Lancashire universities join forces in £3.3m business support project

A business support project that has created 56 new jobs and helped almost 200 Lancashire businesses in the last three years has secured £1.77m of extra funding.

Lancashire Forum, a collaboration between Lancaster University and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), helps ambitious Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the region to grow with the aid of a supportive peer network and a programme of interactive workshops and masterclasses delivered by high-profile speakers.

The initial three-year funding for the project was due to end this year, but the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) have provided a further £1.77m to enable it to continue until 2022, as part of a total project value of £3.3m.

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The partnership project is delivered across Lancashire as part of Boost, Lancashire’s business growth hub. It offers a safe place for business leaders to step away from their working environment to develop themselves and their organisations with the help of the latest research and world-class academics from Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) and UCLan, along with benefiting from the practical experience of peers.

Since its launch in 2016, thie project has supported 192 businesses across 20 towns and cities in Lancashire, helping to create 56 new jobs. Twenty-three new products, processes or services have also been brought to market.

Matt Hutchinson, Lancashire Forum Project Manager at Lancaster University Management School, said: “The forum is a blend of peer learning and inspirational masterclasses, with leadership, finance and innovation sessions, which encourage personal and business development, leading to stronger, more ambitious Lancashire companies.”

New Lancashire Forum programmes and events from Lancaster University will start later this year; Lancashire Forum Creative at UCLan starts on May 9.

For more information, visit: LUMS: lancaster.ac.uk/lums/lancashireforum or UCLan: uclan.ac.uk/business_at_uclan/lancashire-forum-creative