Playing the generation game

Blackburn with Darwen’s young population is both an opportunity and a major challenge, the borough’s business leaders heard.

The call came from a leading local business figure at the latest Lancashire Hotspots event held at Ewood Park in Blackburn.

Ian, a member of the Hive Steering Group and director of Growth Lancashire and the Education Partnership Trust, told the audience of more than 60 people gathered by Lancashire Business View in association with Blackburn College: “We have a very young town which means we have a wonderful opportunity, we’ve got this great stock of young talent.”

Michelle Mellor, managing director of Cummins Mellor Recruitment, currently relocating to Blackburn’s Cathedral Quarter from Hyndburn, told the audience at the event, hosted by Northcote at the Rovers: “The regeneration is so evident and with that regeneration comes opportunities.”

And David Lenehan, managing director of Northern Industrial, a global leader in the supply and repair of industrial automation parts and an exporter to more than 130 countries, revealed one of his business’ biggest challenges was recruiting staff. Claire Shore, Senior Business Development Manager at Blackburn College, was asked by Lancashire Business View publisher Richard Slater how she sold the area. She replied: “With three words, possibility, success and opportunity.”