News that Nando's coming to Burnley's Pioneer Place will be a massive boost for the town / Burnley Brand Manager Rachel Bayley

You can’t do that in Burnley, surely.. ??
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It’s National Careers Week, which means over at Burnley.co.uk we’re shining the spotlight on the amazing sectors and businesses we have in our borough.

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We kicked off the week with our Leisure, Retail and Tourism video, which you can find on the Burnley.co.uk Facebook and YouTube pages. Whilst we have dozens of incredible businesses in this field, the video showcased The Lawrence boutique hotel in Padiham, Crow Wood Hotel and Spa Resort, Charter Walk Shopping Centre and Pioneer Place.

Burnley Brand Manager Rachel Bayley talks about job opportunities in Burnley and how the arrival of Nando's in the town will attract visitors who may never  have even been to Burnley beforeBurnley Brand Manager Rachel Bayley talks about job opportunities in Burnley and how the arrival of Nando's in the town will attract visitors who may never  have even been to Burnley before
Burnley Brand Manager Rachel Bayley talks about job opportunities in Burnley and how the arrival of Nando's in the town will attract visitors who may never have even been to Burnley before
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Speaking of Pioneer Place, what has felt like the worst-kept secret was announced on Monday – and that is that Nando’s is coming to Burnley. It’s the first of five hospitality tenants that will call the £23 million complex home and it’s great news for the town. Whether you’re a fan of PERI-PERI chicken or not, it will be a big draw. We know that many students currently travel to the one in Blackburn and combine it with a trip to the cinema, so the fact Nando’s will be in the same complex as the brand-new Reel Cinema is great news.

It will be attractive for Nando’s fans locally, as well as those in surrounding areas such as Rossendale and the Ribble Valley, who may travel elsewhere to get their Nando’s fix. Some of these visitors may have never even been to Burnley before or haven’t been for some time. With Pioneer Place being right next to our town centre, it’s perfectly located for a wander into the centre, where visitors can explore our many other shops, cafes, bars and restaurants and hopefully become repeat visitors. It will therefore have a positive effect on our local economy, not to mention provide dozens of jobs.

Which leads me nicely back to jobs in Burnley. It often amazes people when they learn about the other sectors we have here. 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 Precision Aerospace.

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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 at AMS Neve which has won Oscars for its contribution to the film industry? Or that you

could be making chassis for Aston Martins at the Ansuka Group?

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.

Throw in fashion and textiles, logistics, education and training and professional services and we’ve still only touched the surface.

So, next time you’re considering a career change and think you have to look elsewhere, make sure you take a look first at what’s on your doorstep.

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