UCLan backs Lancashare as skills and training sponsor

5 December 2016

University joins profile businesses in new initiative

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has joined a number of high profile business sponsors who are getting behind a new initiative called ‘Lancashare’.

The innovative and unique concept is aimed at changing the way the county does business with a view to helping Lancashire prosper.

Lisa Edge, Director of Lancashare, said: “I worked in both the public and private sectors for many years.

“As Head of Employer Engagement for FE Colleges, my job was to engage the business community and to listen, in the last few years, businesses have clearly voiced the need for a joined up approach to doing business in Lancashire. Feedback from employers reinforced the message that businesses struggled with finding funding, recruiting local talent and winning local tendering opportunities.

“Lancashare was created in response to that, it was built by employers, for employers. The response to Lancashare has been overwhelming and it’s clear from the volume of businesses getting on board that it’s addressing the problem. UCLan play an integral part in the growth and development of the business community past, present and future, and we are delighted to have them on board!”

UCLan is one of the UK’s largest universities. With a student and staff community approaching 38,000, it is one of the largest employers in the North West of England. Internationally UCLan has academic partners in all regions of the globe and it is on a world stage that the first class quality of its education was first recognised. UCLan believes in establishing collaborative partnerships with business customers. What sets the University apart is its strong reputation for applied business research, entrepreneurship, innovation and bringing academic excellence to life, sharing and exchanging its expertise and research to help give businesses that competitive edge.

"The response to Lancashare has been overwhelming and it’s clear from the volume of businesses getting on board that it’s addressing the problem."

Answering why ‘Lancashare?’, Dr John Lonsdale, Director of Innovation and Enterprise, said: “Supporting businesses continues to be a key part of our work at UCLan. Job creation, business growth and talent retention and development are key challenges for the region and UCLan supports this through dedicated business support programmes, workface development programmes, and access to our students and academic expertise. We are delighted to be working in conjunction with Lancashare who are a welcome new addition to the business support ecosystem in Lancashire.”

UCLan joins a wonderful line up of sponsors including NWL Chamber of Commerce, Forbes Solicitors, Accrington & Rossendale College, LH Recruitment, Global Radio, The Shout Network, BNI, SRSCC, The Federation of Small Businesses, Moose Media, Bespoke Bids and The Royal Bank of Scotland to name a few! The best opportunity for this county to prosper is for us all to work together, to supply, promote and help each other to grow. With almost 50,000 businesses in Lancashire, it makes sense that we collaborate. Lancashare is a new way of doing business and launched November 2016.