Lancashire Development Update 2025

KATE INGRAM, BURNLEY COUNCIL Kate Ingram is the director of economy and development at Burnley Council and is responsible for planning, housing, regeneration and economic development. Kate has been leading Burnley’s transformation for over a decade, delivering complex placemaking projects and building strong collaborations with the private sector.

DEBORAH SMITH, S&L Deborah is a chartered planning consultant with almost 30 years of experience, including nine years in a senior role in national planning consultancy Turley before co-founding Smith & Love in 2015. She has been involved with many significant projects and has a proven track record in managing multi-disciplinary teams and preparing and negotiating complex applications.

ADRIAN PHILLIPS, PRESTON CITY COUNCIL Adrian was formerly appointed at chief executive of Preston City Council in 2019. Having worked as an officer at Preston City Council for the past 33 years, Adrian has been actively involved in the delivery of a range of major capital projects including leading on heritage park restorations such as Avenham & Miller and Winckley Square, and as project sponsor for the Preston Markets Quarter redevelopment.

NICK HAGUE, MAPLE GROVE DEVELOPMENTS Nick is an experienced Project Management professional, with over 25 years’ experience in delivering high quality, multi-phased, mixed use developments in partnership with a range of private and public sector organisations. Prior to joining Maple Grove in April 2022, Nick worked for Muse Developments for over 10 years, in the delivery of both their Salford New Bailey and Stockport Exchange masterplans including commercial offices, high rise residential, hotels, and infrastructure.

JOHN CHESWORTH, THE PRESTON PARTNERSHIP John is a property lawyer and Senior Partner of Harrison Drury Solicitors a regional law firm with its headquarters in Lancashire. John chairs the Preston Partnership and the Preston Towns Fund Board, and sits on the Lancashire Business Board which will be part of the Lancashire County Combined Authority when it is established in the new year.

SIMON LAWRENCE, LANCASHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL Simon leads the County’s Major Development portfolio which currently includes projects such as the Farington Cricket Facility, the Eden Project at Morecambe and the planned arrival of NCF at Samlesbury. Since joining the County Council nearly 2 years ago Simon has led on the devolution activity, working closely with colleagues in Whitehall, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen all focussed on achieving a Deal for Lancashire.

JAMES THOMSON, HAWKINSBROWN James is an Associate Director at HawkinsBrown’s Manchester studio, experienced in designing and delivering transformative education projects across the region. Recent projects include UCLan’s Student Centre, creating a new front door with shared public space between the university and the city; and Blackpool Multiversity, placing education at the forefront of town centre regeneration.

NICK GERRARD | BLACKPOOL COUNCIL Nick has over 30 years of planning, urban regeneration, economic development and corporate management experience. He has been in senior director positions at Manchester’s New Economy, Trafford Council, North West Development Agency, Merseyside TEC and Trafford Park Development Corporation. He now leads the team responsible for implementing Blackpool’s £2 bn transformative growth and prosperity investment programme.

PROFESSOR DANIEL PRINCE | LANCASTER UNIVERSITY.
Professor Daniel Prince is Professor of Cyber Security in the School of Computing and Communications at Lancaster University. His research focuses on cyber risk management and threat intelligence to protect complex socio-technical systems.
Dan undertakes significant engagement activities across the policy domain, with the public, and delivering knowledge exchange with businesses to develop real world impact opportunities for the University community.
Dan is also Co-Director of Security Lancaster, the interdisciplinary flagship research institute for security and protection at Lancaster University.

ALUN FRANCIS OBE | BLACKPOOL AND THE FYLDE COLLEGE Alun Francis is chief executive of Blackpool and The Fylde College and Chair of the Social Mobility Commission. B&FC is a large general further education college with degree awarding powers. It leads the Lancashire and Cumbria Institute of Technology, and is pioneering a new approach to education delivery with Blackpool Council, called “Multiversity Blackpool” which sits at the heart of local regeneration plans.

EMILY ARMSTRONG | FI REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT Emily Armstrong is a Senior Development Manager at FI Real Estate Management, one of the UK’s most established names in commercial property and asset management, with a nationwide portfolio that now exceeds 15m sq ft. The firm’s twin developments on the outskirts of Chorley, which includes Botany Bay Business Park, are set to deliver 2.2m sq ft of space and 3,800 jobs, and will have a combined economic value of £1.3bn.

View last year’s event write up and gallery here.

Tickets cost £88+VAT. There will be a mix of presentations and panels. Breakfast and lunch are included, providing plenty of opportunity for business development.

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This event is sponsored by Blackpool Council, Preston Council and FI Real Estate

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