personal touch of family business that makes them so successful.”

Rob Bradshaw, MD of Simply Classic

Moo-ving into Butchery In April, the company expanded its product offering, which previously comprised of ambient, chilled, frozen and non-food products, with the launch of its ‘Fresh’ brand –beginning with Butchery.

The new venture is the culmination of an exclusive partnership with local and certified UK meat suppliers, who use traditional farming methods and enable full traceability from farm to fork.

Justin Birchall says: “We were very excited to be able to offer our customers this additional service and it seemed like the natural progression for us.

“Our dedicated team of butchers are able to cater for the individual requirements and specifications of our customers to the strictest production and distribution standards, providing a competitively priced, quality product.”

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Strong family values Birchall Foodservice is a company built on strong family values, and the directors are keen to promote from within and nurture the talents of their team.

Louise Birchall explains: “Our employees are our extended family and we believe in growing people to maximise their potential and improve their personal performance.

“We employ positive, forward-thinking, nice people and, in a world that is IT heavy on communication, we are still big on faceto-face communication.

“As a family business, we understand the values. We’re not just a corporate entity for driving profits. Our whole ethos is to create a ‘family’ approach to business, which encompasses staff, customers and suppliers.

“We understand the needs of working families and prefer to work with employees on an individual basis to accommodate their specific needs (rather than having a company policy).”

Supporting local charities and the environment Birchall Foodservice is a keen supporter of local events and charities. In July, they were sponsors of the inaugural Barrowford Lifestyle Festival and they have close links with Oakhill School in Whalley, the Food Bank in Burnley and also the Fraser Street Project, a youth centre working with deprived children in Burnley.

As an employer of over 100 people, staff wellbeing is a top priority and the new head office includes a staff gym and canteen to encourage healthy lifestyles.

Environmental welfare is also key and the company’s modern fleet of multitemperature vehicles operates a trunking system to regional distribution centres, saving thousands of food miles and CO2 every year.

Food and Drink

Top chef cooks up a storm for Birchall customers He’s cooked for royalty, film stars, sporting heroes and pop legends – and now Paul Dickson is cooking up a storm for Birchall Foodservice customers.

Paul’s appointment follows the award-winning business’ move to bigger premises on Burnley Bridge Business Park, which include a state-ofthe-art exhibition centre and demonstration kitchen.

As well as hosting in-

house demonstrations, he has also been on the road visiting customers in their own businesses to show them the benefits of using the company’s own label Country Range products.

Justin Birchall, managing director, explains: “Paul brings a wealth of foodservice experience to the business and is already proving to be a major asset to us.

Our sales team can obviously

advise our customers about our product offering but Paul is able to demonstrate their use in a practical way, as well as provide inspiration and guidance.

Paul is an award winning chef and a Craft Guild of Chefs Master Craftsman, with over 28 years’ experience working in kitchens all over London and North West He has cooked for royalty (The Queen), film stars (Leonardo di Caprio), pop

legends (Robbie Williams) and sports gods (Danny Ings).

Paul adds: “I’m loving the opportunity to go out on the road and meet Birchall Foodservice customers in a variety of sectors and settings.

“The Country Range brand is widely regarded as the best own label in the foodservice business and it’s wonderful to be able to help and inspire customers in such a practical way.

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Feature : Bespoke Interior Fittings

Award winning interior fittings for retail, food and drink industry LP-Technology transform Padiham Mill to accommodate growth of bespoke shop-fitting business LP-Technology Ltd, a Pennine Lancashire business at the forefront of quality design and manufacture of bespoke shop-fitting for top high street names, are in the process of moving into their impressive new mill conversion in Padiham, which they have transformed to accommodate their business growth. They plan to be operational from their new site by the close of 2015.

LP design and manufacture a large range of bespoke interior fittings to the retail, food and drinks industries. They have kitted out several leading retail and trendy bar chains with unique interiors and their new premises have been transformed with their unique interior design touch.

They wanted their new business home to reflect their work and capabilities and the

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interior is set to be quite something when they officially open their new facility later this year.

They can turn their hand to basically anything relating to fabrication, sheet metal, laser cutting, design, paint/powder coating finishings.

Luke Pringle, Managing Director, said: “We are looking forward to operating from our new premises.

“We had been looking for a new site for LP Technology for several years but couldn’t find the right site, they were either too small or not fit for purpose. Eventually I came across an

"extremely" run down mill site in Padiham which was just what we were looking for to renovate and put our personal stamp on.

“I made contact with Burnley Borough Council regarding assistance with

They wanted their new business home to reflect their work and capabilities and the interior is set to be quite something when they officially open their new facility later this year. regenerating the mill and if they could offer on-going support and was contacted immediately which was a pleasant surprise!

From there the Business Support Team,

Martyn Hardacre and Alex Hooley, have both been remarkable with their ongoing support throughout the new site project.

“We are aiming to be moved in and fully manufacturing from the new site by the end of this coming year enabling us to increase our manufacturing capabilities and also help us to start looking at developing new business opportunities, and I’m delighted to have brought back to life a wonderful old mill which will also greatly impact on the aesthetics of the area.”

Adding; “I only can say "Super" things about Burnley Business Support Team, and would encourage other businesses to give them a call to see if they can help with their business growth plans. Everyone we dealt with has been brilliant and very supportive to what we are trying to achieve for LP.”

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Feature : International Burnley

International Burnley People are surprised to learn that Burnley is a hugely “international” town with many of our businesses competing on a global stage.

On reflection, people shouldn’t be surprised given the town’s history.

It wasn’t just its natural assets that made it a world leader in the production of cotton cloth but its ability to connect outwards with the rest of the world.

Today those global connections make us leaders in aerospace, engineering and manufacturing. And it’s not just in manufacturing, but the town has a distribution and retailing sector with a global reach.

Foreign Direct Investment

Exporting

The UK is the number one destination for Foreign Direct Investment in Europe – that is businesses choosing to locate here or invest in existing businesses. The World Bank has said that it is easier to do business here than any other major economy in Europe. Burnley wants to share this reputation, as a place where it is easy for foreign companies to do business.

Burnley is already home to, we estimate, 13 foreign owned businesses employing approximately 3500 people (about 10% of the workforce).

The recent relocation of Exertis to Burnley, who are part of the world wide DCC Plc is a massive example of Foreign Investment into Burnley. American owned Kaman Tooling invested £3 million here last year as anchor tenant at Innovation Drive and German owned VEKA group invested in new multi million pound plant last year.

Two thirds of R&D expenditure in the UK is contributed by industry and 50% of that is by FDI’s. Burnley’s largest private sector employer, Safran Aircelle , have made huge investments in R&D to ensure that they benefit from the growing market demand for $4.6trillion worth of new passenger and freight liners by 2033. Kaman is also investing in R&D with a new Centre of Tooling Excellence (the largest in Europe) at Innovation Drive.

Of course we have all heard stories about foreign companies relocating to make use of government grants and then pulling out, this is really not the case in Burnley. Many of our foreign owned companies – Veka, Aircelle and TRW - have a long history here in Burnley. They are here because of our skills, our ability to produce high quality products and proximity to European markets.

Global companies bring financial strength, the ability to invest and access to vast markets. They have large footprints locally in terms of direct and indirect employment locally.

The UK is the 6th biggest exporter in the world and Burnley contributes hugely to British exports.

We estimate that just in the manufacturing sector Burnley businesses export, directly and indirectly through supply chains £600m of products each year.

Burnley manufacturers export a wide variety of goods including aero parts, auto parts, structures for oil and gas, textiles, furniture, filtration equipment, and Beer!!

It isn’t just in manufacturing in the retail we have strong export markets. Last year, Boohoo.com exported retail products worth £4m to 100 countries world wide from its warehouse and customer care centre in Burnley, and online gift retailer Thingimijigs have gone from a kitchen table start up to a global exporter with 50% of their sales going to 140 countries across the globe.

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Burnley exports over £600million of world class ‘Made in Burnley’ products each year to over 140 countries across the globe.

Sound recording desks to the film and music industry, aero parts, auto parts, homeware products, textiles, furniture, beer and much more …

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WORLD CLASS BUSINESSES, WORLD CLASS PRODUCTS, WORLD CLASS CAREER PROSPECTS

UPVC Moulding Film and Music

NORTH AMERICA

Automotive

Gifts and Flowers SOUTH AMERICA

Aerospace Homewares AMS Neve

TRW Automotive

Pipeline Induction Heat

Manufacture of sound consoles for the film and music industry, used in world premier post production studios including Warner Brothers, Disney, Fox and Skywalker exporting to 60 countries.

Manufacturers of car panel switches.

Specialist parts for Aston Martin, Mclaren and Bentley, and Ford, VAG and Daimler.

The world’s No.1 Field Joint Coating company to the oil and gas pipeline industry.

A division of Stanley Oil and Gas with their leading research and development centre here in Burnley.

BCW Engineering At the forefront of manufacturing technology making volume parts for the automotive, aerospace and power generation industries. Working with Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin.

Safran Aircelle Burnley’s largest private sector employer.

A worldwide leader in the manufacture of nacelles for the world’s largest aircraft engines. The thrust reversers are used to slow an aeroplane down on landing.

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Veka UK Group Part of Burnley’s manufacturing heritage for over 30 years. Global leader in the manufacturer of window system technology.

John Spencer (Textiles) Ltd The Spencer family have been weaving in Burnley since 1861. Today they weave yarns for furnishings, fabrics, protective clothing.

They export to 15 countries.

iflorist iflorist.co.uk delivers flowers, plants and gifts to over 110 countries across the globe, of flowers.

Cherrytree Bakery Making cakes for high street retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Costa Coffee. Cherrytree Bakery’s products are exported around the world.

Moorhouse’s Brewery Brewing in Burnley for 150 years. They produce cask ales for leading supermarkets and export to Europe, USA, Canada, Asia and Australia.

World Class Burnley Food and Drink

Water Analysis

Textiles EUROPE

ASIA

MIDDLE EAST

Power Generation

AFRICA

Fashion

AUSTRALIA

Retail

Oil and Gas

Boohoo.com

Process Instruments

Kaman

Fastest growing fashion retail business in the UK, with their state of the art distribution facility in Burnley. They distribute to over 2.7 million customers in 170 countries.

World leaders in innovation, design and manufacturing of water analysis systems.

UK Tooling Centre of Excellence, a world leading supplier of mould and assembly tooling. The new Burnley facility houses the largest CNC Gantry machine in Europe.

Thingimijigs A multi-channel e-commerce retailer selling children’s gifts. delivering to over 140 countries across the world.

Futaba-Tenneco A leading Toyota Motor supplier, handling over 3 million parts per week, with the capacity to produce 250,000 car sets annually.

Hycrome Europe Ltd Providing advanced manufacturing and protective surface treatments for the Aerospace, Power Generation, Oil and Gas industries.

Velocity Composites At the forefront of composite engineering to the civil and military aerospace structures sector.

Paradigm Precision Specialising in the manufacture of complex fabrication and precision machined components for gas turbine engines.

What More UK What More UK Limited has grown rapidly to become the UK’s largest manufacturer and brand leader of plastic housewares, gardening and storage products, under the brand name WHAM.

Exertis International Distribution Centre for high value items exported across the world.

Panaz One of Europe’s leading suppliers of high quality fabrics and wallcoverings to the Hospitality, Healthcare and Corporate Sectors. Working with internationally acclaimed designers.

British Velvets Last weavers of luxurious velvet in the UK. Used in theatres, film and TV sets and Royal Palaces across the globe. Export to 50 countries.

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The

W W CEL

E B R AT I N G

30 YEARS

Factor!

IN

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BUSINESS

The Anvic Group is proud to celebrate its 30th year of helping and supporting businesses in Burnley with office space, conference space, telephone and internet, and with advances in technology, a whole range of flexible virtual services so you can choose the option that suits you best.

You want a great image for your business, you want access to superfast technology for telephone and internet, you want a good productive working environment with a high level of service and customer care, good access and free parking, and you want it to be extremely competitively priced.

Here at Northbridge House, you can have everything!

We have thrown out the traditional office space and created modern office space to be proud of. With our brand new, highly designed offices, you can have the office you deserve and add your own touches to make the space your own.

Affordable office space, storage and workspace within a supported environment giving you the perfect opportunity for an exciting future.

Here at Anvic we listen to our clients and understand that you want everything!

anvic

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS IN BUSINESS Drop in and take a look at what we can offer or call 0800 043 4500 and book a viewing with our on-site team

info@anvic.co.uk | www.anvic.co.uk

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Burnley business is booming

The night was packed full of entertainment with living statues greeting guests as they arrived, local theatre group Basics Junior Theatre singing during dinner, a surprise visit from Titan the Robot who’d heard about Burnley hi-tech engineering and wondered if he could get in on the act! and post awards dancing with Dan Hadfield the UK’s no.1 Gary Barlow tribute.

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BURNLEY BUSINESS AWARDS 2015 The cream of Burnley businesses of all shapes and sizes were celebrated at the 10th Burnley Business Awards.

A huge marquee was set up in the grounds of Towneley Hall for the glitzy ceremony which recognises the outstanding achievement at home and abroad of Burnley companies.

VEKA UK was again crowned “Business of the Year”, an honour it secured at the last awards two years ago.

The sponsorship funded event, organised by Burnley Borough Council, saw new chief executive Pam Smith highlight the importance of business to the prosperity of the borough.

She said: “I’ve been blown away with the passion and warmth of the Burnley people and our Burnley businesses since I started as chief executive.

“The council recognises that the success of our businesses very much impacts on the success of the town and we organise this event to acknowledge and celebrate your hard work and achievements, and your commitment to Burnley.

“Burnley is changing – and at the heart of this change are our businesses who fuel the local economy.”

Council Leader, Mark Townsend said: “Our new direct rail link to Manchester will establish Burnley as a commuter town for Manchester, bringing new investment to the borough.

“Growing businesses are choosing to locate in Burnley and I’d like to welcome Vodafone Automotive UK, Exertis, Panaz, Sparta and Kaman to Burnley, our most recent inward investors.

“Collectively, all the investment underway is changing the stats, with Burnley positioned 10th in the UK in 2014 for private sector jobs growth.

“Burnley is home to several world class businesses, is recognised as a centre of engineering and manufacturing excellence, and many of our world class businesses are here with us this evening.

“Burnley has had a period of solid growth in economic terms and the arrival of the new direct rail link can only build on this growth – and events such as this go a long way to spreading the message that Burnley is open for business and has the infrastructure and support to aid business growth.”

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Award sponsor

New Start Business

WINNER : Focus on Testing After being made redundant in 2013 after 16 years in retail, Richard Mason, went back to college to gain new City & Guilds qualifications in PAT testing, pest control management, fire extinguishing maintenance, and qualified as an asbestos surveyor in July 2014. With little start-up funding and help from his admin assistant Constance Haggerty,

the business has achieved ÂŁ66,000 in the first year of trading! The eco-friendly provision of health and safety compliance, providing electrical testing, fire protection, pest control, water testing and asbestos management has taken off and now employs several multi skilled engineers who can deal with all H&S services in one visit. All his staff come

from long term unemployed backgrounds, Richard is dedicated to paying a ‘living wage’ and training his team to help grow his business. He is investing in marketing and the development of the website where all clients documents can be held on their web portal and always be available for inspection.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

An innovative new business born out of a complete change in circumstances, offering a diverse range of products with a strong focus on training.

Finalists

Grime 2 Shine

Hamilton Price

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It was a fabulous evening.

I was really blown away by the deep pride that all the business and individuals involved had in being from Burnley – what a fabulous asset and resource that is to work with.

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Chief Executive, Lancashire County Council

Award sponsor

Small Business of the Year (5-19)

WINNER : Low Carbon Energy Company Winners of the 2015 Red Rose Green Business Award, the Low Carbon Energy Company, design and install renewable technologies and majors in the design, installation and maintenance of commercial solar pv systems.

Their client base includes industry, education,

local authorities and farming sectors. A small company with a big impact - their impact is impressive with 1800 tonnes of Co2 savings for their clients, 2,880,000 kwh of green electricity generated, and customer savings of £720,000. Their service improves people’s

lives, company bottom lines and contributes to issues relating to climate change. They have grown through the recession through smart, innovative and resourceful business planning.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

The winning business chosen by the judges operates in a dynamic fast moving sector. They demonstrated strong growth, innovation, increased profits, and staff investment.

Judges felt this company has enormous growth potential.

Finalists

R B Asbestos

MENDIT

Positive Footprints

Neville Gee

Thingimijigs

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Please can I say a big thank you for last nights awards, what a fantastic event.

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FUNDA

Award sponsor

Small Business of the Year (20-49)

WINNER : John Spencer Textiles The Spencer family have been weaving in Burnley since 1861. Today they weave a wide range of yarns for furnishings, industrial, protective clothing, composites, filtration and lamination. David Collinge, the greatgreat-great grandson of the founder is the sixth generation of the family to take his turn

at the helm and has steered the company through difficult times. Through flexibility and versatility he has scaled the business into a niche producer, which is now flourishing following the takeover of the Ian Mankin brand (one of its furnishing fabric customers).

The company is further diversifying with the

addition of jacquard weaving machines that will increase the versatility of the business.

The John Spencer fabric collection is set to be rolled out across the UK and overseas with export agreements in 15 countries over the next 18 months. A great Burnley business marketing the Made in Britain label.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

This company has adapted and survived against all the odds in an industry that built Burnley. It has demonstrated an ability to identify new and niche markets. Investment in new machinery will enable substantial growth and diversification for the business.

Finalists

Moorhouse’s Brewery (Burnley) Ltd

Hardy Services

Funda

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Congratulations on the mammoth organisation of an outstanding evening last night.

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I will remember the robot and the card tricks for the rest of my life... a truly memorable evening 52

Sally Cryer, Headteacher, Unity College

Award sponsor

Export Achievement Award

WINNER : AMS Neve AMS Neve is a world leader in analogue and digital professional audio equipment for film, recorded music, TV and broadcast. All its products are designed, manufactured, marketed, sold and serviced in their purpose built, integrated Burnley facility. Currently 83% of all output is exported to over 60 countries worldwide, which has been recognised with three Queen’s Awards for Export Achievement. Over the past 40 years AMS has exported over £250 million of equipment to the world’s top studios, contributing to the UK export sector of creative media products such as music, film and TV. AMS is better known in Hollywood than in Burnley, but is extremely proud of its heritage, exporting it’s highly advanced digital audio equipment, and the Burnley message.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

A world leader in their field.

A hi-tech business, exporting a whopping 83% of their products across the globe. They continue to grow their export market and develop new and groundbreaking systems. They design and manufacture on site here in Burnley.

Finalists

Thingimijigs

iflorist

Process Instruments

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Award sponsor

Deal of the Year

WINNER : BCW Engineering BCW is a dynamic global company, challenging the boundaries of technology and manufacturing processes, supplying finished parts into a variety of sectors of the engineering and manufacturing industry, in the automotive, aerospace, nuclear and

power generation sectors. Investment in the most up to date technology, CNC plant and equipment, and by employing a top production team, BCW have become leaders in volume component production for the automotive industry, supplying to blue chip

companies, Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Helical and Borgwarner Turbo Technologies.

This year BCW has secured a major deal which will transform the business, enabling future growth, and be a major, positive impact for manufacturing in the Burnley area.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID The winner of this category has secured a major deal with a high profile automotive manufacturer that will transform the business enabling stability and further growth. The business beat off strong overseas competition ensuring the work remains here in the UK. Judges were impressed by the businesses commitment to the local supply chain ensuring that other Burnley businesses will benefit from the growth.

Finalists

Carbon Footprint Experts

First European Logistics

boohoo.com

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"Great do and so well organised" 56

Bob Tattrie, MD, Trebor Developments

Award sponsor

Innovation Award

WINNER : Process Instruments Pi designs, develops, manufactures, sells and services a range of water quality analysis instruments such as chlorine in water for swimming pools and drinking water, solids in water for a range of industries and biofilm monitoring to help the fight against Legionella etc. Innovation lies at the heart of the business, and their investment in R&D has led to several world firsts. Their innovation is embedded throughout the business, their motto is ‘innovation isn’t a process at Pi, it’s a culture.’ The world’s first autocalibrating chlorine analyser, the world’s first peer to peer remote access analyser, the world’s first chemical differentiation analyser based on a diamond sensor – world leading innovation.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

The winning business is creating ground-breaking and world leading technology. They have developed and patented several world first products, with a new patent currently in the pipeline. Innovation is in their water! excuse the pun!

They are world leaders in water analysing technology.

Finalists

Farleys Solicitors

VEKA Group UK PLC

Futaba-Tenneco

A wonderful evening last night. I attended Best Companies for the Sunday Times in London a few years ago and it was definitely on a par with that.

Calico

Award sponsor

Manufacturing Excellence Award

WINNER : Futaba-Tenneco UK Ltd As one of Toyota Motor Europe’s leading suppliers, FTUK handles over 3 million parts a week, with a capability of producing 250,000 car sets annually. As a ‘Just in Time’ plant, FTUK only hold 0.8 days stock with 10 collections from Toyota per day. Turnover has increased by 17% since 2013, 5 new

customers have been added to their customer base and 120 new products have been introduced. They regularly win awards from Toyota Europe for outstanding contribution to manufacturing, and won subsidiary of the year in 2014 out of the 40 global Futaba plants. Futaba’s ‘Thinking Production System’

has become a blueprint for manufacturing excellence within the industry and receives accolades from several peers. Supplying the automotive industry means squeezing every penny out of every part to remain competitive.

FTUK compete on a global scale against low cost regions.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

The winning business has developed and implemented a new and innovative production system to secure and meet the demands of a major new customer.

The production system will revolutionise stock holding times and lean manufacturing processes.

Finalists

C-Pack Pendle

Hycrome Europe Ltd

VEKA Group UK PLC

ZF TRW Automotive

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Last night was simply outstanding, thank you for a seriously wonderful evening 60

Chamber of Commerce

Award sponsor

Apprenticeship Scheme of the Year

WINNER : Speakman Contractors Speakman Contractors provide client specific building services from planned and reactive facilities maintenance through to design and installation. They actively promote and support apprenticeships. In 2013 their apprenticeship training programme was recognised by the National Apprenticeship Service and they were awarded the North West Apprenticeship Scheme 2013 for a medium sized business. They are training 19 apprentices who benefit from Speakman’s bespoke training programme which meets the growing needs of the business, providing industry recognised qualifications at NVQ Level 3 and above, providing long term sustainable ‘home grown’ employment.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

With one in five of their workforce undertaking an apprenticeship programme, this business has ensured they have a pipeline of home grown talent. The business has a bespoke training matrix to identify skills sets and to develop and grow each apprentice.

Finalists

Futaba-Tenneco

Aircelle

Hycrome

VEKA Group UK PLC

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Award sponsor

Young Employee of the Year

JOINT WINNERS : Matthew Guirdham

Joshua Entwistle

Matthew joined Barnfield Construction after he approached them offering to work for free in the Quantity Surveying department.

Barnfield were so impressed with Matthew’s drive, ambition and positive ‘can do’ attitude in both his work and personal life, they decided to employ him as a Trainee Quantity Surveyor and fund his degree. Matthew started a Quantity Surveying degree at Salford University. However, just a few months prior to starting his degree he was diagnosed with a strain of cancer called Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Despite the hair loss, memory loss, sickness and severe tiredness, Matthew decided to continue his studies often receiving treatment within free periods or after lectures. Matthew is now in remission and unsurprisingly gives back to charities associated with his illness.

Matthew graduated with a First Class Honours Degree in Quantity Surveying.

Joshua works for Cherrytree Bakery, an independent bakery business, manufacturing cakes on-site for major high street retailers including Tesco and Sainsbury’s as well as the most prestigious of all the UK high street coffee houses, Costa Coffee. Joshua joined Cherrytree 2 years ago fresh from the University of Sheffield’s business school. From grass roots, fresh faced he joined Cherrytree and took on the responsibility of a new product development campaign, responding to a brief Costa submitted to Cherrytree. He took product development and his creative but methodical approach to managing a brief, which delivered high quality results, exactly to the customer’s specifications. Joshua now runs a team of 3 and has total responsibility for all new customer briefs.

He’s transformed Cherrytree’s NPD process, making it more efficient and technically rigorous, bringing it in line with customer and industry standards.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

We have joint winners for this award, the judges just couldn’t split them. They are both outstanding young employees with an equal commitment to the workplace.

Finalists

Carly Barton - VEKA Group UK PLC

Amy O’Neil - Neville Gee

Rebecca Furmston - Woodland Spa

Hannah Leyland - Burnley Youth Theatre

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Congratulations, I thought the organisation of the whole event was excellent.

Certainly the best since I’ve been involved. Well done.

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Award sponsor

Medium Business of the Year

WINNER : Birchall Foodservice Birchall Foodservice are a family owned foodservice wholesaler providing an extensive range of food and non food products to the catering trade. The range extends to over 6000 lines including Ambient, Chilled, Frozen, Fresh and Non Foods. Providing a high level of service to caterers across the UK. Their customer base includes Nursing & Care Homes, Schools, Colleges and University, Hotels & Restaurants and Workplace Catering sites. The business started trading as a corner shop in the late 1800’s and is now under the leadership of Justin Birchall as MD, the 4th generation of the Birchall family. Growth of the business in recent years has seen the business establish a number of distribution sites across the North of England and Wales, however the family’s commitment to Burnley has ensured that the company’s roots are maintained, having recently opened their brand new HQ and distribution facility on Burnley Bridge Business Park.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

The winner has demonstrated year on year growth in turnover with clear and realistic plans for future development. Judges were impressed by the businesses commitment to its staff with evidence of high levels of employee satisfaction.

The business has just undergone a massive relocation to new premises enabling them to improve productivity, providing space for future growth and reducing their energy consumption by half. They carried out the relocation with absolutely no impact on their customers.

Finalists

BCW Engineering

Velocity Composites Ltd

Crow Wood Leisure

EFS Group Ltd

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The event, was as always an absolutely amazing and you should be really proud.

Everything from the setting, the marquee, the topiary people, food, entertainment - it was all brilliant!

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HR Director, VEKA

Award sponsor

Business of the Year

WINNER : The VEKA UK Group VEKA has been a huge part of Burnley’s manufacturing heritage for almost 30 years and are proud to have made Burnley home to the largest window systems manufacturer in the UK. They continually invest in people and products, and recently completed a £10 million programme to future proof the business ensuring absolute

quality throughout the manufacturing process, leading to new job opportunities.

At a recent recruitment evening VEKA attracted over 1,000 applicants, and they strive to be the employer of choice in Burnley, investing heavily in the training and development of their workforce.

The worldwide VEKA Group places great

importance on the Burnley plant, its exceptional products and compelling customer offer. They constantly strive to reduce energy consumption and their impact on the environment through innovative processes. They work closely with local schools to engage them with real work situations.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID The winner impressed judges with their all round performance and business transformation. Recent investment in a new plant make this business the biggest and most modern in its field in the UK. The business invests in innovation and new products to keep it ahead of its competitors. They have demonstrated a commitment to people, including 150 new employees, impressive personal development and apprenticeship schemes, putting their staff at the heart of their business transformation.

Finalists

boohoo.com

Calico

Futaba-Tenneco

MENDIT

Crow Wood Leisure

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Long Standing Contribution to Burnley Award

WINNER : Moorhouse’s Brewery World class cask ale brewery, Moorhouse’s are celebrating their 150th Anniversary. The business has invested in a state of the art brewery transforming one of the key gateways into Burnley, and they are committed to growing here in the town.

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Chief Executive’s Choice Award

WINNER : boohoo.com Boohoo.com have demonstrated phenomenal growth in a tough and competitive market. The business has demonstrated a real commitment to developing its people at all levels and an inclusive approach to recruitment working closely with other agencies to get people back into work. The business has invested ÂŁ11m in Burnley in the last year, with its workforce set to double in the next two years. This award recognises the valuable contribution that the business is making to the economy and community of Burnley.

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News

Hardy Services build replica mountain for Ninja Warrior Show Scaffolding experts Hardy Services have faced many challenges but none quite like this one - to design and build a huge replica mountain for ITV’s new Saturday night blockbuster show, Ninja Warrior.

The show is billed as the toughest obstacle course on television and starts a nine-week run this Saturday. It’s already been a smash hit in the USA, Japan, Malaysia and Sweden and will be hosted by Ben Shephard, Rochelle Holmes and Chris Kamara. Producers say it’s the ultimate test of strength, speed and courage.

Paul Hardy, managing director of the Burnley-based company explained: “The obstacles become progressively more difficult with only the very best contestants getting through to the final challenge, to scale Mount Midoriyama.

“It was a great order to land but we only had five working days to commission the design from structural engineers, order the materials and then build it in time for the filming at Manchester Central”.

Warren Birnie, Hardy’s scaffolding

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manager, led the work. He said: “It’s absolutely massive – 23m tall, 21m long and 7.5m deep. We had the plans from the other shows but we had to get design engineers here to re-draw them to make sure everything complied with health and safety rules in the UK. Then a team of seven of us had to build it.

“The heats involved 250 contestants and only the very best made the final to have a go at the vertical mountain. That really is quite a challenge. It’s never been climbed successfully in the USA and only four times in Japan.”

For Paul Hardy, this latest contract made quite a change. He said: “We’re usually outside in all weathers, refurbishing churches and other historic buildings, but it’s been great to prove we have the expertise to design and build something unique like this so quickly.”

Hussain Architectural Design Ltd win at The Architecture Awards We are delighted to announce that Hussain Architectural Design has been named Award for Innovation in Urban Design Projects & Best Young Architecture Company 2015 in Build Magazine’s 2015 Architecture Awards.

Burnley, Blackburn & Manchester based Architectural Practice, Hussain Architectural Design Ltd was shortlisted for the award earlier this year.

The annual Build Awards are dedicated to uncovering and rewarding the very best in technical innovation, design and service from across the worldwide construction and property industries.

The awards are held throughout the year and address all sectors and areas within the wider construction and property industries. They recognise all levels, from top-level CEOs to architects and suppliers, guarantying that only the most deserving firms and individuals are recognised with one of our prestigious trophies.

Hussain Architectural Design Ltd have been officially recognised as one of the top performers in this creative, technical and incredibly fast-moving industry, the company, which provides Architectural services, planning permission, graphic design and construction services, was selected from amongst hundreds of nominees across the country.

Reacting to the announcement, the practice manager Saira Hussain said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have won such a prestigious award; it’s nice to have recognition for all the hard work we’ve put in over the last few years” Practice manager Nixie Edwards said: “It’s overwhelming to see all our passion, time and effort get noticed and awarded! We’re really proud to be a part of this industry and love to find architectural solutions to the challenges our clients face.”

More information about Hussain Architectural Design Ltd can be found on its website hussainarchitecture.co.uk or by calling 01282 451428

Royal backing for Burnley mum’s re-creation of replica Coronation Chair venture

Burnley single mum, and local entrepreneur Lorraine Tuley (Barber), who formerly set up a successful house-doctor business, has turned her hand to something quite different - a project which has received Royal approval from TRH Prince of Wales and led to the start of a new creative and educational business venture.

Lorraine came across a small replica of the Coronation Chair in local charity shop, Emmaus, in 2011 and became fascinated by the story behind it. Her research revealed that it had been made by a Burnley man, Ronnie Lees, for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Her journey thereafter, after delving further and further into the fascinating history of the real Coronation Chair and the Destiny Stone, led her to create her own replicas of the Coronation Chair which have now gone into production as a souvenir chair and are now on sale in the Westminster Abbey Shop in London and in her home town gift shop at Towneley Hall – but that’s just the start.

Lorraine Tuley said: “I have always had a passion for running my own business, and when I came across the old chair in the Charity shop it sparked an interest and idea that I could recreate the chair once again from here in Burnley.”

“I am working to develop a website to sell the chair in both finished and ‘build your own’ kit form in the UK and abroad to the souvenir market, particularly the American market that can’t seem to get enough of souvenirs relating to our English history and Monarchy.

“I am also very keen to work closely with the education sector to incorporate the chair into classroom learning. I have been working with local school, Unity College, where the students have loved making the chairs and learning about the history and story behind it and the role of the monarchy today – it is a wonderful creative way for children to learn about our history. The Westminster Education Department have also included the chair in their educational sessions.

“It’s been quite a long journey to get the necessary approvals to make the replica chair from Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, but they had no objections and whole heartedly supported my plan, and I’ve just posted a chair to Prince Charles as a gift to thank him for his backing of the project.

“After meeting with buyers at Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London I am really excited about it going onto the shelves of these top London attraction souvenir shops. I am also in talks with Edinburgh Castle who are showing great interest in the chairs too. I’m also working on a full size version for display and order on request, so I’m keeping busy.”

Lorraine added: “I’d like to extend my thanks to Heritage Designs in Barrowford, who have helped me at each stage of my prototype to get to the right size for production. They have

provided the CNC work to cut the pieces for the chair ready for assembly and been really supportive with project.”

Burnley MP Julie Cooper, who has visited the Westminster Abbey Educational Department and shop to see Lorraine’s Coronation Chairs in use and on sale said: “There is no shortage of talent in Burnley and I was delighted to recently meet Lorraine who has been inspired to begin producing replicas of the chair. I’m delighted her quality of work has been acknowledged by Prince Charles who has a great love of Burnley. I wish Lorraine every success with her new venture and will support her where possible with the promotion of her new venture.”

If local schools are interested in adding the chair to their classroom learning please contact Lorraine at lorrainetuleyx@gmail.com You can buy the chair at Towneley Hall gift shop or online at shop.westminster-abbey.org

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News

PETER SCOTTS PRINTERS 72

Inspiring the Next Generation – A shared vision for education Burnley recognises skills and educational attainment is vital to sustainable growth and private sector growth in Burnley, bringing new jobs and prosperity for the town.

In discussions with our businesses over the years the subject of skills comes up as a recurring theme which Burnley is working hard to address. Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive for Centre for Cities, praised Burnley’s private sector jobs growth last year, but she talked about how improving connectivity and skills were vastly important to Burnley’s growth going forward. We’ve addressed the connectivity with the opening of the new direct rail line to Manchester and work is well underway to develop our skills and educational attainment.

Burnley is a becoming a ‘blueprint’ for education & business joining forces to create end to end skills and to raise educational attainment levels for the future. From primary into work we aim inspire learning. Burnley has injected huge investments into its educational facilities and we have an impressive range of schools, colleges and Universities.

Burnley Council recognises the importance of bringing together business and education. We want to create a shared vision for education in Burnley and collectively we want to work together to ensure Burnley becomes known for its educational and skills

excellence as well as excellence in advanced manufacturing.

The aim is to bring employers and educators together, to bring our schools together, to own and collectively shape our vision for higher attainment and skills.

We want to work with all our schools, further education and higher education providers to help raise aspirations, promote their fantastic facilities and promote the opportunities available at all levels within businesses to our students.

Burnley has bucked the national trend on employment growth with jobs growth from 2009 to 2013 standing at 7.1%, against 0.6% in the North West and 2% in Great Britain. This growth has been achieved through major investment in economic infrastructure and working closely with the private sector to promote the borough’s enterprising spirit.

Together with our partners and Bondholders we want to apply the same commitment and joint working to raising educational attainment and developing skills in the Borough.

We have excellent schools and higher educational facilities in Burnley and we are focussed on improving our results just as we have employment growth.

Work is well underway to develop attainment levels and skills for growth. From

the primary engineer ‘Making it in Burnley’ programme, The Job Junction; our new secondary schools, Burnley College, UCLan, UCFB and the UTC, delivering a number of different pathways to educational attainment, to life and work in the wider world.

We need to equip our young people with the qualifications and skills to flourish and we have a diversity of educational facilities that we need to collectively share and promote.

Given the rapid technological change we are facing, science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills are especially vital for the new knowledge economy.

Something Mark Crabtree, MD of global sound engineering firm AMS Neve, is passionate about, so much so that he invested his own funds to bring the exciting ‘Making it in Burnley’ primary engineer project to Burnley.

‘Making it in Burnley’ was inspired by the The Prince’s Charities, Business in the Community, funded by Mark, delivered

by Primary Engineer and supported by the council and several of our Burnley Bondholders.

Over 2,500 Primary school children from across Burnley and Padiham have been taking part in the ground breaking Making it in Burnley educational programme learning skills in STEM.

Peter Scott Printers celebrates 55 years in business Over thirty members of Peter Scott Printers staff past and present attended a celebration meal to commemorate 55 years in business for the successful Burnley printing firm. The meal was hosted by the original founder Peter Scott, who travelled from his home in the north east of Scotland, especially for the occasion.

Peter was presented with a special bottle of whisky by the current directors and staff before recounting tales of old, and congratulated the workforce on the high level of success and stability the business is experiencing through their hard work. He commented: “I cannot thank the current team enough for keeping the proud name of Peter Scott Printers flying high!”

“It’s a privilege to be a part of this thriving business in its 55th year of trading,” commented Tom Gaughan, production director at Peter Scott Printers. “But even after more than half a

century we are not standing still. We are about to invest half a million pounds in new state-of-the-art machinery over the next six months to keep us at the forefront of technology.”

Based on the Billington Road estate, the company currently employs 26 members of staff and produces a wide range of printed materials for many well-known blue chip companies, as well as many published materials for burnley. co.uk.

“To keep up with demand but keeping our prices competitive, our shift system allows for 800 hours of production time a week and we also consume 10,000 kilos of ink and 1,115 tonnes of paper a year,” added Tom. “Staggering numbers yes, but we have the hunger for continued growth, and with conscientious staff striving to push forward with the imminent investment, we will mark a new chapter in the Peter Scott Printer’s story.”

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Royal seal of approval Top honours reflect contribution to economy and enterprise Tim Webber has officially received his Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) Award

by The Prince of Wales.

Tim’s MBE for Services to Business and the Community in Lancashire was officially received at Buckingham Palace on his Investiture day last Friday.

The awards recognise the achievements of a wide range of extraordinary people across the UK and ‘are rare and always richly deserved’ said The Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire in his congratulatory letter to Tim. A delighted Tim commented “I’m absolutely overwhelmed to receive this great honour for something I love doing, which is helping develop and make better my home town of Pendle and the area surrounding it.

It’s with the help of Family, Friends and colleagues that my company has been so successful in doing this. The hard work doesn’t stop here though and

using the award I will continue to promote East Lancashire as a fantastic place to work and live.”

The former BIBAs Lancastrian of the Year (2010) is an extremely proactive and hands on businessman within Lancashire and is actively involved in all the strategic development companies Barnfield have in place with all private and public sector partners such as Hyndburn, Pendle, Burnley and Rossendale Council.

Tim is the driving force behind some of East Lancashire’s major regeneration schemes and one of the reasons Barnfield are successful is their ability to work hard with a ‘can do attitude’, finding ways round complications to make regeneration and difficult schemes work, often where other developers have failed.

Three of the largest developments being tackled at the moment, both with Public sector partners and as standalone developers are:

On The Banks, Burnley – formerly known as Weavers Triangle. A £60 million mixed use canal side regeneration project in partnership with Burnley Council.

Innovation Drive, Burnley – the former Michelin Tyre Factory is now a bustling aerospace and engineering hub with occupiers and tenant including Kaman Tooling and BCW Engineering.

Northlight, Pendle – formerly Brierfield Mill. A redevelopment of this 380,000 sq ft complex will create a mixture of facilities in partnership with Pendle Council including leisure, enterprise, residential and public realm facilities.

Barnfield are no stranger to awards and last year received ‘Contractor of the Year’ status at the prestigious North West Insider Awards which has no doubt helped in securing a full order book for 2015 and part of 2016.

In addition to his primary role at the helm of Barnfield, Tim also

Business consultant Carole Garrett has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday honours list for Contribution to Enterprise and Skills in Burnley.

Carole has worked for the last 13 years in a business advisory role as managing director of Profitoptimiser Enterprises, encouraging and assisting local entrepreneurs.

Working with public sector bodies, in the past 18 months alone she has been successful in brokering in excess of £4m of finance for local companies.

Carole said: “I am honoured to be recognised for something that I am so passionate about and I thank whoever was responsible

for recognising my contribution and sponsoring the nomination.

“I am pleased to have been an integral part of the growth of many local businesses over many years Including Cherrytree Bakery, BCW and Uni Play plus many others too numerous to list . It has been a pleasure to work with them and hopefully make a small contribution to their success.

“I have worked with hundreds of pre-start businesses equipping them with the knowledge and tools for success and with existing businesses advising on growth strategies.

“I have a very hands-on approach in developing plans and assisting with the deployment of

the businesses strategies giving business owners the confidence to take the next step.

“Many of my clients have been with me in excess of 10 years and quite often I’m the first port of call for any business issues.”

The Medal was reintroduced in 2012 to recognise and reward sustained high impact local contribution.

Born and brought up in Burnley to parents Jean and Harold Beet, Carole’s career started in R&D for Lucas Aerospace where she worked for almost 30 years, before becoming director and general manager at their Wood Top site.

After deciding on a career

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sits on the board of other local organisations including Training 2000, Canal & River Trust and was nominated to act as Chairman for Regenerate Pennine Lancashire last year.

Former Chairman of the Lancashire Economic Partnership, Dennis Taylor, described Tim as a ‘giant on the Lancashire business map determined to beat the recession and generate wealth and employment for his beloved Nelson.’

change, she harnessed her skills and experience to assist businesses that needed management and business support, which has developed to where she now has non-executive positions in multi-million pound turnover organisations.

Citizens‘Rail Our train

Our station

Our citizens

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Lancashire Business Growth Fund

Are you looking to grow your business?

We can help you with grants to grow your business in many ways: • • • • •

Buying plant or machinery Property improvements Buying new property Expanding your existing building Infrastructure improvement

We can offer up to 20% funding of the total project costs with a minimum grant of £10,000.

Call or email Stef Heywood at East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce to find out how we can help. 01254 356400 / s.heywood@chamberelancs.co.uk