LIFESTYLE - SUMMER 2017

The heritage of manufacturing in Hyndburn, which is now recognised as an asset in a modern economy, is alive and well MANUFACTURING BUSINESS HEROES... By MIKE DAMMS, Chief Executive Officer, East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, 1994 - 2017

HERITAGE

I first came over fromYorkshire to Accrington in 1974 for my friend’s wedding to an Accrington girl andmy impression was that everyone seemed to talk like Gracie Fields (sorry Rochdale). It emerged during the ceremony that the bride’s family hadn’t been told that the groom had beenmarried before – sowe fled. I ventured back in the late seventies, to a workingmen’s club, and the ‘turn’ seemed to be a Freddie and the Dreamers tribute – not exactly up to date. Then in the late 1980s I travelled fromPreston to Leeds by train and the landscapewas dominated by a huge derelict mill, sorry looking, with brokenwindows and vegetation growing out of it. However, I came to East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce in 1993 andwhile I realise that those early impressions were accurate at the time, they belied a gloriousmanufacturing heritage that the Borough could build on, and the transformation that was under way. The derelict mill that I had seenwas the old Howard&Bullough Globe Works. As a far-sighted leap of faith, a joint venture called Globe Enterprises was formed between the progressive Council, developers Barnfield, and local businessman Stuart Nevison, to convert an unloved eyesore into an asset. The business hub that has resulted has brought significant employment back into Accrington Centre and is home to a national BTcustomer services centre. In fact, real estate and infrastructure development is perhaps the best way to take a proper perspective on the changes to Hyndburn over the last 25 years. TheM65, alongwhichmuch recent development lies, while opened between junction 6 and junction 7 in 1984, didn’t join Hyndburn to the outsideworld until 1997 when theM6 to Blackburn connection was finallymade. Continuing investment along that corridor has seen major development in areas like Althamand Clayton Business Park. Significant companies include Senator - the UK’s largest office furnituremanufacturer;WhatMore – a highly productive plastic product manufacture; James Dewhurst; The Cardboard Box Company andOlympic uniformsuppliers Simon Jersey. Furthermore, this expansion is set to continuewith recent acquisition on the 98,000 sq. metersWhitebirk site by Euro Garages.

Its locationmakes it a good distribution base for companies like NorthWest Logistics. The Chamber of Commerce itself set up its HQ in Clayton as being central to its East Lancashire constituency and the natural economy it represents. Of course there are challenges. Hyndburn is a Boroughwith a small populationwhich is against the trend forecast to decrease by 2.5% over the next 25 years.Wages are still relatively low andmuch housing is lowgrade (which converselymakes it ‘affordable’). Furthermore there is no direct rail route toManchester for would-be commuters and theM66 to the south can be ghastly. Themajor town centres are looking increasingly poor and the expansion out of town along the motorway corridor could be seen as diminishing themasmany of the workers on the estates travel in and by-pass them. The lack of size leads to a number of squeezes. Accrington and Rossendale College, has long been classed as outstanding for its teaching and relevance, but is not viable independently and is merging, for positive reasons, with its larger neighbour, Burnley. Similarly the borough’s strongest brands have had problemsome recent histories. For example, theworld famous Accrington ‘Nori’ Brick, made from 1887 to 2008 and again from2015 does not appear secure. Similarly Accrington Stanley has struggled, although there is cause for optimismwith the guiding hand ofWhatMore’s chairman and local boy, Andy Holt, at the helm. The local authority is, in some areas of its activities, too small and lacks resources to compete on its own: whether through forming a combined authority with the other Lancashire districts, or perhaps becoming part of a Unitary structure, change appears inevitable in the long run. My school report on Hyndburn over the last 23 years would therefore be that it has beenmore successful than it is credited for in turning round from the depression of the 1970s and 80s and it has so far weathered the decline in employment inmanufacturing rather well. Looking forward there are challenges, but the heritage of manufacturing, which is now recognised as an asset in amodern economy, is alive andwell in companies like Emerson&Renwick and Queen’s awardwinners like BMP and Langtec.

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