Setting out on the road to recovery

There’s no doubt that the road to economic recovery isn’t going to be an easy route to navigate.

The figures and forecasts that we’ve seen in recent weeks, including warning that one in three UK companies expected to make redundancies by the end of September, highlight the size of the challenge.

However, what we are also seeing is that Lancashire and its business community are ready to meet that challenge. They are up for the fight.

Our businesses are showing their adaptability in the face of the ‘new normal’. They are looking at their markets and their processes and working to become more productive and competitive. For some that is pointing them in a different direction on their journey.

They are reaching out to the support that is available in the county, tapping into their networks and finding ways, not only to survive but to look towards growth. And that includes identifying the opportunities that are out there for them.

The Lancashire Enterprise Partnership and the county’s local authorities have also come together to draw up a route for recovery that now sits with the Prime Minister.

That document contains the clear message: “Lancashire is a brilliant collective of brands, brains, products, people, places, services, heritage, land and opportunity, with huge potential for growth.”

To realise that potential we will need government support. So, it was good to see development schemes across Lancashire being awarded cash as part of the new Getting Building Fund.

As LEP chairman Steve Fogg says: “Lancashire has always been a great place to do business, and that has not changed despite this terrible pandemic.”

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