Our vibrant sectors.
We’re the first to admit that sometimes it surprises people just how many vibrant sectors call our town home. Below are just a handful of the thriving sectors in which you can work and invest in Burnley:
Advanced Manufacturing and Advanced Engineering
Burnley is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to advanced manufacturing and advanced engineering. In total, these major sectors and all of their sub sectors, including aerospace and automotive, account for 7,000 jobs in Burnley – approximately 20% of total jobs in the town.
Our central location in the North West means we are at the heart of the wider regional aerospace and advanced engineering cluster. The North West aerospace cluster is the biggest in Europe, contributing £7 billion to the UK economy – a quarter of UK aerospace turnover. We are home to some of the most important players in the industry, including Safran Nacelles, Velocity Composites and Paradigm Precision.
We are proud to host renowned advanced manufacturing companies that deliver cutting-edge products. Did you know that some of the biggest films created use technology made right here in Burnley? Or that you could be making chassis for Aston Martins? Leading advanced manufacturers include AMS Neve, BCW Manufacturing Group and VEKA plc.
We know how easy it is to get in, out and around Burnley, but we also have a solid automotive sector. Employing hundreds of people and supported by our attractive transport and logistics networks, the sector is home to names such as Fort Vale Engineering and Futaba Manufacturing.
Digital and Creative
Our growing status as a university town goes hand in hand with our digital jobs success. In fact, we rank second in the UK for digital jobs growth. During 2014-2015 alone, we saw annual growth of almost 162%, compared to 2% across Great Britain and 30% across the rest of the North West. With UCLan committed to having 4,000 university students in Burnley by 2025, we are excited to see this sector further expand. Some of our digital leaders include +24 Marketing, Door4, Chess ICT, DEM Automation and Workholding and FDM Digital Solutions.
Fashion and Textiles
Many people have heard of boohoo.com – but a lot of those might not realise that its distribution centre is right here in Burnley. And the organisation has grown so rapidly, that it has already had to extend its facility to 1.045m sq ft. Burnley College also provides qualifications in Fashion, making our town the ideal hub for this sector. We are famous for our heritage in textiles, with John Spencer, Ian Mankin and British Velvets still enjoying success to this day. That’s not to mention newer brands that become established across both interiors and fashion, such as dresser of the stars Rene K Couture and renowned interior designer Becca Who.
Leisure, Retail and Tourism
We welcome all visitors to our town with open arms. We are certain you know about our historic football club – but did you know that 80% of our town is rural? That makes us the perfect place to explore the outdoors, as well as our restaurants, bars and other leisure facilities. This bustling sector accounts for some 9,250 of jobs. Just a handful of those who are ready with a warm welcome include Crow Wood Leisure, Holiday Inn Express Burnley and Burnley Youth Theatre.
Logistics
Burnley has a varied logistics sector and is home to renowned global brands such as Boohoo.com (fashion and textiles), Exertis (technology distribution) and Fagan & Whalley (haulage). Burnley has prime central location in the UK, making us incredibly well connected, which means our businesses are too. Liverpool Superport is an hour away, whilst there are three international airports within an hour’s drive – Manchester Airport, Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Leeds-Bradford International Airport. Burnley is also located on the M65, which opens to the M6, M62 and beyond.
There are ample development opportunities in our town (which our Business Support Team can offer further information about), along with several established prestigious business parks. Fagan & Whalley and Exertis are both are based at Burnley Bridge, a 70-acre site located off junction 9 of the M65. Exertis has chosen Burnley Bridge for its national distribution centre, whilst Fagan & Whalley is based at a 92,000 sq ft high bay facility. Boohoo.com is based on the Heasandford Industrial Estate in a 1.045m sq ft facility.
Education and Training
Burnley is a growing university town, with UCLan planning to offer courses to 4,000 students by 2025. That’s on top of the qualifications already offered by Burnley College, as well as the town’s other further education establishments. We are proud of our modern educational facilities for courses such as medical sciences and our new student accommodation. And of course, our other thriving sectors make Burnley a great place to study, work and live.
A solid investment
If you’re looking for a town in which to invest, we believe we can tick all of your boxes.
You can find a more comprehensive overview of the reasons why you should invest in Burnley in this guide:
Inward investment support
There is a wide range of business parks, premises and offices located throughout the borough with development opportunities for industrial and logistics at Burnley Bridge and Burnley Bridge South, and for research and office uses at Burnley Vision Park. Our Business Support Team will assist you with your requirements.
We want to support our investors as much as we can, to say thank you for choosing Burnley and our skilled workforce.
Burnley Borough Council’s Business Growth Programme has been in operation since 2013 and compliments other inward investment support programmes being delivered in Burnley. The specific types of support potentially available include:
- Grants – supporting capital expenditure.
- Specialist Business Advice – bespoke consultancy support tailored to meet individual company needs.
- Discretionary Business Rate Relief – this strand has proven extremely beneficial to some companies and has provided a better value for money option than a grant in some cases.
- Support for town centre businesses bringing vacant premises back into use.
- Start-up Support – for those start-ups failing to meet the criteria for BOOST Lancashire.
We have a Business Support Team to provide support for businesses from start-ups to global giants. Drop them a message here:
In Business Burnley
In Business Burnley is our publication to showcase the latest news in our thriving sectors, as well as our latest exciting economic developments. Read the latest issue here:
Meet in style.
One of the unique things about Burnley is the mix of our industrial heritage and our growing modern and innovative sectors and facilities. One minute you can be in a state-of-the-art laboratory and the next in a traditional canal-side café.
The same applies for our conference facilities – there is a venue for every type of occasion.