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Could Lancashire’s unique geography be the key to revitalising creative industries in the area?
17th February 2025Could Lancashire’s unique geography be the key to revitalising creative industries in the area?
As a county, Lancashire lacks cohesion. It’s a myriad of relatively small towns, with underfunded local authorities and poor transport links. There is no central hub for the county, instead each town tends to operate independently and in their own interests.
There are signs of change, with the proposals for Multiversity Blackpool - a partnership between Lancaster University, B&FC and local employers. The aim is to deliver multi-disciplinary skills needed to drive local, regional and national economic growth (and tap into the £40 million investment ringfenced for Blackpool). The plans for Eden Project Morecambe could also bring further cultural vibrancy and economic growth to the region as a whole.
The food & beverage industry also seems to have found a way to unite across Lancashire’s disparate geography. Moving away from the traditional town-based delights of Blackpool rock, Chorley Cakes and the Wigan Kebab, Lancashire is fast becoming the foodie capital of the UK, with esteemed chefs like Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Mark Birchall, Stosie Madi, Steve Smith and Tom Parker, all proudly flying the flag for Lancashire. All connected and championing one another, whilst retaining a healthy sense of competition. Northcote’s annual ‘Obsession’ has helped put Lancashire firmly on the map, attracting top chefs from all over the world.
Yet, what of the creative industries across Lancashire?
Yet, what of the creative industries across Lancashire?
There are a handful of organisations such as Creative Lancashire, Arts Lancashire, Lancashire Digital Skills Partnership and Lancashire Digital Hub, along with the local universities, who are trying to nurture creativity in the area. However, there seems to be very few county-wide creative events or initiatives, and there certainly doesn’t appear to be a lot of collaboration or any centre resource for creative enterprise. It’s unsurprising the industry lacks cohesion, given the creative sector only accounts for 8% of businesses across the whole region. Lancashire will probably never have one central creative hub, but what if we followed the chefs’ lead and each town pushed their own stars? Creative courses, businesses, programmes, initiatives, designers, creatives, makers, all individual shining jewels, which collectively form a spectacular Lancashire creative crown.
A series of events could travel from one jewel to another - with each given the chance to show off their best bits, putting creative egos to good use in healthy competition. A Lancashire-specific creative awards could even be established, to further stoke the competitive fires. The result would hopefully lead to further collective striving, progress, and collaboration whilst educating and inspiring future generations.
There's potential to turn the county’s sparse nature to our advantage...
There's potential to turn the county’s sparse nature to our advantage...
...but it would require buy-in and commitment from organisations and key creative players across Lancashire. It’ll be a challenge, but one that the creative industry would be uniquely-equipped to rise to. If the creative thinking, innovation and passion this industry is known for can be applied to establishing Lancashire as ‘the dispersed creative city’, then the future for creativity in Lancashire could be very bright indeed.
More musings
More musings
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