South Ribble: Taking centre stage

We continue our road trip around Lancashire’s hotspots with a visit to South Ribble. Representatives from the worlds of business and local government came together at AMRC North West to discuss the issues that sit high on their agendas and the challenges and opportunities facing the borough.

South Ribble not only sits in the heart of Lancashire geographically it is also central to the economic future of the county and the defence and security of the nation.

Defence giant BAE Systems’ Samlesbury plant is already a major employer and will play a key role in the development of the UK’s next generation fighter aircraft under the new ‘Global Combat Air Programme’ announced in December last year.

The government’s new National Cyber Force will also be based in Samlesbury, bringing thousands more high-skilled jobs to Lancashire. It will receive £5bn of funding by 2030 and its remit will be to protect the UK from offensive cyber operations.

Add to that the £20m AMRC North West building, a recent newcomer to the Samlesbury Aerospace Enterprise Zone which is now playing a key role in driving recovery, growth, productivity and innovation, supporting Lancashire firms to compete nationally and internationally.

South Ribble is also home to some high-profile, big name businesses including commercial vehicle manufacturer Leyland Trucks, featured in our automotive sector report and the international brewing group Budweiser, as well as well-established and successful construction and professional service firms.

Jennifer Clough, investment and skills manager at South Ribble Council, says: “Perhaps people don’t realise what we have here. We have world leading companies and this is such a vibrant area for business. We are really fortunate.”

Looking at what is in the pipeline for the borough, she adds: “It is a case of building on our success and how we take things forward and this is why these opportunities are so exciting. The key thing for me is what those opportunities represent for people who live here.”

Melissa Conlon, commercial director at AMRC North West, believes the Global Combat Air Programme and National Cyber Force represent massive opportunities for the area and its economic wellbeing.

She says: “If you look at the global combat air programme, in terms of the UK economy it is going to bring in £26bn. A substantial amount of that is going to come into Lancashire.

“The exciting thing about the programme is that it is going to accelerate the technology adoption of all of our supply chain companies, many of which are in South Ribble.

“It’s not just about accelerating technologies for the aerospace sector. Look at the other markets that can be accessed by adopting these technologies.

“In terms of South Ribble and the enterprise zone, we’re just touching the surface at the moment. In 20-years’ time goodness knows what it is going to look like.”

The AMRC will also play its part. Melissa points to the massive amount of private inward investment the Sheffield AMRC project has delivered for South Yorkshire and adds that there is ambition to build on the North West operation with more development phases.

Michael Conlon is chairman of Conlon Construction, which has been based in South Ribble for almost 60 years. He believes South Ribble’s central position in the county and its connectivity are also key to its economic success.

He says: “We’re in Bamber Bridge because of the motorway access and from there we can work all over the North West and other part of the country. There are great resources in regard to the workforce and the supply chain that we can build on.”

Michael also sees the enterprise zone as a great asset. He says: “It’s not just about people coming in from outside the county to work here.

“Young people who may have gone from here to universities all around the country to gain skills and then ended up working in London or Manchester, they’ve now got a place on their doorstep, where their families live, where they can go and work, in highly skilled and probably highly paid jobs. It’s great.”

Zowi Whittaker, environmental director of haulage and plant hire specialist Fox Group, which operates a number of sites across the borough, agrees. She says: “People see South Ribble as an area where they can thrive rather than needing to move away from here to get better pay, to get better education. You can do it here now.”

Jennifer says that when it comes to attracting inward investment, South Ribble’s offer is “very compelling.” She adds: “It is making potential investors aware of the opportunities. The connections are fantastic, the facilities to upskill, our local universities and the AMRC, plus we have the available workforce.”

Charles Hadcock, chairman of the Leyland Town Deal, is also full of praise for local politicians from all sides for working together to help bring National Cyber Force to the county. He adds that it is vital that people across Lancashire are “ambitious” and get behind the South Ribble projects.

Those major economic development projects currently in the pipeline include Lancashire Central at Cuerden, which has the potential to create up to 5,600 full-time jobs.

A planning application was submitted towards the end of last year by Lancashire County Council and its development partner Maple Grove Developments, part of The Eric Wright Group which is also headquartered in South Ribble.

It has been described as “a new and updated vision” for this key strategic employment site. The aim is to supply significant new local employment space for offices, research and development, industrial, storage and distribution uses.

Jennifer points to the impact the development of the Cuerden site would have. She says: “There’s a new planning application on Cuerden, so I won’t comment on the details of that.

“But as a strategic employment site, which has been allocated in the local plan for a number of years, it’s a fantastic opportunity to help develop the local economy.

“It’s a site which has unrivalled connectivity and access to a huge pool of skills and talent locally and it represents a great opportunity to grow the economy and to provide the facilities for businesses to start and grow here.”

Rachel Salter, strategic lead for future investment at South Ribble, adds: “It’s important that Lancashire as a whole understands what it wants to get from that site, because of its central location. So, it’s driving employment, creating a site that brings those skilled jobs in, which encourages people to live and work in Lancashire.”

Zowi believes the project could help deliver much-needed space for growing companies in the borough. She says: “When you look in terms of expansion, which we’ve done a lot of over the past few years, there’s not a lot of places where you can do that within South Ribble.

“So to have an alternative where you can actually spread your wings would be amazing for a lot of the companies that are actually growing. Let’s see if we can give them the space to move onwards and upwards.”