Event Summary
Lancashire Development Update 2025 | Photos, slides and summary
Cyber security, Preston’s “limitless” ambition, and the county’s exceptional digital connections were high on the agenda at Place North West’s Lancashire Development Update, held at Preston’s Guild Hall. Education, skills, and the need to develop a workforce to enable growth also took centre stage.
The event was sponsored by Blackpool Council, Preston Council, and FI Real Estate Management.
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Silicon Sands
When a transatlantic cable that carries a third of the world’s internet traffic – and has the fastest speeds in the country to connect with the US – comes ashore in your borough, there’s no doubt about the opportunity it presents.
Nick Gerrard, growth and prosperity programme director for Blackpool Council, discussed the Silicon Sands initiative, taking a 40-acre brownfield site, next to Blackpool & Fylde College’s energy HQ and adjacent to Blackpool Airport, for a data centre campus.
The two things that aren’t going away, as Gerrard said, are data consumption and the drive to net zero.
He outlined how the programme will meet the sector’s energy demands with a 1.5GW offshore wind farm from 2027, a 20MVA solar farm, a 32MVA primary substation from 2026, and 50MW of battery storage. Describing this as a “terribly exciting time”, he also said the data centres would be liquid- cooled sustainably, and that a district heat network would benefit.
Blackpool Council’s Nick Gerrard outlined the huge opportunity billed as Silicon Sands. Credit: PNW
Blackpool’s seasonal challenge
Gerrard also updated delegates on the authority’s strategy to “break the cyclical nature” of Blackpool’s economy and create jobs and growth.
He said the Talbot Gateway was the “biggest development in Blackpool for centuries”, with the council now equipped with CPO powers to unlock the Multiversity project.
The Indigo Hotel development at the Abingdon Street post office site now has grant support, while another hotel opposite the Winter Gardens has planning consent.
A major marketing drive is underway for the Blackpool Central site, following Nikal’s downfall. Meanwhile, the Revoe Community Sports Village, and the marketing of sites in the Airport Enterprise Zone, are both starting “very soon”, Gerrard said.
Scary stuff?
Dan Prince, professor of cyber security at Lancaster University, said his sector provides a “massive opportunity”, not a “cyber fear agenda”. He detailed how the North West is the third largest digital cluster in the UK, outside London and the South East, with 12,000 people working in the sector:
“From Barrow to Manchester, there is a lot of activity and that’s driving a significant amount of growth,” he said.
Aligning his work to property development, he detailed how every new facility is “smart by default” with cyber security expertise available to protect them, without just focusing on the obvious. He said: “It could be adapting the heating to make sure people stay awake and are more productive, not just to save energy.”
Knowledge and the economy
James Thomson, associate director at architect Hawkins\Brown, said one of his company’s schemes, the UCLan student centre in Preston, is key to the city’s growth. He described how the project sits within a £200m masterplan to upgrade existing university facilities and “connect the university to the city”, with the student centre as the “crowning element”, which had “the knock-on effect of benefiting the local economy”.
Continuing the education theme, Nick Hague, project director at Maple Grove Developments, part of the Eric Wright Group, was quizzed about Blackburn by event host Neil Tague, senior reporter at Place North.
Hague outlined the development of an innovation district masterplan with £20m of funding that is seeing new training and apprenticeship provision, with a focus on vocational training and sectors such as cybersecurity, technology and healthcare.
He added. “It is regenerating an unloved part of the town centre and will expand Blackburn’s exposure to the national stage.”
From left: Kate Ingram, James Thomson, Nick Gerrard. Credit: PNW
Shifting styles
Kate Ingram, director of economy and development at Burnley Council, was asked about the development of existing assets in the education sector. She is all in favour, especially where “iconic” buildings are concerned. She said: “By reusing existing assets you are saving something really important and creating a unique environment.”
Thomson said there had been a shift away from “signature buildings” over the last five or 10 years due to the challenges around viability and climate. He said it was about “designing for the future” and “how to make the best use of assets”.
Promoting Preston
A presentation by Adrian Phillips, chief executive of Preston City Council, looked at both ends of the city spectrum. He had the forthcoming “red carpet” opening of the £45m leisure scheme Animate firmly in his calendar. Also this month, the council will open its new night shelter – part of its homeless strategy. “It will be well run, well managed and a route in to sustainable housing,” he said.
Looking forward, Preston’s famed red phone boxes will open in an animated art installation, Friargate’s improvements to pedestrian and cycle routes will start, and the £17m Harris Your Place cultural-led reimagining opens. Meanwhile the historic Tram Bridge will be craned into place ahead of opening in 2026 to renew a South Ribble link and the £9m renovation of the grade two-listed Amounderness House will start.
He also enthused about the Preston Regeneration Board – the first of its kind in the county – and Preston 35, a plan that will take the city up to and beyond its next historic Preston Guild year. “Our ambition is limitless,” he said.
Phillips said Innovate Preston was ensuring a cyber-ready workforce by involving schools, business, SMEs and infrastructure to drive forward jobs for local people.
Investing and progressing
Emily Armstrong, senior development manager at FI Real Estate Management, described how her firm is involved in regeneration and development across the UK from its Botany Bay base in Chorley.
She went on to detail how the company’s commitment to the area has seen it create three strategic sites in Chorley, safeguarding 150 jobs at one big timber firm that had been planning a move out of the borough, and is now creating many more, working with everyone from a Tiktok entrepreneur to a construction company.
Phase two will target the SME sector and FI is already in talks for 2026 lettings. A third site near the M65 will offer “unrivalled” transport links to the North and the Midlands, Armstrong said.
“All three schemes could make a £1.3bn contribution to the economy and we are very committed to education, skills, training and retaining talent in Lancashire and Chorley.”
Emily Armstrong outlined FIREM’s ambitious three-pronged Chorley plans. Credit: PNW
During the closing panel session, much was said about investors and the economy, and Jamie Allison, partner and head of real estate at law firm Napthens, said his teams are finding a supportive banking market, with other funding options on the table.
He also talked of progress in the “corners of our county”, to the likes of the Eden North project in Morecambe and Northlight in Pendle borough, and development in Blackburn: “There is a cacophony of stuff. If you bag it all up, Lancashire is a really attractive proposition and ripe for inward investment. Businesses need to be enticed into it.”
Deborah Smith, managing director of planning consultancy S&L, said town centre regeneration and the education sector were busy and added that the incoming Central Lancs local plan was giving “more certainty”.
She also praised government changes to “outdated” Green Belt policy and the decisions around “grey belt”.
Simon Lawrence, director of growth and regeneration at Lancashire County Council, said local plans were definitely making a difference and that a growth plan for the county is being developed, fuelled by the devolution process, and a local plan will “feature in that vision”.
Looking ahead
John Chesworth, chair of the Preston Partnership, said: “We are missing grade A office space and the vital piece is Station East. High value jobs mean better rents for better accommodation and the viability gap closes.”
Chesworth said the interest rate spike and cost inflation were top of his list of barriers to investment, though he added: “It’s are looking like we’ve got materials inflation at a level now and we may be getting a cut in interest rates.
“Having that certainty about the job priced today being the same in six months’ time is key. I am hearing positive noises.”
Asked about local government resource, Smith said: “Planning could do with a rebrand. It needs people, and it needs the people in business to support the local authorities, like the Preston Partnership and communities and education to come together to achieve these things.
“City centre-wise, viability seems to be a problem. There are lots of planning permissions in the city centre for residential blocks, which is exciting, but we haven’t seen so much action so far. Allocation-wise, we’ve got large swathes of land on the outskirts.
“It would be nice to see a design-led approach through some of that.”
What’s next?
Join Place North at our upcoming events
Thursday 27 February – North West Emerging Development Hotspots 2025
Thursday 6 March – North West Rental Market 2025: Exploring the worlds of BTR, PRS, and PBSA
Thursday 25 March – Yorkshire Emerging Development Hotspots 2025
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