Trains, planes and driving the economy – Central Lancashire’s opportunity of a lifetime

Ahead of the HS2 Economic Growth Conference we hear exclusively from Lancashire County Council on the phenomenal opportunities the infrastructure scheme will bring to the region and how it’ll be a catalyst for growth:

 

The potential is crystal clear – Preston’s journey with HS2 should be a game-changer for the region and businesses based here.
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When our Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal secured funding in 2013, we knew that the potential for significant and sustainable development for the area had become a reality.

And now, with more than five years of strong partnership working and a shared vision, the foundations to a modern and prosperous ‘mini metropolis’ are already clear to see.

Central Lancashire is already perfectly positioned to take advantage of the arrival of a high-speed link through our county’s main railway station. We already have a lot to offer big industry, innovative start-ups, academia and families looking for a better way to live and work.

Purpose-built road networks, well-situated housing developments and comprehensive support for businesses are catching the attention of industry and capturing the imagination of entrepreneurs.

To ensure that our economic growth can be sustained, we are seeing really exciting activity across our county, that is stimulating our local skills offer and strengthening our manufacturing prowess.

The momentum from our Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, which our City Deal is part of, continues to drive economic regeneration. Senior leaders in the public and private sector are working hard together to make sure that we take advantage of our natural assets, our joint potential and the opportunities on the horizon over the next few years.

 

Why are people coming to Lancashire?

Lancashire sits at the heart of the UK. We’re on the doorstep of Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Cumbria and North Yorkshire, and you can already get to us by train from London in just over two hours.

We are a welcoming county, located in the thriving and dynamic North West. We’re a recognised world-leader in aerospace, advanced engineering and manufacturing, energy and higher education excellence.

We’re home to global manufacturers, from aerospace giants to the world’s leading producers of specialist materials, Lancashire has the expertise to support international companies to grow.

We’re ideally placed for business with the UK and the rest of the world; linked by six major motorways, with international airports in Manchester and Liverpool less than an hour’s drive away.  People can get here in just two hours by direct train from London and we have world-class port logistics on our doorstep.

Packages of support for businesses wanting to expand or relocate here are outstanding.  Lancashire people are known for being friendly and helpful with a ‘can do’ attitude and a no-nonsense approach. There’s no better way to do business.

Add to that a great quality of life in our picturesque villages, traditional towns and lively cities, 137-miles of coastline, vast swathes of unspoilt countryside, a diverse culture, top gastropubs, restaurants with Michelin Stars, and award-winning hospitality that welcomes over 67 million visitors a year.

 

What’s already happening here?

Through our Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal, we are currently delivering on our ambitious plans for new employment and commercial development across Central Lancashire, with the potential to create around 20,000 new private sector jobs, alongside the delivery of over 17,000 new homes.

We’re already expanding road capacity, unlocking congestion and improving public transport to help people get around. Improving the transport network is integral for us to deliver on our aims.

Through City Deal and the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP), we’re continuing to develop and maintain close working relationships with a range of organisations including the Department for Transport, Transport for the North, Network Rail, HS2 and the rail industry to make the most of opportunities for the station and the wider area.

 

How will HS2 benefit the area?

For the first phase of HS2, Preston will be the only intermediate stop on services from London to Glasgow and Edinburgh.  When it becomes operational, it will reinforce the city’s role as one of the North West’s major rail hubs, providing a key connection for HS2 services from a large catchment area of more than 1.4m people, extending across much of Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Enhanced rail connectivity would be a major stimulus for further employment growth in Lancashire, contributing to the objective of our Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for an additional 50,000 new jobs by 2025, supporting the broader growth objectives of the Northern Powerhouse.

We already have a nationally-significant national interchange on the West Coast Main Line, as well as a range of regional and local services, including the increasingly important east-west corridor across the Pennines, linking Lancashire and parts of Yorkshire.

Preston’s railway station is already the busiest in the north-west outside of Manchester and Liverpool, and one of the busiest in the whole of the north of England.

Over the last ten years, passenger numbers using the station have increased by 44%, with around five million passenger trips annually.

Recent improvements as part of the Network Rail’s Great North Rail Project (GNRP) are reducing journey times to around 30 minutes between Preston and central Manchester. Other recent improvements around the network are adding capacity and increased frequency on some key routes.

Network Rail are continuing to upgrade the direct route between Preston and central Manchester, and on to Manchester Airport. Recent economic and employment growth in Lancashire has been strongest in this corridor, with added potential to grow the business travel market in Lancashire.

 

Opportunities in Preston city centre

Alongside HS2, there’s potential to create a new business district close to Preston’s station, providing a high-quality premium business investment location, to attract professional, financial and business services, together with ICT, digital and creative industries.

A fully HS2-integrated station would act as the gateway to a potential and easily imagined comprehensive commercial, retail and residential development programme with the aspiration being to create a new business district close to the railway station, providing a high-quality, premium business investment location, to attract professional, financial and business services, together with ICT, digital and creative industries.

The redevelopment of the station for HS2 will enhance the city centre, the University of Central Lancashire’s £200m redevelopment of their city centre campus and the leisure-led transformation of the Harris Quarter in Preston’s city centre.

 

Further afield

Enhanced rail connectivity would be a major stimulus for further employment growth in Lancashire, contributing to the objective of our LEP for an additional 50,000 new jobs by 2025, supporting the broader growth objectives of the Northern Powerhouse.

HS2 would help to support wider City Deal priorities including the strategic development site at Cuerden in South Ribble, located close to the M65 and M6.

It would also support strategic employment locations such as the Samlesbury and Warton Enterprise Zones, which are ideally situated next to BAE Systems’ world-class production facilities, with a focus on the advanced manufacturing sector.

It’s an exciting time as we look to continue the journey we’ve already been on, and the economic opportunities that could come from major transport schemes such as HS2.

Central Lancashire is an area that’s going places, with new jobs being created, major transport improvements and new homes being built for people who come to live and work here.

It’s time you took a closer look at Lancashire, the place for growth.

 

The HS2 Economic Growth Conference, supported by HS2 Ltd, will delve into these and many other opportunities up and down the UK to maximise growth.

Tickets for the event can be purchased here.

 

Find out about game-changing investment opportunities and invest in central Lancashire. Lancashire County Council: Sue Roberts, LEP Commercial and Business Support Manager on 01772 536605 or email sue.roberts@lancashire.gov.uk. Preston City Council: John Crellin, Head of City Development on 01772 906704 or email j.crellin@preston.gov.uk. South Ribble Borough Council: Jennifer Clough, Investment & Skills Manager on 01772 625567 or email jclough@southribble.gov.uk. Visit www.lancashirelep.co.uk/city-deal
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