Manufacturing hub creates jobs buzz

The Lancashire Enterprise Zone is being orchestrated by the Lancashire Economic Partnership and will launch in April after being given the go-ahead by the government last year.

Now, land including a 180 acre site at BAE Samlesbury and off Lytham Road at BAE Warton has been earmarked for a major new development.

World-leading manufacturers, some of which don’t yet have a presence in the UK, are in talks to begin operations this summer.

Phil Halsall, chief executive of Lancashire County Council, has said there is a significant resource available to kick-start the project, with incentives for businesses including tax breaks, relaxed planning laws and cutting-edge communications infrastructure.

He said: "We're getting a lot of interest from big companies, some coming into Lancashire for the first time.

"We're not talking to anybody who wants to move a factory from Burnley to Samlesbury. It's not about displacement; it is about bringing in genuinely new, highly-skilled jobs.”