Lancashire needs to level up with Burnley | Burnley Place Brand Manager Rachel Bayley

It was quite fitting then, that the session which included all of the amazing things Burnley is doing, was in the “shouting not whispering” section.

The main purpose of the Burnley.co.uk brand is to promote all the amazing things about Burnley and we are most definitely never short of content.

At the end of November, Padiham resident Ben Morton opened To Me To You Support Care Agency at 27-29 Manchester Road, the former Halifax bank, in Burnley town centre.

Ben has found that typical recruitment companies lack a personal touch. This is important to Ben and his family due to the special health needs and learning difficulties his brother Oliver had.

Sadly, Oliver passed away in 2011 aged 20 from cardiac arrest and celebrating his life was the inspiration for Ben and his mother to set up To Me To You Support care agency.

You can read more of Ben’s story on our website, and we’d also encourage you to pop your head into the agency’s office, because the interior is not what you’d expect!

We also recently visited Positive Footprints, which is based at Burnley Wharf and has been inspiring pupils since 2012. Did you know that children as young as seven make career decisions depending on what they know and can form some stereotypes around career paths?

Jo Norwood, Customer Relationship Manager at Positive Footprints, told us: “We deliver programmes to over 300 primary schools in England, but these are careers programmes with a twist. One standout project for me was when we worked with rucomfy beanbags.

"One of the graphic designers is from Burnley and she delivered a virtual Career Conversation which really inspired the pupils. We launched a competition to design a beanbag and the pupil who won, Ibnu, had his NASA-themed design made; it was great to see his vision brought to life.”

During the session, Richard Slater, editor of Lancashire Business View, said “Lancashire needs to level up with Burnley.”

What a quote! One reason why our borough is heads and shoulders above the rest is due to our Burnley Bondholders, a more than 200 member-strong business network who are ambassadors for our borough.

We firmly believe we are stronger together – a solid business network helps Burnley to flourish, which in turn attracts further investment and growth, benefitting our town, residents and businesses.

Both To Me To You Support Care Agency and Positive Footprints are bondholders and we’re proud of the work they’re doing in our borough.

Sometimes you need to look back to see how far you’ve come. We’re not saying it’s perfect, but the direct train link to Manchester, as well as the expansion of Burnley as a university town, has resulted in several digital and creative companies in particular choosing our town as their base, rather than Manchester or Leeds.

Door4 and Red-Fern Media are just two of the agencies who have told us this and there are many other case studies.

The past 10 years of hard work means yes, we are certainly proud to shout, not whisper, about the levelling up that has already taken place before it became a 2021 buzz word.