Business Insight

Thursday December 11 2014

Peace of the action

Council leader’s progressive Local Plan Interview: pages 4-5

College boss is cooking up successpages 8-9

Balancing good business with the good life

Focus on South

Lakeland

Windermere, from Bowness Bay

ASHLEY COOPER

Business Insight

Welcome

Inside Interview/profile of council leader Peter Thornton holds key to area’s potentialPages 4-5

A college cooked to perfectionHow Kendal’s ex-chef principal pulled it offPages 8-9

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A go-ahead councilWelcome to the South Lakeland issue, dedicated to an area renowned as a world-class visitor destination with spectacular scenery – which means that it also being a home to major international businesses such as GSK, Siemens and Lowe Alpine is often overlooked.

Ulverston alone plays host to five world-renowned manufac-turers of light-emitting diodes, and the body seeking to ensure that the clusters of highly successful companies do not simply blend into the scenic background beloved of Wordsworth is the South Lakeland District Council (SLDC).

To make this happen, the council, based in Kendal, has brought together its planning, economic development, asset management and housing teams into a single crack directorate unit in order to ensure a co-ordinated approach which recognises the link between all these activities. The result is a regional platform where economic growth can truly be called Invest in South Lakeland.

SLDC has also adopted a groundbreaking Local Plan and prepared development briefs for employment and housing. These will enable existing successful companies to flourish even further and encourage inward investment through a positive, proactive approach with the aim of stimulating business growth.

The council recognises full well the challenge of balancing this with maintaining the spectacular environment which gives the area its unique character and appeal.

Having laid the groundwork, the focus has now turned outward, to promote the opportunities this creates for inward investment. SLDC attended MIPIM, an international property conference held in London and seen as “a big step for a small council”. This proved to be an attention-grabber and SLDC is now planning its own conference next March to target developers and investors.

“The message is that South Lakeland is a place where it is possible to have a thriving business destination and enjoy the lifestyle benefits of the landscape, the cultural offer, and the high-quality educational facilities as well,” says the council’s assistant director, Michael Keane, who heads the team.

It is a message of sufficient importance that you will find it throughout this issue.

Forum on South Lakeland

Talking heads debatea ‘tranquil’ area’s truebig-business promise. Mike Cowley reports

As a place to live, work and play, it would be difficult to find anywhere quite so appealing as South Lakeland, where the popular image of fells and safely

grazing sheep is merely the backdrop to a thriving rural community.

It is, however, the sheer charm of the countryside – immortalised by Words-worth and attracting 15 million tourists annually – which is limiting the region’s growth economy, in spite of it already mak-ing a significant contribution to the well-being of the North.

The reason is that the tranquility attracts wealthy retired people looking to spend their final years in idyllic surroundings – and this, in turn, inevitably has an impact on the housing stock. High property prices are curtailing the ability of companies to bring in skilled workers, and also precipitat-ing the outflow of young people who might have filled the employment gaps but who can no longer afford to live in the area after having flown the nest.

Then, of course, South Lakeland being a key part of a predominantly rural county means that some of the infrastructure lags behind the bigger conurbations, even though superfast broadband is just around the corner.

“One of our biggest problems is that Cumbria is looked on as a wild place where the prison in the programme Porridge was located,” says Peter Thornton, leader of South Lakeland District Council (SLDC), which is heading the fight on behalf of busi-nesses and families whose roots go down deep into the local soil.

That is why SLDC was the prime mover behind a Forum from The Times, called to discuss a strategy for South Lakeland’s busi-nesses to prosper even further by easing the handicaps faced by the area.

Such is the interest generated by the is-sues – and the overwhelming unanimity being shown by the South Lakeland com-munity in tackling them – that the Forum attracted a capacity audience of local busi-ness leaders to Kendal College, which is in itself providing a partial answer to the prob-lems. (See pages 8 and 9.)

As a football pundit would have it, the Forum was a game of two halves – there being two separate panels, each focusing on different aspects of the issues faced, and with the chairman Alasdair Nimmo acting as the referee.

The first half examined the issue of pro-viding the groundwork for growth, with

the panel comprising Councillor Thorn-ton, Martin Nicholson of Russell Armer Homes, Jonathan Harris from Cumbria County Council and Connecting Cumbria, Graham Wilkinson, the principal of Kendal College and Christine Knipe of the West-morland County Agricultural Society.

Mr Nimmo kicked off proceedings by asking the question: “What are the strategic views of the economy of South Lakeland?”

Naturally, Peter Thornton – whose coun-cil is the standard-bearer for the community – was the first into the fray. “I was thinking about this on the way here this morning,” he said. “How do you plan the strategy of South Lakeland? And I thought back to 100 years ago, when there was a meeting simi-lar to this taking place. They would have been sitting around saying ‘How are we go-ing to get business to develop in our area? And we want shoes, washing machines, in-surance, engineering.’

“You cannot plan as a council where the economy is going to go. What you can do is provide the environment for it. Our Lo-cal Plan is saying this is a place we want people to live and work in, not just a retire-ment area. This is a place we want business to happen.”

The key issue of broadband speed, itself a political football, was then introduced by Jonathan Harris, who had been tasked with giving superfast broadband to businesses through his role with Connecting Cumbria “as soon as there were available funds”.

Without committing himself to when this would be completed, Mr Harris did stress that the county was fully aware of the need for broadband to enable flexible working from any of the new homes being built, and also for the agricultural commu-

nity who are now called on “to do all their returns online”.

“I think it has to be a key enabler of the [Local Plan] strategy,” he said. Later in the debate, Mr Harris went on to give an up-date on the implementation of superfast broadband in Cumbria. Across the county there are 105,000 premises in the interven-tion area, half of the premises in Cumbria. “It’s a difficult, challenging engineering programme,” he said, “and we’ve covered about 15,000 premises to date”.

Martin Nicholson picked up on the issue of broadband in terms of homes his com-pany is building. “It’s not just in business that it is needed,” he said. “That’s because of home entertainment and also we’ve got a lot of people who increasingly work from home and they want that connection.”

He went on to praise SLDC for “getting behind this brave plan – they’ve stuck to their guns and allocated land which ena-bles people to come along and start busi-nesses”.

It was left to Christine Knipe to take up arms on behalf of the agricultural commu-nity – something she did with considerable force. “Peter [Thornton] mentioned SLDC creating the environment to do business,” she said, “but without our farmers and without our landowners that would not happen and there would not be the facili-ties we have now.

“In South Cumbria we have 1,028 ag-ricultural holdings which employ almost 3,000 full-time partners and owners and increasing numbers of part-time workers. We now face a volatile market, and if we’re not careful our farmers face huge peaks and troughs. Our challenge is trying to level out peaks and troughs to ensure the agricultural community has a stable base on which to work and build. Without that environment, a lot of things that happen would just not happen.

“I sometimes do feel that people forget how important agriculture and the infra-structure that it provides is, in the wider economy. We could tarmac the whole of South Lakeland and build houses, but would anybody want to come here if we didn’t have views like that?”

Graham Wilkinson then stepped into the debate on behalf of Kendal College. “The next Government should reform the higher education system,” he said, “and col-leges should be given the power to award higher certificates with employers. Local providers and engineers could tailor quali-fications to their workforce.”

The fact that Kendal College has re-cently opened a £2 million facility to train the engineers of the future and meet the growing demand of local companies was introduced into the debate and received a warm welcome from Cllr Thornton. “It’s a thrill to me that we’re going to have people

Great views – and great news for business growth

Second-half guests (from left): Alex Bourne, Mardix; Cath Dutton, People Junction and Kendal Food Festival; Neil Bowness, Plain Creative; Maria Whitehead, Hawkshead Relish; Adrian Rawlinson, Marl International. Missing from picture: local Lib Dem MP Tim Farron

Business Insight

Jonathan Brook (above) once worked as a project manager for Provincial Insurance, one of the two biggest employers in Kendal with a workforce

of around 400. Then AXA acquired Provincial and, almost inevitably, the company – like so many others – left town. Today, Mr Brook is

the chief officer of Manna House, the homeless charity which covers Kendal and the South Lakes, looking after the handful of rough sleepers who at any one time have fallen through the cracks in the otherwise relatively wealthy area.

Both his previous role and his current one have helped Mr Brook prepare for holding his present public post – that of Councillor Brook, in charge of the strategic growth portfolio on South Lakeland District Council. His brief is to ensure that the economic climate locally offers an environment where companies stay rather than leave, and to provide the affordable homes necessary for a workforce to live.

Affordable housing is a key plank in the Local Plan, in that it will solve two key issues: providing accommodation for local people who at the moment cannot afford to live in the area, and also opening up housing to the skilled workers

whom the companies want but who also cannot afford to live there.

This has proved a divisive issue locally and one that provides Cllr Brook with headaches, not only in terms of getting houses built but also in attempting to explain what affordable housing really means. The bottom line is that the prices of affordable housing will be set by the council, and this is also then reflected if they are subsequently rented.

So in an area where house prices are likely to range from £200,000 to £400,000, the council is currently preparing to cap and underwrite “affordable new-build properties” from £70,000 for a one-bedroom flat up to £125,000 for a four-bedroom house.

An independent valuation is obtained in order to calculate the discount, and the formula works like this: one-bedroom flat, market value £140,000, initial sale price £70,000, discount 50 per cent. If the

home is sold in later years and the market value increases to £160,000, then the home would need to be sold for £80,000.

A similar formula has been approved when it comes to renting, this time based on a 20 per cent discount on the market rate.

To ensure that builders co-operate, it will be mandatory for the sites being set aside for the construction of 5,500 new homes to include a minimum of 1,000 of these homes as “affordable”. Wher-ever nine houses or more are to be built in the large towns, or three or more in the rural areas, 35 per cent have to be affordable housing.

This is linked to the Local Plan, where some 88 sites have been allocated – 20 for businesses, 68 for homes – and all of these sites have been agreed and endorsed despite local opposition in each case.

So how were they chosen? As part of the Local Plan, landowners, developers and businesses were asked to nominate sites on which to build. Once these were in place, the sifting process began – some were knocked off the list, others modified – before the final version was set in stone and published,

whereupon the public got in on the act.

This huge logistical exercise has been dogged by dissent as irate residents voiced their concerns at packed meetings. “It has been a bit of a nightmare from that perspec-tive,” Cllr Brook admits.

Now that the plan has been formally adopted, development briefs for larger sites are coming under scrutiny to ensure they do not spoil the area’s natural beauty. Planning applications are in place and work on some sites will start shortly. “Without the Local Plan, this wouldn’t have happened,” Cllr Brook says.

While he admits that the dis-senters have made it problematic at times, he feels that most have missed the point – namely that the plan also provides the area with a level of protection from the new laissez-faire approach to national planning policy on home-building.

“It puts us in control of what happens in terms of development,” Cllr Brook says. “Without this, developers could come forward and effectively choose which site they wanted in areas none of us would want.”

in South Lakeland whose ambition it is to make things,” he said.

This led to Mr Wilkinson telling the au-dience that the new centre – and many of the other things happening at the college – would never have been achieved without the support of the district council. “With-out the SLDC, this building would not have happened,” he noted. “We’ve got our quota of young engineers already, and I reckon we’re going to have to take on more staff. The demand is amazing.”

Nor is the college’s contribution to South Lakeland going to end there. “The next one is science and medical science,” Mr Wilkinson added. “There is an acute shortage of GPs and higher-order profes-

sional workers in the NHS. We’re looking at opening a hub which will support Alz-heimer’s and dementia through research so that there will be 700 new jobs.”

The first half of the Forum came to an end with a question from the floor con-cerning the issue of affordable housing as detailed in the Local Plan, and a general concern about how this could be achieved without incomers being stopped from pur-chasing second homes. (See panel below.)

Once half-time was over, the second panel took to the stage. It was led by Tim Farron, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, who was accompanied by Neil Bowness of Plain Creative, the two-man company responsible for most of the

SLDC’s Invest in South Lakeland art-work. Also present were Adrian Rawlin-son, managing director of Marl Interna-tional, the leading light-emitting diode (LED) company based in Ulverston, Maria Whitehead director of Hawkshead Relish, Cath Dutton of People Junction who is re-sponsible for the renowned Kendal Food Festival, and Alex Bourne of Mardix, one of the local high-flying engineering firms.

The theme was “Doing business – now and the future”, and Tim Farron set the scene. “We should be quite bullish about what we have,” he said. “Our product is outstanding. Creating the space for busi-ness to expand is critically important. Having a forward-looking college like this makes a massive difference as well.

“You build on the strengths you have got. Fundamentally, we have to put our-selves out there and be ambitious. You have to make your own luck.”

Alasdair Nimmo, from the chair, then called on the panellists to reflect on their own specific sectors of business.

Giving his own world-leading LED company as an example, Adrian Rawlin-son said there were five significant com-panies in his sector to be found in South Lakeland and each had an issue with local supply chains, due in part to the fact that 99 per cent of all businesses in Cumbria now employ fewer than ten people.

“Yet if the five LED companies achieved the right level of support,” he said, “the current workforce of between 1,200 and 1,300 could grow to around 2,500 to 3,000 in the next five years. That is simply enor-mous.”

Mr Rawlinson described the potential as “unbelievable” when asked to talk about the opportunities for his sector. “In a few years,” he said, “we’re going to have win-dows that absorb energy during the day, that’s what will provide the light source. You’ll see LEDs in people’s bodies, every-where.

“Electronics is moving faster than the IT [information technology] industry. I worry that we’re not going to respond fast enough to get a change in the economic potential, although I’d have to say that

SLDC do a great job in listening to what we have to say. It’s all about the attitude of people.”

Alex Bourne spoke up on behalf of the en-gineering sector and the concern over lack of skills. “That’s something the college will address,” he said, “but local employers also need to recruit apprentices where possible. We’ve got challenges but also a lot of new opportunities, and I think one thing we can offer in the South Lakes is the quality of life.”

Mr Farron then called on the audience to become part of the solution. “We create tal-ent and off it goes to London, it’s still a mas-sive waste,” the parliamentary representative said.

“It’s about making the best use of what we have. We are already in a place with infra-structure set up, you’ve got the space identi-fied and a collective will and pride in what we are. If you believe, and sell yourself, we’ll become part of that solution.”

Maria Whitehead was asked to discuss local entrepreneurship, with Hawkshead Relish being a prime example of a small company with a real success story to tell. “Everybody that knows us knows we’re only a small business,” she said.

“We had a mindset, though, that said ‘Why not?’ It’s about investigating ways to make things happen. One of the things is that we use services and local suppliers for ingredients. It’s all about empowering the lo-cal economy.”

So what more can be done? It was left to Tim Farron to sum up. “There are chal-lenges to be faced and many of them have been covered,” he said. “The average house price here is £250,000 and the average house income is £23,000. That’s our biggest challenge.

“We need to make sure that we are build-ing affordable homes. There’s always a de-mand for new houses. You do need to build some houses that subsidise the more afford-able ones.”

The local MP ended by paying tribute to the work undertaken by South Lakeland District Council. “I can’t think of another ru-ral council that’s done more,” he said.

Game over. Final score: SLDC three, in-surmountable issues nil.

We should be bullish about what we have...our product is quite outstanding

First-half guests (from left): Graham Wilkinson, Kendal College; Alasdair Nimmo, The Times; Martin Nicholson, Russell Armer Homes; Cllr Peter Thornton, leader of South Lakeland District Council; Christine Knipe, Westmorland County Agricultural Society; Jonathan Harris, Connecting Cumbria

Brook’s balancing act

Business Insight

Cover profile

A big name showing big confidence in the area: the new GSK development at theUlverston Canal Head

Council chief Peter Thornton tells MikeCowley about that Local Plan of action

When Peter Thornton was “but a lad” growing up in Kendal, he recalls a town which “made things” – meaning there

were jobs and affordable houses aplenty for the vibrant community set in the heart of one of the most breathtakingly beautiful parts of the country.

Since then, as a shopkeeper for many years, he witnessed the effects on his beloved home town when its two major employers were the subject of takeovers, then relocated out of the area.

This is not a story of the good old days as seen through the eyes of the over-50s, however, but a story of the good new days. Kendal and the South Lakes are not only prospering but are on the verge of an economic boom, the like of which the region has never seen even in its heyday.

To put things in perspective today you cannot ignore the past, and Kendal as a thriving manufacturing centre suf-fered in the 1980s, like so many others, when making things became something foreigners did – but it is now bouncing back and is very much open for busi-ness.

Peter Thornton has found himself at the forefront of the campaign to make all this happen. As leader of South Lake-land District Council, he has pushed through a five-year Local Plan with the twin objectives of creating 1,000 new higher-paid jobs and 1,000 new afforda-ble homes for rent out of a total planned housing stock expansion of 5,500.

This means the council is tackling head-on the issue of affordable housing, the last remaining hurdle needing to be overcome to help unlock the area’s full commercial potential.

The inflation of house prices by the number of wealthy retirees who have moved to the area not only affects lo-cal people but has made it difficult for South Lakeland firms – and there is an abundance of them – to recruit skilled

workers from outside the region, once prospective employees read the houses-for-sale adverts in the local newspaper.

Even the local Liberal Democrat MP, Tim Farron, admits he would not find it easy to buy a suitable home today based on his parliamentary salary.

Not that this part of the Local Plan has been a pushover in a community where many entrenched older residents have a natural aversion to change and the prospect of less-well-off incomers is seen as a cause for alarm.

Councillor Thornton, however, is not the type of politician who will roll over and let anyone tickle his tummy, no matter what the opposition. When you have raced motorbikes around the Isle of Man TT track for fun – he averaged 103mph on one circuit – you are not to be numbered among the fainthearted.

With the powerful backing of local MP Tim Farron, Cllr Thornton has en-sured that the council mantra – “mak-ing South Lakeland the best place to live, work and explore” – is not watered down.

Being council leader has become vir-tually a round-the-clock job for Peter Thornton: even his month’s canal-boat holiday each year finds him gazing at

the ruins of long-closed factories on the banks, a constant reminder of what used to be and what now has to be done to maintain the momentum of manufac-turing in the South Lakes.

As with many people, his burning am-bition has been stoked by his past. His grandfather came to Kendal as chief engineer for the then-thriving K Shoes operation – now one of the town’s many industrial ghosts. “Kendal made every-thing then,” Cllr Thornton recalls. “We made cars at one time, and there was even a snuff factory. And that’s our em-phasis: on making things again.”

As a youngster, he too found himself enjoying making things – with model aeroplanes being the Nintendo of the day. So after his time at Kendal Gram-mar – having once been given detention by David Starkey, then a prefect at the school – he left South Lakeland for the only time in his working life to become an apprentice in real aircraft construc-tion.

Although the job was enough to excite any youngster, as it saw him working in the hangar in which the first Concorde was being built, Peter Thornton eventu-ally found the call of South Lakeland too strong and headed home.

He achieved a childhood ambition and became a teacher, but after five years turned another of his hobbies, photography, into a full-time job. (The photography had begun after Kendal Grammar offered it as the alternative to playing rugby on wet days at school.)

Having started off by taking wed-ding photographs as a sideline while still teaching, he eventually bought a photography business which led to him opening the first colour print processing shop in Kendal, followed by branches in Bowness and Lancaster. Once digi-tal photography arrived, there was an inevitability to the colour print process becoming redundant – and with it the business.

Not one to dwell on setbacks, he and his wife turned their hands to making sausages at home – because, as he says, “You can’t make digital sausages”. This led to the Cumberland and Westmor-land Sausage Company, whose van be-came a familiar sight at local agricultur-al shows and music festivals, selling the

Key to the economic success of many companies in the area has been a special project set

up by South Lakeland District Council: the Invest in South Lakeland programme. This has already been a factor in securing major investments for local business including GlaxoSmithKline in Ulverston, as well as helping a range of companies to source key Government grants such as the Regional Growth Fund.

A dedicated source for busi-ness, Invest in South Lakeland provides advice and support for start-ups, established com-panies and those organisations looking to relocate or grow

within the inspirational land-scape of the area. The team is also responsible for a series of business events and seminars to help local firms learn, grow and network successfully.

“The Invest in South Lakeland service can help you and your business,” says its economic development manager, Joanne Golton.�� Information on the local economy, together with up-to-date business news, detailed business profiles, specialist business events, a free land and commercial property search, information on funding opportunities and much more can be found on the Invest website, www.investinsouthlakeland.co.uk

Leader who holdsthe key to unlockSouth Lakeland’sgrowth potential

Not fainthearted: Cllr Peter Thornton

Investing belief

produce prepared by hand from home-bred pigs – a business he only retired from a few weeks ago.

It was his time as a local businessman that influenced Peter Thornton’s deci-sion to stand for a council seat. “Like a lot of shopkeepers you tend to feel you should be represented a bit more on the council,” he says. “But when you get in, you realise the difficulties and why they can’t do the easy things you want them to do.”

He opted for the Liberal Democrats because he saw in their policies “a natu-ral home”, and couldn’t see “anything in either of the other two”. Having first stood for the council almost 11 years

PICTURE: STEVE BARBER

Business Insight

As a high-flying actuary for one of the largest firms in the world, and someone who had worked in Brussels, New

York and London, Giles Archibald found himself having to provide regular advice on pensions, mergers and acquisitions to The Sunday Times 100 and Forbes List compa-nies.

Now that he has retired, and since moving to Kendal, Giles Archibald’s new brief includes offering assis-tance to shopkeepers – signposting more office space, training in IT skills and so on – in centres such as Ambleside and Grasmere, and also ensuring that the special car parking deals over Christmas are sufficiently attractive to keep the tills ringing throughout the festive season.

For today he is Councillor Archibald of South Lakeland District Council, who holds the portfolio for town centres and small businesses. He feels that his actuarial skills have been easily transferable to his new role – and, as a founding member of the SDP (and their 1983 parliamentary candidate for Horsham in West Sussex who came second to the successful Tory, Peter Hordern), he is well grounded in the nuances of Liberal Democrat politics.

The portfolio Cllr Archibald now holds is increasingly important, in that both sectors have been under threat in recent years – one from megastores built on the outskirts of communities, the other due first to the recession and now austerity.

South Lakeland is outperform-ing not just the rest of Cumbria in percentage terms, but most of the country – the exception inevitably being London and the South East.

Occupancy rates are high, with just 7.3 per cent of shops empty in town centres in South Lakeland, well below both the national average of 13.5 per cent and that of the North West which is 16.9 per cent. The percentage of shops in Kendal that are currently vacant

is 9.97 per cent, the first time this has been below 10 per cent since 2008. There is also an encouraging picture in Ulverston, where the rate of 8.28 per cent is the lowest since April 2012, and in both Windermere and Bowness where the number of empty units has also fallen this year.

Cllr Archibald is offering the Kendal shops an early Christmas present by introducing free WiFi into the town centre, the plan being to roll this out throughout other towns in the months to follow. Just as significant for South Lakeland, however, is that 500 new businesses have sprung up in the area in the last nine months.

This does not mean, however, that Cllr Archibald is having an easy ride, particularly when it comes to traffic flow in places such as Kendal. Given that the Local Plan is designed to increase the local population, the congestion that exists today will only worsen if nothing is done.

One problem Giles Archibald faces, particularly in historic Kendal, is that while most of the car parks are in the right places the town centre now faces the challenge of needing more parking places to meet the increase in population.

Another problem concerns what to do with the other empty build-ings on the High Street – not the shops but the properties above them. Then there is the issue of motorists simply driving through the town to reach the big stores, adding to the congestion but not to the wellbeing of the town’s smaller shops.

“We are working very hard on the infrastructure,” Cllr Archibald says, “as we are well aware that if the towns get too clogged up people simply won’t come. We also need to work hard to maintain and grow our strong retail offer.

“My background and experience as an actuary have proved useful in that I have often had to initiate campaigns, then implement them. And that works at any level.”

We’ve got ten-year targets for jobs and affordable homes... and we’re already doing well

ago, the new Cllr Thornton took the seat from an independent by the margin of 100 votes – and soon found himself chairman of the local Liberal Demo-crats at a time when the Conservatives had held the local parliamentary seat for 99 years.

He became determined that they were not going to make it a round 100, and helped to mastermind the campaign which saw Mr Farron elected in 2005.

“The year after Tim won we took al-most everything,” Cllr Thornton recalls – and the Liberal Democrats have been riding high in the area ever since, their progressive approach having ensured that the constituency remains a bastion for the party at a time when its national support has sunk to an all-time low.

Peter Thornton even stood for the neighbouring parliamentary seat – Pen-rith and The Border – last time round, only to come up against and lose to the formidable opposition of Rory Stewart, a rising national star in the Conserva-tive ranks.

Unperturbed as usual, Cllr Thornton turned his full attention to the ground-breaking Local Plan, with the headline-grabbing soundbite about 1,000 new jobs and 1,000 new homes – and pro-gress is being made. “We’ve got these two targets over a ten-year period and we’re doing quite well,” he says. “There are already 85 new jobs and 125 afford-able homes – and that’s just in the last nine months.”

The jobs and housing initiative has also already led to a major prize for the council in the form of the expansion of the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plant in Ulverston. “We set out our stall to tempt GSK to invest in Furness,” Cllr Thorn-ton says. “Our contribution was the emerging Local Plan, where we could show we were making land for business and land for housing available.

“GSK now have a potential £1 bil-lion investment. They committed to the first part which was a third of a billion, they’re virtually committed to the sec-ond and they are talking about the third. We’ve also got Siemens looking at more investment here and there are a lot of other firms who are doing very well and will be looking to the Local Plan as the platform to grow.

“It is our planning for affordable hous-ing for people earning less than £40,000, and rental homes for those who aren’t in a position to buy, that is helping make all this happen.”

Then there is also the new £10 million Lakeland distribution centre, the £5m James Cropper recycling plant recently opened by the Queen, and Mardix un-veiling a 55,000 square foot factory in the middle of Kendal with a potential additional site in the pipeline.

Infrastructure remains a key stum-bling block in an area renowned for the difficulty in getting from one centre to another – as anyone trying to drive from Ambleside to Barrow will testify. Kendal itself presents a major challenge, with a one-way system through ancient narrow streets which can resemble a maze to the unsuspecting first-time visitor. Lakeland, a rapidly expanding local firm which is exporting as far afield as the Far East, has to currently transport all its goods through the centre of the town.

The cost issues involved in resolv-ing even minor infrastructure problems are proving troublesome, which is why South Lakeland District Council finds itself working increasingly closely with the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partner-ship, the county council and a number of other interested parties when it comes to infrastructure projects such as the M6 corridor and businesses around the west coast main line.

“We are getting an economic plan together because of the need to look at where we are going to be in 20, 30 or even 40 years’ time,” Cllr Thornton says, “and that involves infrastructure. If you go along to GSK, that’s what they are doing – and though councils tradition-ally did not look much further than the next budget, that’s what we need to do now.”

All this needs to be done at a time of austerity, when councils are being starved of funds. “It’s a ridiculous situ-ation that is down to successive Gov-ernments not trusting us really,” Peter Thornton says. “Where you have coun-cils that don’t belong to the Government party, they don’t want to empower them, so they starve us all. And so getting the basic infrastructure done is a real, real challenge.”

Cllr Thornton and his team are up for that challenge, however, which is why they have led the way with the pioneer-ing Local Plan, the first in Cumbria. The ever-present driver for the council lead-er is to stem the outflow of young people in search of a better life – when they are actually leaving most of the components of that better life behind.

“My family was lucky in that two out of three of us stayed here,” Cllr Thornton says. “Yet in my sister’s family, all four of her children have gone to London. I think someone who is born in South Lakeland should be able to get their edu-cation in South Lakeland – then, when they leave school, they get a job here and from the proceeds of that job will be able to buy a house here.

“When I was a kid, all that was pos-sible. Now it isn’t, but we are getting there.”

Rising to challenges

Cllr Giles Archibald: From New York and Brussels to Kendal and its agendaPICTURE: STEVE BARBER

Business Insight

Commercial Viewpoint

It is a long way, in every sense, from the hustle and bustle of one of the world’s busiest airports to the rela-tive tranquility of South Lakeland. But software developed by Kendal-

based company Meantime IT is help-ing Heathrow Airport to run smoothly, to train staff and even to ensure its new £2.5 billion terminal opened without a hitch.

One of Meantime’s bespoke solu-tions for Heathrow – software that manages the deployment of reserve staff around the airport during busy times, for instance during the 2012 Olympics – has been hailed as “one of the most innovative things that we’ve ever done for passenger satisfaction” by Heathrow’s head of passenger wel-fare, Michelle Smith.

A booking system created for the airport’s retail operations arm man-ages inductions and training for 5,500 concession staff, as well as direct-ing those with special skills such as languages or signing to areas where they are most required. According to Heathrow’s retail operations manager Karima Sakhi, the software gives the

airport “a level of intelligence we pre-viously didn’t have”, and paid for itself in a very short space of time.

Meantime’s managing director Fen-ner Pearson says the company’s South Lakeland location has been no bar-rier to its impressive growth and abil-ity to attract the attention of big-league clients. “For us it’s the best of both worlds,” he says. “Kendal is brilliantly connected – I can get across to Leeds, up to Scotland or down to London very easily.

“People don’t think of us as being out in the sticks, in fact most people we

speak to in London are very envious of our position being up here close to the Lakes. It makes for a very calm place to work, people are relaxed and happy liv-ing here and that translates into quality of work.”

Mr Pearson established Meantime a decade ago after having become frus-trated with a career as an IT contractor, repeatedly implementing the same so-lutions to resolve troubled projects. He says Meantime’s simple aim has always been to provide bespoke systems that are delivered “on time, on budget and to the exact specification of the client”.

Mr Pearson and his team place great emphasis on spending time with clients to discover exactly what their requirements are, and then to develop an IT solution which will not only save them time but also save them money.

Software created by Meantime to manage client assessments, reporting and invoicing for training provider the Dove Nest Group has been credited with saving the organisation £100,000 in time and efficiency costs each year, while the managing director of work-wear manufacturer Coniston Corpo-rate, Paul Reilly, says that Meantime’s “exceptional and innovative service” has been significant in “helping our business to grow beyond all expecta-tions”.

Other satisfied clients – includ-ing Colchester Borough Council, South Lakeland District Council, The World of Beatrix Potter and the Helen O’Grady chain of international drama academies – cite expansion and huge savings as a direct result of Mean-time’s software.

For Fenner Pearson, glowing testi-monials from clients are a reflection of Meantime’s passionate approach to providing the very best service. “Every member of our team lives and breathes technology,” he says. “We are committed to providing IT systems

that help our clients to grow, not to hold them back.”

Having high-profile and larger cli-ents has led inevitably to more enquir-ies from all over the country, and Mr Pearson says that awareness of Mean-time is growing all the while.

Future developments include an in-creasing focus on mobile software, an area which clients are keen to adopt. However, while Meantime’s business continues to develop, the managing director has no desire to move away from South Lakeland. “This location works for us and we love it here,” he says. “We like to say that our reach is global but our approach is personal, and doing business in South Lakeland fits with that perfectly.”

Checking in for software success

‘We live and breathe technology’

Far from bustling airport crowds: Meantime’s tranquil office

Tucked away on the top floor of a renovated cotton mill on the outskirts of Kendal, you will find two firms forming one of the many creative clusters

that have sprung up successfully across South Lakeland. Here is no MediaCity-UK, but the creative outflow can match anything you will find down the road in Salford.

Plain Creative, a two-man busi-ness, and Armitage Online – almost as compact with four – illustrate how strong creativity and digital excellence is not confined to glistening glass and shiny steel buildings in purpose-built “tech hubs” – certainly not in South Lakeland, anyway.

Like many companies in the area, they blend quietly into the idyllic back-ground but have become an integral part of the thriving regional business sector. And, again like many, they punch way above their weight. A glance across their client lists and portfolios reveal two complementary businesses, relative “minnows” in terms of physical

size but delivering just as effectively and often more efficiently than their larger metropolitan counterparts.

Plain Creative’s client list boasts substantial names including specialist paper manufacturer James Cropper plc and James Clay, the UK’s leading importer of craft beers, along with local small and medium-sized enterprises and public sector accounts. Interna-tional clients such as Tech Soft 3D also feature: from offices in the US and around the globe, they develop software platforms for such as Adobe and Autodesk.

Not bad for a company set up in 2009 by two friends, Craig Butterworth – “an escapee from Burnley” – and Neil Bowness, whose surname provides a strong clue to where he is from. Before establishing Plain, both partners had two decades’ worth of experience work-ing in design, print, the web and being part of creative agencies.

“You could say we do a lot of things,” Neil Bowness says, “brand develop-ment, marketing and strategy, web design, packaging, social media, exhibi-tions and events. If there’s anything we can’t do then we bring in talented local associates, an approach our clients seem to like.”

Working cheek by jowl with them in their shared office space, in a form of “competitive collaboration”, Armitage Online has built and hosted nearly 150 websites since being formed in 2007. Fascinated with computer code from a young age, Andrew Armitage found himself on a placement from a business degree at the University of Central Lancashire with US firm ExxonMobil. Here he got his first hands-on develop-ment experience, building part of the petrochemical giant’s website.

In a career which started in aero-space project management, Mr Armit-age eventually gravitated to developing websites full-time. He was lured to relocate to South Lakeland in 2006; the beauty of the surroundings helped, but the fact that he married a local girl was the real clincher.

Having come across Plain Creative through a “digital cluster group”, they now work side-by-side, amicably but as two distinct companies. The nature of a creative cluster is such that they share a number of clients – James Cropper and Tech Soft 3D, for example – having won the website develop-ment work for the latter despite the fact the client is American and is itself immersed in IT.

Armitage Online also boasts a growing high-profile client list in its own right, including one of the UK’s leading visitor attractions, Windermere Lake Cruises, along with the solicitors Burnetts and Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust. And the very first Armitage Online client – Zeffirellis of Ambleside – remains with them to this day.

“Digital means that we all share the same connected world, so geography

isn’t an issue,” Andrew Armitage says. “Working with clients at the other end of the country or across the Atlantic isn’t an obstacle. Our broadband is fast and reliable, and we’re happy to work flexibly to their time zones.

“More importantly, our clients know they have a skilled and depend-able development resource here in South Lakeland.”

Where creative flair meets digital experience

Plain? Really? Craig Butterworth and Neil Bowness

SLDC / PAUL HOLLAND

Business Insight

Healthcare

How Bender ensures that thelife support system stays liveCritical care goes farbeyond the wallsof operating theatres,writes Chris Nelson

When people think about critical care in hospitals, they focus on the elec-tronic equipment which represents the most ob-

vious aspect of life support. Bender UK, however, has forged its leadership in the health sector by thinking outside the box – or, more accurately, thinking beyond the walls of the operating theatre or in-tensive care unit.

The sophisticated equipment would be little more than expensive paperweights without the electrical security which has earned Bender UK its status as the go-to authority on maintaining power supplies in hospitals and clinics across the coun-try.

Bender has developed expertise in power system resilience for the health-care sector through supply and installa-tion of unearthed isolated power systems and uninterruptible power systems, to ensure the safety and security of electri-cal networks and to protect patients and staff.

During the private finance initiative-driven boom in hospital building and ex-pansion, Bender helped to write the regu-lations surrounding best practice for the supply of power to clinical environments, and this has led to the development of ex-pertise in other areas to support medical facilities.

Through partnership with Steris, Bend-er is now the exclusive UK supplier of its advanced range of high-performance LED (light-emitting diode) surgical light-ing and service pendants. Bender in Ger-many has developed a sophisticated range of touchscreen control panels for operat-ing theatres, often paired with screens which enable surgical staff to view vital scans and x-rays during procedures.

Ulverston-based Bender UK has also developed its after-sales and service net-

work and now delivers that capability to 500 sites across the UK and Ireland. Its network of engineers provides every as-pect of the service requirement, from en-suring that clients meet regulatory obli-gations and maintain service schedules to providing round-the-clock callout cover.

The company is the partner of choice for construction and refurbishment con-

tractors, mechanical and electrical con-sultants and management profession-als. All employ Bender’s knowledge and experience to deliver cost-effective and future-proof solutions, from individual equipment items and turnkey installa-tions to complete electrical infrastruc-ture and through-life service support for health trusts and private facilities.

Hospitals count the cost of system shutdowns due to poor main-tenance in tens of thousands of pounds,

which is why the comprehensive and reliable service provided by Bender UK is so highly regarded.

Managing director Steve Mason helped to shape the future of Bender UK during his early days with the company as part of the team which recognised that changes in electrical regulations created a need to use unearthed power supplies within critical healthcare applications. That provided new opportunities for Bender equipment to be used in the giant hospital develop-ments being built through the PFI (private finance initiative) revolution.

Bender UK soon became known as the authority on protection for the sophisticated electrical systems required by the new healthcare facilities, and the company worked hard to extend its knowledge of secure power infrastructure for hospitals and to expand the offering to include uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). This resulted in rapid growth of the scope of the business and its reputation.

A UPS system provides battery backup in the event of power failure, but requires careful maintenance to continue delivering power resilience. Temperature is overwhelmingly the single biggest factor in UPS battery failure, and high ambient temperatures can cause batter-ies to break down, casings to melt and weld together into an

immovable mass, and internal cabling insulation to become brittle and fail.

Bender’s service strategy of regular inspections and moni-toring provides early warning of failures and ensures that hospitals are not let down by their power supply. Bender is also able to demonstrate to customers the advantages of providing full service support throughout the life of the equipment, ensuring maximum return on the invest-ment.

“Our service packages ensure that inspections and checks are carried out regardless of the other pressures on the facility management teams within hos-pitals,” Steve Mason says, “and the knowledge that they have a partner who truly understands the complex risks inherent in the systems is hugely reassuring for health trusts and private clinics.

“Patient safety is always the first priority, but beyond that any failure which puts hospital facilities out of use reduces the earning power of those assets and can also attract big financial penalties.

“Even the most sophisticated service regime cannot anticipate every eventuality. Our 24/7 cover by the network of Bender engineers ensures that no matter what happens, help and support is immediately available to our clients.”

�� For more information on Bender’s range of equipment and services for the medical sector go to www.bender-uk.com

Bender UK is constantly expanding its market for tailored applications of the advanced technology emerging from its parent company in Germany, where research teams produce world-beating

products to protect systems which simply cannot afford unplanned shutdowns.

These products ensure the protection of people and the safe operation of machines and systems around the world, from oil rigs, nuclear submarines and racing drivers to electric vehi-cles, data centres and power generation sites.

There is a good chance Bender products will be involved wherever absolute confidence in the supply of electrical power is required. Nowhere

is that life-saving role more important than in the medical sector, where Bender has an enviable track record in maintaining power to vital equipment.

“There is a huge market for Bender products because of the vast range of electrical systems which cannot be allowed to fail or shut down even for a few seconds,” says Bender UK managing director Steve Mason. “Much of our equipment is designed to make custom-ers aware of problems before they become critical, so that they can instigate preventative maintenance.

“We also manufacture equipment which provides a fail-safe to ensure that if one power

source ceases to operate, it switches over so quickly to an alternative power source that the interruption is imperceptible.”

In medical installations, power resilience can be the difference between life and death, with even a brief interruption of power supply proving disastrous. “Part of our job is to ensure that never happens,” Mr Mason says, “and to maximise the operational performance and availability of the systems we support.”

One of the most important breakthroughs in hospital power resilience technology has been achieved by Bender with its award-winning ATICS integrated automatic changeover system, which removes the single point of

failure to isolated power systems by allowing two power supplies to be brought in from different sources.

ATICS is designed to the European standard Safety Integrity Level 2 (BS EN 61508), and combines an insulation monitor, a transformer monitor and a signal generator in a single compact clinical solution.

Central to the design is the incorporation of permanent self-testing across all critical components, identifying components which may be susceptible to failure without prior warning. Otherwise, component failure might be identified only when the changeover unit is required – and that is too late.

Planned maintenance is a lifesaver for hospitals

Global technology leader for fail-safe systems

Engineer networkprovides 24-hourafter-sales andservice supportto 500 sites

Bender UK offers full turnkey operating theatre installations

Regular inspections ensure power system resilience for medical facilities

Business Insight

Education

Graham Wilkinson hasmade it Kendal’s pride, writes Mike Cowley

When you have worked at Buckingham Palace, helping to entertain the fastidious President Mit-terrand and also assisting

in the preparation of the Christmas lunch for the ever-discerning Royal family, per-fection is a prerequisite, excellence simply accepted as the norm.

So you could have expected little else from former chef Graham Wilkinson when, in 2001, he took over what was then the failing Kendal College – at that stage dismissed disparagingly by the local population as simply being the school for hairdressers.

Now, in 2014, Kendal College is play-ing a key role in shaping and revitalising the economy of South Lakeland, and is arguably having as much influence on the wellbeing of the community it serves as do Russell Group universities on the major conurbations where they are to be found.

While South Lakeland struggles with the problem of attracting skilled people to the area because of the housing costs – an issue being addressed by the Local Plan – Kendal College has stepped up to not only mirror the requirements of the community but also to ensure that the tap on the apprentice stream remains firmly switched on in order to address the needs.

All of this is why the lead inspector in the recent Ofsted report said: “This is a small college punching way above its weight.”

When Graham Wilkinson arrived at the college, however, he found it was three-quarters of a million pounds in debt – without the management even having been aware of this – and had failed its Ofsted inspection. It had also been placed on red alert for another visit.

Then the new broom got going with the help of some “really good inherited staff, some of whom eventually became directors” – and, within 18 months, Ken-dal College was no longer in debt. It has been in the black ever since.

Snippets from the latest Ofsted report reveal just how far it has also come in educational terms:

�� “Outcomes for learners are outstand-ing. Managers, teachers and support staff are extremely effective role mod-els for learners in setting high profes-sional standards and promoting a cul-ture of inclusion, courtesy and respect for each other. Learners develop ma-turity and self-confidence that raises their aspirations for success at college and in the future.”�� “Learners enjoy college life. Most make excellent progress, achieving higher grades than predicted from their prior qualifications. Very high proportions progress to courses at a higher level within the college. At the end of their programmes similarly high propor-tions progress to university and to employment with prestigious compa-nies. Adults and learners aged 16-18 are very successful in developing their skills and attaining qualifications in lit-eracy and numeracy.”�� “The college has established outstand-ing collaborative partnerships which enhance and expand the provision across Cumbria. The college plays a significant and leading role in many strategic educational partnerships in the region and acts as a key link with business and education consortia.”�� “The principal and governors provide very strong leadership. They have in-spirational vision and high expecta-

tions. They monitor the performance of the college robustly and are very successful in achieving their high ambi-tions. Within the constraints of a small college they have secured very good value for money and wise investment in sustainable accommodation develop-ments.”

When Kendal College received the results of the Ofsted inspection – which revealed it was the first college in Cumbria and North Lancashire ever to be classed as “outstanding” – Graham Wilkinson re-calls the emotion clearly. “The roof was lifted,” he says. “There were tears every-where.”

So how did a former chef make the transition into education? Mr Wilkinson’s hobby of photography proved to be the bridge. His interest in food photography led to the making of food and drink docu-mentaries, from where it was a short step to giving talks to organisations about food and his experiences as a chef not only in Buckingham Palace but also at a range of five-star hotels.

The talks morphed into lecturing and he was hooked, switching from preparing food in the kitchen to teaching it in col-leges, including three years at Blackpool and several years at Lancaster as a senior manager.

It is difficult to know where to start when you attempt to list the successes of Graham Wilkinson and his manage-ment team – although out of the 40 areas in which Ofsted graded Kendal College, 35 were “outstanding” and the remain-ing five “good” (the second-highest grade nationally at the time), so this really is as good as it gets.

Then, of course, there is the fact that the college has invested £30 million in new equipment during the last ten years, showing that it is not only helping busi-ness but also that it means it.

What is happening within the college it-self has become a barometer of the South Lakeland economy, with a team of asses-sors constantly on the road to find out the skill needs of local businesses – which, in turn, the college will seek to fulfil.

True, hairdressing is still there as part of the health and beauty department – from where a stream of talented young-sters emerges to serve that sector either directly or as self-employed, the latter be-ing statistically difficult to build into the copious success data.

College’s vital role is food and drink for former chef

Engineering has hit the headlines of late with the opening of a new £2m centre developed to meet the ever-in-creasing demands of the myriad of local manufacturers (see panel opposite). This, though, does not eclipse the work that has been going on in performing arts, work which for more than a decade has been renowned for producing talent both front- and back-stage, from actors to rig-gers. Based in the Northern Arts cam-pus, the department has over 350 stu-dents and is on land also housing Kendal Museum, which the college took over five years ago as a teaching museum.

Then there is health and social care, with staff trained to meet the demands of an increasingly ageing population in an area which has become the retirement destination of choice for many in the North West. And the foundation degree courses are ever more popular, with the college having links to both the Univer-sity of Central Lancashire and the Uni-versity of Cumbria.

And the latest department on cam-pus – an animal centre complete with its own operating theatre, built by ap-prentices from the construction course – reinforces the message that Kendal College has not forgotten it stands at the heart of a rural community. Staffed by two vets, and due to be RSPCA-ac-credited, its students will be called on to look after injured local wildlife, the most recent arrivals being a swan and three cats. There are plans to open a wildlife sanctuary in association with local schools.

One department you cannot over-look is hospitality, which remains the primary source of income for the South Lakeland economy. Headed by another former chef, Robert Marshall-Slater – this really isn’t a case of too many chefs spoiling anything – it has developed an international reputation, having pro-duced staff for outstanding local eater-ies such as Sharrow Bay on Ullswater and L’Enclume in Cartmel.

Former students can also be found working for celebrity chefs such as Nigel

Sleek, modern and now widely respected

The council has helped significantly with the costinspiring theothers to cut their charges

Cooking up a great college: Principal Graham Wilkinson

Business Insight

As a college which saw engineering dropped from its curriculum when the course fell out of fashion in the 1980s, Kendal has made an amaz-ing comeback to support specialist

manufacturing, which is now a strategic priority for South Lakeland.

Having dipped a toe in re-establishing a joint engineering and construction department sev-eral years ago, Kendal College has now raised the stakes substantially in its offering by opening a £2 million state-of-the-art engineering centre. Three times the size of the previous facility, this is a clear statement that engineering is back in a big way.

The catalyst for this was college principal Graham Wilkinson’s involvement with the Cumbria Partnership, which revealed there was

an acute shortage in a sector that was enjoying an almost unnoticed boom. It was this which “led to the crucial decision to bring it back”.

Developed with the help of feedback from the local engineering sector to ensure it meets the key demands – the centre even incorporates the same type of machines used by one major local manufacturer, Gilkes, to ease the transition from apprentice to shop-floor worker – it will train

over 300 students in science and engineering over the next two years, including degree-level programmes.

As such, it will help to meet the gaps identi-fied by the Cumbria Economic and Skills Audit as far back as 2010 – shortfalls in CNC (com-puter numerical control) machine operation, tool setting, computer-aided design, welding, assembly line/production robotics, general engineering, materials requirement planning, fabrication, computer-aided manufacture and general machining – and increased activity in a more buoyant manufacturing sector can only have seen a significant increase in demand for these and other skills four years later.

This view is backed up by a recent survey which showed that a quarter of Cumbrian manufacturing companies believe one of the most significant barriers to importance is “the availability of people to do the job”. This is why the new Kendal College engineering centre ticks the key boxes for Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership’s strategic priority for the county and for the Cumbria Growth Strategy.

It also meets the primary goals of the highly supportive South Lakeland District Council, in that it will attract more high-value industries to the area and has already seen the hiring of an additional ten specialists by the college itself, including engineers, technicians and scientists.

One of these is the newly appointed head of engineering, Mike Morson, recruited from Riverside College in Halton and seen as a prime catch in that he had previously played a signifi-cant role in supplying apprenticeships to the engineering sector in the North West.

Since the new engineering centre opened, the demand for places has increased fourfold – which may well have been influenced by the Big Bang approach to the opening. Cumbria’s first Big Bang Fair in science and engineering, to be exact, which was held in October to coincide with the official opening.

Run in conjunction with 20 leading local engineering firms – with Siemens being among

those offering hands-on experience – the fair attracted 700 students from local schools with the intention of providing a glimpse of what a STEM course (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) could open up for them.

With Oscar the robot acting as the guide, the event provided a platform to see some of the centre’s new equipment in action, including 3D printers, computer-aided design software and robotic programming.

Another contributory factor to the demand for places is the college’s growing reputation as a guaranteed route to a job in these still-uncertain times. Recent statistics show that 97 per cent of all students progressed either to employment or a higher level of study – and there is 95 per cent retention for higher education courses. This surely has connections with Kendal College achieving a student satisfaction rate of 89 per cent, the same as the University of Lancaster and only 2 per cent behind Cambridge University.

“We are very fortunate in Cumbria as we have some world-class manufacturers on our doorstep,” Mike Morson says, “and it is our aim to constantly work with them to make sure we

are providing exactly what they need from their next generation of employees.

“By talking and, importantly, listening to local employers, the engineering centre will special-ise in courses to meet industry needs. And by introducing new STEM programmes, we are already helping to keep fresh young talent in the South Lakes, where previously they had to look outside of the area to further progress their studies.

“We know that skills shortages can be a major barrier to growth, but Kendal College has the facilities, equipment and vision to be the first-choice college for local employers in the area. We want to attract them into the engineer-ing centre, as well as increasing overall student numbers and apprenticeships.

“It needs a combined effort to show the next generation that STEM subjects are far from be-ing dull, geeky and boring, and can in fact lead to some of the most interesting, creative, and rewarding careers. Engineering may have been dropped from Kendal’s curriculum in the past, but it is back with a bang and it won’t be going away again.”

Haworth and Simon Rogan. Even through the depths of the recession, the demand for highly skilled hospitality students in South Lakeland has held up, mainly in the fine-dining hotels, and the college can guarantee a job for any student at the end of their training. Currently there are 70 full-time students in the department and a further 200 who come in for training from regional restaurants and hotels.

The college’s reach extends further than the local community, however, in that it trains all the chefs at Cambridge University. And, unlike many catering colleges, Kendal is run like a hotel, with a “yes chef, no chef” approach built into the regime in order to prepare students for the high-pressure career environment they will eventually enter.

The standards expected and achieved are simply the best. Little wonder, then, that the in-house dining room at the col-lege is a favourite dining spot for discrimi-nating locals.

You cannot talk about hospitality at Kendal College – or in Kendal itself, for that matter – without referring to the Castle Dairy, one of only a handful of apprentice-run restaurants in the country to be Michelin-recommended. While the restaurant has been pitched very much as a standalone enterprise – care has been taken not to overly use the college brand – it has become, in effect, the finishing school for the college’s hospitality depart-ment.

Described in the Michelin restaurant guide for 2015 as “skilled, modern and flavoursome”, it is housed in a previ-ously boarded-up 16th-century Grade 1 listed building.

Much of the money involved in set-ting up the flagship restaurant has been raised from the Savoy Educational Trust and from local suppliers, with Graham Wilkinson living up to his reputation as an effective fundraiser. And a clear sign of how important Kendal College is to the community is the way in which both South Lakeland District Council and lo-

cal tradespeople have rallied round to help with the restoration.

“The council has helped significantly with the cost [they have recently paid to renovate the ancient and leaking roof], and because of their passion eve-rybody working on it has done it at a reduced price,” Mr Wilkinson says. “Lo-cal tradespeople have come forward and halved the cost of their hourly wage – not all of them, but most of them – and that is a clear sign that we have come a long way to being valued in the last few years.”

Robert Marshall-Slater, also an ex-chef, now in charge of hospitality department

An amazing comeback to support manufacturing

Over 300 science or engineering learners

The hands-on experience on offer is much appreciated by the new student generation

Business Insight

DAY IN DAY OUT, OUR EXPERTS USE THEIR MARKET KNOWLEDGE, EXPERTISE AND COMPLETE LOVE OF PROPERTY TO DRIVE THEM TO GIVE THEIR CLIENTS THE VERY BEST POSSIBLE ADVICE.

52 Kirkland, Kendal, LA9 5APkendal@carterjonas.co.uk 01539 722 592

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Mardix moves into UKcompanies’ fast track

The UK’s leading provider of switchgear, monitoring and service solutions, Mardix, has entered the latest Sunday Times HSBC Interna-tional Track league table, compiled

by research organisation Fast Track.The Mardix Group, established in 1966

and based in Kendal, is a global leading provider of critical power systems technol-ogy and services, with over 350 employees. Banking and telecoms companies rely on Mardix to ensure that the power grids in their computer data centres operate smoothly.

The firm designs and makes electrical switchboards, power management systems and power distribution units for customers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and had international sales of £5.6 million from total sales of £50.5m last year.

“Having recently expanded our opera-tions into further South Lakeland manu-facturing premises,” says Alex Bourne, the Mardix commercial manager, “we are proud to continue our investment in the area, pro-viding much-needed skilled employment.”

Relishing home-and-away success

The Hawkshead Relish Company is a family-run business based in the beautiful Lake District village of Hawkshead, producing artisan preserves. The business started in 2001 and since then has created a range of over 120 relishes, pickles and preserves and collected 50 UK Great Taste Awards.

Its stock is now held in over 500 UK stores, including larger high-end retailers such as Selfridges and Booths supermarkets. Hawkhead Relish has worked with UK Trade & Investment and South Lakeland District Council to expand its operations abroad, and now exports to 38 countries.

Hawkhead Relish director Maria Whitehead has recently become a UKTI Export Champion, mentoring local businesses and helping them to expand into new markets. Over the next five years the company wishes to grow its sales while retaining its base in South Lakeland “where our hearts belong”.

Engage. Excite. Educate.

Within Reach.

EVERY DAY IS AN OPEN DAY

Come and visit our outstanding facilities.Contact us for further information on bus routes. Telephone: 015242 79200 Email: registrar@sedberghprep.org

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Business Insight

Newbuild

Oakmere adds varietyto appeal of location,reports Chris Nelson

South Cumbria has a bright future as a centre for business growth and advanced manufacturing, stretching from Kendal through to Barrow-in-Furness and also linking with the

ambitious nuclear plans on the county’s west coast.

Alongside investment and skills, howev-er, the area also needs stylish new homes in the right locations to create a high-quality living environment for residents and people recruited into the area, according to Chris Middlebrook, who is a director at Oakmere Homes which has been building properties in the area for more than 25 years.

Chris Middlebrook grew up around Windermere, went to school in Sedbergh, and is fiercely proud of his Cumbrian roots. As a student, he worked as part of the team building the houses in Kendal which make up the development where he now lives, so he is looking forward to helping create a new generation of family homes at the planned Strawberry Fields development close to the west coast main line station at Oxenholme.

Oakmere Homes is in the process of selling the last of its latest Kendal develop-ment of two- and three-bedroom houses alongside the River Kent. The majority were snapped up within weeks, with the speed of sales demonstrating the demand for new homes in the town.

The house builder is not resting on its laurels, however, and has just finished creating a new range of three-, four- and five-bedroom designs to be built at prime

locations around Kendal and in Bolton-le-Sands.

“When it comes to choosing a new home, it is now something of a cliché to concentrate on location as the only factor that matters,” Mr Middlebrook says. “Of course location is important, and at Oak-

mere we pride ourselves on securing some of the best development sites available, working closely with local authorities to ensure they fall into line with Local Plans for the area.

“For example, Strawberry Fields is in a fantastic spot, adjacent to green fields with views of the fells beyond. People buying new homes there will be within easy reach of the town centre and good schools, and importantly for business people they will be able to walk two minutes to Oxenhol-me station with its main line links south to Manchester, Birmingham and London, and north to Carlisle, Glasgow and Edin-burgh.

“Likewise, down at Bolton-le-Sands we have a new site with gorgeous views over Morecambe Bay, the village close by, and

the centre of Lancaster just a stroll or a safe bike ride down the canal towpath.”

So location is very important, but sales also depend on providing the types of home that people are looking for. Today’s buyers want character, style and room for a family to grow. They also want advanced energy efficiency and the low bills that go with it, the convenience and comfort of en suite showers, high-quality fitted kitch-ens, family rooms where everyone can get together and studies where someone can settle down to work or use the computer in peace.

This agenda has shaped the 2015 Oak-mere Homes collection – a new genera-tion of modern homes which retain that touch of traditional style alongside mod-ern construction. Extensive research by Oakmere – including regular contact

with its online community – has helped to shape the designs to accommodate the modern lifestyle choices made by today’s families.

“People still want to buy older proper-ties and modernise them to create their ideal family home,” Mr Middlebrook

says, “and there are plenty of opportu-nities to do that across South Cumbria. But for many families their lifestyle choice is about making the most of the time they have together in increasingly busy lives.

“They often want to move straight into their ready-made dream home and not have to worry about maintenance or DIY projects; they would rather spend their weekends and evenings enjoying their families and pursuing leisure inter-ests together.

“Of course not all of our customers are growing families: some people are just starting out on the housing ladder, others are more mature buyers seeking to downsize. We aim to provide a range of homes which can meet the needs of a number of different buyers. But recent research shows that couples moving to their second home are now more likely to seek a four-bedroom property, so they are raising their sights with the aim of the second home being the one they stay with for years to come.

“Also, while many older buyers seek to downsize, research shows they still want the space to accommodate families when they come to visit, and often the move is more about reducing running costs with a more energy efficient and low-maintenance home.”

Oakmere is one of the few compa-nies still building bungalows, and at The Oaks development in Longtown the company has re-planned the site to offer exclusively one-, two- and three-bedroom bungalows. This has proved to be a huge draw in attracting buyers who are approaching or enjoying retirement.

Every Oakmere home comes with a full ten-year National House Building Council warranty, and the attention to detail ensured by the company’s award-winning site managers guarantees cus-tomer satisfaction.

Oakmere has emerged from the re-cession well placed to take advantage of an expanding market, and Chris Middle-brook welcomes Government initiatives such as the Help to Buy scheme. “We are a local company employing local trades-men to build homes for people who want to either stay in the area or move here,” he says, “and we engage with lo-cal communities and councils to provide the homes the area needs.

“A proportion of those will fall into the category of ‘affordable homes’, but we seek to offer a range of new houses from two- and three-bed semi-detached right up to the top-end four- and five-bedroom detached homes.”

Chris Middlebrook travels around the UK, but is always happy to return to Cumbria, which for him reflects the perfect combination of town and coun-try living. “People are increasingly con-cerned about quality of life,” he says, “and that is what South Lakeland has to offer at a price that surprises many peo-ple moving into the area.

“We have excellent road and rail links, and the work to deliver superfast broad-band to homes and 4G for mobiles will significantly improve the ability for peo-ple to stay connected wherever they are working. With the investment coming into Cumbria there is a fantastic oppor-tunity for the county to make its mark as a place where more people can both live and run successful businesses.

“The new homes market is tough, but at Oakmere we have invested heavily in fantastic designs and great locations. We are experiencing great growth and cre-ating new jobs within the company and for our growing base of consultants and contractors.”

Homes designed toopen the door to ahigh quality of life

The entrance to the planned new development at Strawberry Fields in Kendal

One of the new four-bedroom homes created by Oakmere

Chris Middlebrook: Cumbrian roots

The new homes market is tough but we have investedheavily

Business Insight

Go-to power

The business magnetismof South Lakeland is nosurprise if you know thearea, says Richard Bond

An area known globally for its astounding natural beauty, South Lakeland is also home to a thriving and innovative business environment where

companies grow and prosper. Around 6,000 businesses are currently based in the region, many of which are micro-businesses and small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but South Lakeland also supports 80 companies which turn over more than £5 million per year.

Some of these larger firms are house-hold names – GSK, Siemens, Heinz, Lowe Alpine and Lakeland – but there are many other highly successful, if lesser-known, businesses such as Mardix, Gilbert Gilkes & Gordon, Houghtons and James Cropper plc, all of which are en-joying substantial growth both in the UK and around the world.

Recent figures show that South Lake-land is also one of the UK’s most active regions for start-ups. According to the latest BankSearch survey, a quarterly report based on business banking data supplied by the UK’s leading high street banks, in the period June to August 2014 over 185 new firms started up, an impres-sive average of 14 every week.

So what makes this mostly rural, pic-turesque and idyllic North West region such a hotbed of enterprise, commercial success and economic prosperity? Ac-cording to Lawrence Conway, chief exec-utive of South Lakeland District Council, a combination of factors adds up to an unrivalled package.

“For decades, South Lakeland has quite rightly been associated for its strong lei-sure, cultural and tourist offer,” Mr Con-way says, “and these sectors continue to enjoy excellent growth. However, run-ning parallel to our thriving service and hospitality industries, we have also en-joyed a massive expansion in a number of key sectors including high-end manufac-turing, creative and digital services and food and beverage production.

“The reason these and many other markets are prospering is, I believe, down to a mix of robust commercial infra-structure and an outstanding quality of life unlike any you can find elsewhere in the country. This attracts a certain type of company, entrepreneur and business leader who is seeking not only a great place to work or trade, but also a great place to live, explore and enjoy to the full.

“The enterprising spirit and energy of these types of people and organisations can really thrive in South Lakeland, and we have all the support and resources re-quired to help them maximise the unique opportunity we offer.”

The type of support Mr Conway refers to includes the Invest in South Lakeland initiative, a council-backed programme that seeks to encourage commercial and economic growth, promoting South Lakeland as a quality location for busi-ness and offering advice and support to firms wishing to develop their business in the district.

It also hosts regular business semi-nars, specialist business and networking events, and runs a dedicated business to business website, www.investinsouth-lakeland.co.uk, aimed both at existing firms and those considering relocation. The programme runs a sister website, www.exploresouthlakeland.co.uk, which showcases the very best of the South Lakeland culture, lifestyle and entertain-ment.

Lawrence Conway and the Invest in South Lakeland team are not just waiting for companies to stumble over the com-mercial advantages of setting up in South Lakeland, however – they are proactively taking their message directly to develop-ers, investors and firms from across the country.

This was demonstrated recently by the presence of Invest in South Lakeland at

Rural and vital… That’s the real beauty of it

MIPIM UK, the country’s largest-ever property trade expo, held at London’s Olympia in mid-October. MIPIM at-tracted over 3,000 attendees, many of them key decision-makers from major corporations, property developers and investment firms.

South Lakeland took the opportunity offered by MIPIM to deliver a very bull-ish and compelling sales pitch to the business community about the unique opportunity that the region offers. This included promoting some 60 hectares of new employment land currently be-ing developed across the district; the rapid roll-out of both fixed and wireless high-speed broadband; the increasing proliferation of 3G and 4G connectivity in areas previously designated as mobile blackspots; the area’s excellent rail and road transport links and its proximity to the North’s major urban hubs; and the region’s wealth of highly skilled, well-educated and entrepreneurial workers seeking local opportunities.

According to Michael Keane, assistant director for strategic planning at South Lakeland District Council, the reaction to South Lakeland’s attendance was very encouraging. “This was our first-ever MIPIM event and over three very hec-tic days the response was overwhelm-ingly positive,” Mr Keane says. “We had hundreds of conversations and meet-ings with developers, investors, property agents and big companies who all want-

ed to hear about what South Lakeland had to offer beyond just an iconic land-scape, a renowned tourism industry and a robust rural economy.

“What really came through during these discussions was that many inves-tors and businesses didn’t instinctively equate South Lakeland with develop-ment opportunities, nor did they ap-preciate how proactive the council has been to drive investment, create jobs and build 1,000 new homes across the district via its Local Plan.

“This, combined with the unrivalled quality of life we were promoting, meant we could make a powerful argument for investment based on the fact that in South Lakeland you really can have it all.”

For South Lakeland’s Invest team, MIPIM was just the beginning of a series of initiatives and campaigns planned over the next 12 months and de-signed to press home the message that South Lakeland is pro-growth, pro-jobs and pro-business.

With the swathes of land being freed up for commercial development, the rapidly improving digital and physical connectivity, the continuing success of existing firms both big and small and the stunning backdrop of the Lake District, you get the impression that South Lake-land is on the cusp of a fantastic future. �� To find out more, visit www.investin-southlakeland.co.uk

Invest in South Lakeland – the strong message that went out at London’s property trade expo (above right)

They all wanted to hear what wehad to offer beyond the iconiclandscape

Business Insight

Electronics

In 1950, John Houghton was a young family man, working long and hard in his one-man business as a craftsman joiner, wheelwright and furniture designer. He saw in his mind’s eye how vehicle bodies could be much

improved through innovative design and better construction methods, and decided to re-focus his energies into this new and expanding mar-ket.

Through determination, endurance and expertise, Mr Houghton founded, along with his wife Bertha, Houghton Parkhouse Ltd. He worked in the barn next to his house in in Milnthorpe, South Lakeland, producing jig systems to production times which allowed him to employ unskilled labour.

At first he worked in timber and steel, retraining as necessary to keep up to date with manufacturing skills and improving productivity, although not to the detriment of quality. From these humble beginnings Houghton Parkhouse was founded and continues to thrive, re-invest-ing in the original principles of its founder.

Today, Houghton Parkhouse is renowned for award-winning designs and fabrication of multi-deck livestock transporters and trailers for the professional hauliers and farming communities in the UK and the EU. Development of their Milnthorpe site, with land acquired from Dallam Tower estate, has helped to make this possible.

John Houghton’s son, Michael, a design engi-neer, took over the company in 1986, and within the past five years his two sons, Steven and David, designers in their own right, have joined the family business. Both had first studied and worked in the UK and aboard to gain a wider knowledge of product design and development, before bringing their experiences and expertise back to Houghton Parkhouse.

Animal welfare and operator safety are prominent in the features within a Houghton Parkhouse livestock transporter, and through the innovative design, research and product development Houghton Parkhouse has pos-sibly done more than anyone for the welfare of livestock during transportation.

The company previously achieved the highest acclaim in its industry through being awarded the coveted Commercial Trailer of the Year award.

“The award was a massive boost for eve-ryone who has been part of the Houghton Parkhouse story, including our clients,” Michael Houghton says. “It was a reward for the extensive research and product develop-ment that led to the creation of an exception-al new multi-deck transporter. The product

was also awarded the best commercial trailer manufactured in the UK.”

In the past year, Parkhouse Houghton has won several awards for its latest patented livestock transporter, the Platinum, which is proving to be a winner not only with profes-sional hauliers but also with the farming community. It gives them an automatic lifting deck trailer for their 4x4 vehicles along with the possibility of automatic ventilating and multi-deck possibilities, saving time and offer-ing the best animal welfare during transporta-tion.

This latest award-winning innovation has already had seven repeat orders by one com-mercial client. This gives the company belief that it is understanding client requirements by putting a product into the marketplace that is needed and offers clients a return for their investment.

Houghton Parkhouse employs a dedicated workforce of 50 full-time staff including specialist design engineers, skilled welders, metal fabricators and electricians, many of whom live in South Lakeland. Training is an important aspect of the company philosophy, with in-house training being combined with expertise from local colleges. Several appren-tices are taken on each year to complete their training while working closely with the colleg-es, and several Houghton Parkhouse students have won student of the year awards.

“At Houghton Parkhouse we must never forget where our future lies, which is not only the products we must design and manufacture to the highest of standards possible for the industry it serves,” Michael Houghton says. “But it is vital we understand and never forget the clients’ high expectations of us and their

requirement for a quality of service that is second to none.”

Production figures continue to be impres-sive, a combination of bespoke commissions and award-winning designs from the constantly evolving product range. With over 3,000 parts manufactured, the livestock transporters and farm trailers are 100 per cent Cumbrian pro-ducts, with every stage of their design, manu-facture and construction taking place in South Lakeland – thus proving that the area is a leader in bespoke vehicle manufacturing within the UK.

John Houghton remains very much part of the company he established, as he takes time to visit the factory in Milnthorpe. At the grand age of 90 he is still casting an eye over the latest designs, content in the knowledge that his son and grandsons are working together to keep the business on the right track for future develop-ments.�� For more information, contact Pam Houghton on 015395 63347 or at sales@houghtons.com

Award-winning transporters

Redefining transportation for livestock

Three generations of expertise and experience

Marl is proud to present the new SMT (surface mount technology) centre. Marl’s SMT and LED assembly facil-ity now has the capacity to

process 80,000 components per hour and is ideally suited to competitively support-ing professional luminaire manufacturers who specialise in producing interior and exterior lighting.

At the heart of this project are three high-speed component placers – the ultimate super-flexible multi-purpose SMT machines. These are coupled with custom-designed loader and conveyor systems and three multi-stage convection reflow ovens. The project involves instal-lation of all existing and new SMT lines in a climatically controlled environment, including dedicated storage and materials handling area.

Marl International has been based in the attractive market and festival town of Ulverston, nestling on the south-western fringe of the Lake District, since the company was

formed in 1973. Acknowledged as one the pio-neers of the LED (light-emitting diode) industry, Marl has always been regarded as a brand associ-ated with high quality, achieved by creating hun-dreds of innovative solutions for a diverse range of industries over the years.

As everyone can see, LED efficiency and per-formance has increased and the applications have evolved from indication to illumination. For Marl, this has included no fewer than five world firsts:�� 1982 – Surface mount LED.�� 1995 – An integrated flashing LED for the CD case of Pink Floyd’s Pulse album.�� 2000 – A unique colour-change LED sign sys-tem to assist the launch of H3G for Hutchison Telecoms.�� 2001 – Conversion to LED light sources for the London Underground signalling network.�� 2009 – Internationally acclaimed intelligent LED lighting system for railway carriages with automatic dimming feature to maximise power saving.

Speed and flexibilityMarl has unique access to some of the best solid state lighting and electronics technology in the world and can process 80,000 components per hour. Customers return to Marl for world-class in-house design and manufacturing facilities, combined with agility, speed, flexibility and a

willingness to respond to both needs and ex-pectations as their projects evolve and ma-ture through the entire product life cycle. Marl has the capabil-

ity to design and produce a working prototype within a few days, in some cases within 24 working hours.So what does the future hold?With in-house electronics design capability, Marl is now actively seeking opportunities to design and manufacture integrated electronics systems (ruggedised and integrating LEDs are easy vari-ables to accommodate) throughout the UK and especially for original equipment manufacturers based within Cumbria and the North West.

“Our lighting and electronics industry clients are looking for the best technology for their ap-plications,” says Marl managing director Adrian Rawlinson, “with fast response, consistent high quality and support they can rely on, at a cost which maintains their own competitive advan-tage.”

The Lakes are alive –with a light fantastic

Marl unveils its new SMT centre

The LED burning process in Marl’s production suite

A completed LED printed circuit board (PCB)

Placer machinery in action at the Marl SMT centre

Business Insight

Environment

The natural and cultural environment of South Lakeland not only sustains a vi-brant visitor economy but is also a tre-mendous asset to businesses in other sectors of the economy, whose employ-

ees can appreciate the quality of life that the area is able to offer. The Lake District is one of the most attractive landscapes in the country, and is understandably one of the top destinations for both domestic and international visitors.

According to the latest research published by Cumbria Tourism, the value of the visitor econ-omy to Cumbria in 2013 was £2.2 billion and the value to the South Lakeland district alone was in excess of £1bn. The area offers world-class visitor experiences in the attractions and hospitality sec-tors.

South Lakeland is home to Winander Leisure Limited, which operates established businesses such as Windermere Lake Cruises. This, accord-ing to the Visit England visitor attractions survey for 2013, was ranked as the sixth most popular paid-for visitor attraction in England. There are also other smaller specialist attractions such as the Lakeland Motor Museum, which recently moved to its new home near the southern end of Windermere.

The area offers a wide range of accommodation and dining options, and investment in improving the quality of the hospitality sector is shown by Michelin-starred restaurants and award-winning hotels and guest houses. The Lake District is firm-ly established as a year-round destination, and

this enables employers to increase the availability of permanent full-time employment and to invest in employee training and development. In total, Winander Leisure – which operates every day of the year apart from Christmas Day – employs an average of more than 150 people and is a signifi-cant employer in the heart of the Lake District.

“South Lakeland has some of the best attrac-tions and accommodation in the country,” says Bill Bewley, chairman of Winander Leisure. “Our role is to operate sustainable attractions and to provide a public transport link between attrac-tions, accommodation and visitor-arrival points,

to enable both visitors and residents to make their journey one of the highlights of their day out.”

The visitor economy and agricultural sec-tors are vital components of the South Lakeland economy, and because of their links to the natural landscape operators have a strong commitment to sustainability. Sustainable operations include buy-ing, wherever possible, local products and servic-es, which in turn helps to support the diversified South Lakeland economy.

South Lakeland continues to be successful in attracting inward investment, and the tourism sector plays a vital role in making the area such a great place in which to live, work and explore.

Having the natural landscape of two National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in such close proximity enhances the quality of life for everyone living in, working in and visiting the area. Organisations such as Windermere Lake Cruises, the Lakeland Motor Museum and Cum-bria Tourism operate discount schemes to enable those permanently resident in the area to derive maximum benefit from the tourism offer on their doorstep.

“South Lakeland is a great place in which to do business,” says Nigel Wilkinson, managing direc-tor of Winander Leisure. “If you haven’t visited the Lake District, it is one of life’s must-do expe-riences. The spectacular landscape and cultural heritage not only makes the Lake District a great attraction for domestic and international visitors alike, but the quality of life for those living in the area is superb.

“Our office looks over Windermere to the mountains beyond and we must have one of the finest views in the country. It is something that you can never take for granted. How lucky are we?”�� Find out more at www.windermere-lakecruises.co.uk and www.lakelandmotormuseum.co.uk

BEST WESTERN PLUS Castle Green Hotel in Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 6RG

www.castlegreen.co.uk sales@castlegreen.co.ukTel: 01539 734000

Kendal’s only 4 star Hotel, independent and family run with a keen eye for detail and quality of service which has led to two awards in 2014 - Cumbria Tourism Large Hotel of the Year & Hotel Restaurant of the Year – Food Awards England & Wales Business led facilities with:• EasyaccessfromM6motorway

• DedicatedConferenceCentrewithprivateloungeandhostsalwaysonhand

• Eightconferenceroomsseating2–300delegateswithairconditioningandnaturaldaylight

• Complimentarywifi,carparkingandequipment

So how lucky are we?

Two of the big attractions: Windermere Lake Cruises and the Lakeland Motor Museum

Business Insight

Culture

The Lake District has long been known for its beautiful landscape – its striking mountains and pic-turesque lakes attract people from all over the world in their

droves. But the Lake District also has a creative spirit that puts it in its own class. From international films shown halfway up mountains, to rock bands in deer parks and sculptures high on the fells, there are more than 50 cultural assets in the area that are sure to fill a lifetime of visits.

Now, thanks to a funding grant from Arts Council England and Visit England, a new project – Lakes Culture – will show-case the rich creative life that exists in this inspiring landscape.

The project aims to bring together the area’s tourism and cultural sectors to bet-ter promote the wealth of cultural activities on offer and to tap into the £500 million of inbound visitor spending on cultural at-tractions and events. As one of ten places in the country to benefit from Arts Council England’s Cultural Destinations initiative, it is hoped that Lakes Culture will make the area the UK’s leading rural cultural desti-nation.

This aspiration is endorsed by the Gov-ernment’s recommendation that the Lake District go forward as the UK’s nomination for World Heritage status in 2016. The bid is seeking inscription under the cultural landscape category.

Lakes Culture, a partnership of the Lake District’s leading cultural and tourism or-ganisations, will also provide tools and ini-

tiatives for the tourism and cultural indus-tries, sponsorship money for innovative arts projects, as well as funding national mar-keting campaigns and social media activity.

Inspiring Lake District – theoriginal cultural destination

Art is everywhere to behold – in open spaces, as at Abbot Hall Gallery (above), outside the Kendal town halls (left) and at the Brewery Arts Centre (above right)

Project manager Usha Mistry says this will help drive the growth and sustaina-bility of the visitor and cultural economy. She adds: “The Lake District, it could be argued, was the UK’s first cultural desti-nation, a landscape that inspired some of the world’s greatest artists and thinkers: William Wordsworth, John Ruskin and Beatrix Potter. The area has been attract-ing tourists for more than 200 years, and with an ever-growing global tourist offer we need to ensure that the wealth of our cultural offer in Cumbria is heard.”

In 2012, the Lake District received 38 million visitors and brought in £2.1 billion to the regional economy. Tourism pro-

vides employment for over 53,000 people in Cumbria. It is an industry crucial to the local economy and culture adds another string to the bow of the area’s tourism offer, alongside the obvious incredible scenery but also the ever-popular local food and drink market.

Market trends show that people are increasingly looking for authentic experi-ences with a strong sense of place, rather than passive sightseeing. They want to be engaged and stimulated emotionally and intellectually, and to seek out what is special and different about a place. The Lakes Culture project is primed to deliver this for the Lake District.�� For more information, visit www.go-lakes.co.uk/culture