The Fab 500

Welcome to Lancashire Business View’s FAB 500, a unique measure of the 500 businesses generating the biggest revenues in the county. While turnover is the key measure for the Fab 500, this is by no means a vanity index.

[quote-content]The businesses we are considering in this league table are the revenue powerhouses and from those revenues flow jobs, supply chain activity and wealth for the county.[/quote-content]

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Mark Schofield, Haworths Chartered Accountants

That said, there are many big businesses that contribute to our region’s economy hugely in terms of revenues, profitability and employment; all this quite regardless of where their head office happens to be registered.

[quote-feature align="left"]"The Fab 500 is responsible for generating revenue of almost £23 billion into the local economy and for directly employing at least 143,000 people throughout Lancashire Business View’s circulation area."[/quote-feature]

The Fab 500 is ranked by turnover because we are trying to identify those Lancashire companies which are economic drivers for the county. We have also disclosed the profit, or loss, and the number of employees which gives an indication of how many people are depending upon these businesses and how vulnerable those people might be. This is the first time we have prepared this list, so there may be some omissions because one of the parameters we set is a time frame for the businesses to file their accounts. There will be some businesses which have filed their accounts outside this time frame.

The Fab 500 confirms what many of us already knew; Lancashire is home to a lot of high quality businesses.

As the tough economic climate continues, perhaps it is time to question whether we can do more to support those companies by buying in Lancashire. Whether it is goods or services, the quality and choice is there in Lancashire and it is surely in the interests of all companies which operate in the county to encourage the generation of revenue and growth of jobs within the area. There will, of course, be occasions when we all source goods or services outside the area and it would be quite wrong to develop an insular mentality.

Lynda Mason, Accrington and Rossendale College

As a college, we have witnessed how those we work with prize their workforces and continually invest in them; investments that pay dividends when the tough times arrive, as it is the dedication, innovation and flexibility of any organisation’s staff that sees them through.

I see the amount of talent we have in today’s Lancashire workforce and the talent that is gearing up for the future and The Fab 500 is a big reason to feel optimistic about the future of Lancashire and its economy. They set the blueprint for how to be consistently successful.