Central Lancashire City Region

LEP is responsible for delivering the Central Lancashire City Region Development Programme. Central Lancashire provides the North West with its third city region alongside Manchester and Merseyside and is one of the eight city regions contributing to the Northern Way – the growth strategy for the North of England aimed at closing the economic gap between North and South.

Estimates suggest that Central Lancashire has the potential to raise GVA* by around £4 billion per annum. This challenge is at the heart of our delivery plan. Our challenge involves transition to higher value markets, capturing more of the knowledge-based economy and upskilling all our residents to attract and retain the skilled and talented.

Central Lancashire City Region stretches from Blackpool, with its World Class Resort Destination Masterplan and urban regeneration initiative, in the West through Preston - England’s newest city – and home to Lancashire County Council and the University of Central Lancashire, eastwards to Blackburn with Darwen, and on to Burnley and Pendle with their key advanced manufacturing base. 

Twelve of the 14 local authority areas that make up the Lancashire Economic Partnership’s sphere of influence sit firmly within the City Region but there are clear nodes of economic activity in Lancaster to the north (Lancaster University and the Port of Heysham) and West Lancashire to the south (knowledge based and service sector employers in Skelmersdale).

We have identified eight priorities for action:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Blackpool World Class Resort Destination
• Sustainable Urban Growth
• The Green City
• Connecting the City Region
• Spreading Enterprise
• Expanding the role of Higher Education
• Enhancing Skills & Employability

The Northern Way presents a massive opportunity for Central Lancashire to proclaim its strengths and assets - this is only the beginning of the process but we are determined to create a better future for all our residents, businesses and communities.

The Central Lancashire City Region provides the first cohesive platform with which to effectively communicate the many great assets that Lancashire has to offer as a business and tourism location.

The Central Lancashire City Region brand has a modern, dynamic, inclusive and fluid feel to it and reflects the vibrant connectivity of the region’s unique characteristics. 

A set of branding guidelines and design standards has been developed to ensure consistency in the use of identity and colours. The brand enables us to present a unified and consistent message to the people of Central Lancashire and beyond and promote the Unique Selling Point of the region as the ‘City with room to breathe’.

*Gross Value Added (GVA) measures the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in the UK.