This major conference is set to examine Lancashire multi-million pound bids to the Government for levelling up

Expert insiders will share their insights at Blackpool Football Club and the county’s various bids for government funds, which total almost half a billion pounds, will be the main focus of the Built Environment Conference which will take place on Thursday, September 29.

The event is supported by Anderton Gables, Blackpool Makes It Work and Harrison Drury Solicitors and will feature guest speakers including Nick Gerrard, growth and prosperity programme director at Blackpool Council, John Chesworth, chair of the Preston Towns Fund Board, Tom Higgins, director at Laing O’Rourke and Jamie Holman of Uncultured Creatives.

Big name speakers from outside the county will also join the event to offer context from the cities.

The panel will discuss the various cash bids as well as the wider opportunities and challenges facing the county, and address questions such as the county’s identity and what roles Lancashire’s built environment professionals may play in designing and delivering Levelling Up projects.

There will also be discussions surrounding latest updates on property and property investment in Lancashire, supply chain opportunities.

This event, presented by Lancashire Business View, is designed for those who work in, influence or are affected by investment in the county’s built environment and will feature face-to-face interviews and panel conversations.

Organisers said there will be plenty of time away from the formal proceedings for delegates to forge new contacts and start the relationships that create the workflow with networking opportunities and exhibition.

Nick Gerrard, growth and prosperity programme director at Blackpool Council said: “The property conference is a vital forum for us to demonstrate the opportunities we are creating to deliver growth and prosperity in Lancashire - a real-world demonstration of how Blackpool ‘Makes it Work’.”

Megan Normoyle, marketing and business development manager at Harrison Drury, said: “Our firm has enjoyed a long association with Lancashire’s built environment community and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Lancashire Business View to support this event once again.

"We’re looking forward to hearing more about some of the county’s exciting regeneration plans and the positive difference they will make to the economic prosperity and wellbeing of the region.”

Stephen Bolton, Lancashire Business View director, said: “Lancashire is at the very beginning of what could be an incredibly exciting and transformative journey. The county and the towns and cities within it have pitched for hundreds of millions of pounds and what’s more, they’re all working together to make this thing work.

“This event has been designed to explore what successful bids could mean for the future of county as a whole, and especially the businesses within it. It’s not to be missed for anybody with an interest in property or the built environment.”