Business leaders from Accrington and districts recently met at The Globe Centre, with guest speaker Stuart Nevison, Chairman of Globe Enterprises Ltd.
The #AmazingAccrington initiative allows influential business leaders to meet, learn more about the exciting developments in the borough and discuss the importance of supporting the community.
Many influential business leaders were present, including Andy Holt, owner of Accrington Stanley Football Club and David Welsby, CEO of Hyndburn Borough Council. There was a real buzz in the room with congratulations and excitement surrounding the recent news, Accrington Stanley gaining promotion to League One for the first time in history. The room was filled with a round of applause for Andy Holt to start off.
Murray Dawson, Managing Director of Scott Dawson Advertising and founder of the #AmazingAccrington initiative, led the meeting: “It couldn’t be a better time for the town. Stanley’s success, lots of upcoming events and it’s wonderful to see so many individuals here today who want to be involved with the town.”
Murray started with a brief history of The Globe Centre, which is currently a modern business hub, actively bringing businesses to the area.
“We always like to try and find a building with story appeal, I didn’t appreciate how influential The Globe Centre has been. For example, in the war it was an ammunitions manufacturing warehouse, employing over 6,000 people!”
“It’s not what we can do for individuals, it’s what we can do for the town. We need to embrace and push forward, raising aspirations for the children in the borough. We are here to find champions for the town, people who want to lead the way to success.”
Guest speaker, Stuart Nevison, Chairman of Globe Enterprises Ltd, which has seen the success of The Globe Centre in Accrington, bringing jobs, regeneration and business to the town. Stuart was one of the original founders of AMS Neve, a company which has created audio equipment used on films such as Skyfall, Black Swan and Toy Story 3- these products continue to be prominent across the world.
Stuart gave an inspirational talk to the #AmazingAccrington business leaders, detailing his own business journey and the worldwide importance of his audio products, that were born in East Lancashire. His journey continues through offering a platform for expansion and networking in The Globe Centre, a focal point of the town.
The room was silent as Stuart Nevison reflected: “It was a fantastic time, we thoroughly enjoyed it- everyone wanted our products. Paul McCartney was suddenly our best friend, people like the BBC realised the capability of our box. It completely changed the way audio is being processed. I’m not sure how we had the time, we didn’t stop for two decades, but I would do it all again.”
“Not many people realise this all happened in East Lancashire, we need to be shouting about all the great businesses and products that have also been born in Accrington. That’s why I am here, to share the story with you all.”
David Welsby, CEO of Hyndburn Borough Council, updated the group on future regeneration in the borough. He focussed on land and investment opportunities, including current expansions of businesses in the area.
“There are a large number of opportunities for businesses in the area. We are currently undergoing a review of green belt space and I want to encourage individuals and businesses to come forward to work with us on expansion. We want to support growth, and, in some circumstances, this can mean reviewing the status of the surrounding land.”
“There are excellent spaces here in Hyndburn. For example Altham, The Globe Centre and Frontier Park, there is a huge amount of room for growth. Euro Garages have undergone a large expansion at Frontier Park, situated off Whitebirk roundabout – they have developed on a 90 acre site whilst working closely with us.”
Steven Cochrane, Director of Growth Lancashire Limited spoke to the group about the work the company do and opportunities for business in the area.
“As a company and as individuals we are inspired by working with people in the private business sector. We have all the pieces of the jigsaw already here in Lancashire to be great, Growth Lancashire are the delivery organisation for this. The strength of Lancashire is its diversity, by working together we can raise the profile of the area, create positive partnerships to encourage government investment and deliver advice and solutions to aid business growth. We have a number of grants available for businesses.”
