Look to the next generation of county business leaders

Dr John Lonsdale, Director of Innovation and Enterprise, at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), urged all parts of the county’s business community to play their part in supporting business leaders.

UCLan is one of a number of leading businesses which is again backing the Be Inspired Business Awards, the BIBAs, which is now open for applications with 18 prizes up for grabs.

It is supporting the Business Person of the Year, a category re-introduced this year to recognise the many different types of people heading firms throughout the county.

Dr Lonsdale said: “The art of being a great business person is to make things happen despite the constraints of legislation, finance and policy.

“By thinking outside of the box the next generation of business leaders will pave the way for growth and employment, but they need support to flourish.

“That support comes from legislators, financers, educators, and fellow businesses, we all have to play our part to create the conditions to make this happen.

“Through its Business Person of the Year award, the BIBAs has thrown a spotlight on the entrepreneurs of Lancashire and I am proud it will do so again this year.”

Last week, the winners of last year’s competition took part in a growth workshop hosted by Lancaster University Management School enterprise expert, Dr Ricardo Zozimo.

The session offered attendees practical advice on how to boost the strategic direction of their businesses, boost self-confidence among leaders and share experiences with fellow business leaders.

It was part of the BIBAs Academy, a package of workshops and masterclasses run by LUMS, which all the winners of the awards have joined.

In 2015, Lytham-based accountancy firm Danbro was named the Business of the Year when the BIBAs handed out its prizes in front of a sell-out crowd at the Blackpool Tower in September.

Social enterprise Jobs Friends and Houses CIC, which works with ex-offenders, won its Most Inspiring Business of the Year prize and individual prizes went to Phil Lawson of Skelmersdale’s Virtue Technologies who won Entrepreneur of the Year and Louise Wilkinson, who runs Lomeshaye Village Day Nursery, who was named Business Woman of the Year.