Enterprise4All

On Wednesday 25th March, leading Lancashire figures gathered at Northcote Manor as part of a senior executives’ working lunch hosted by Enterprise4All.

The event brought together senior local authority executives, policy makers and some of Lancashire’s most influential business leaders and social enterprise specialists, and was designed to facilitate a dialogue about the ways in which the private, public and voluntary sectors can work together to improve the social and economic landscape of Lancashire.

Sir Bill Taylor delivered the welcome address and introductions, which were followed by a key note speech by Lord Mawson OBE. After the presentations, guests were able to have an informal round table discussion with the independent peer, who is renowned for his 25 years of regeneration work in Tower Hamlets and who is Founder and President of the Bromley by Bow Centre in East London.

This was the first of series of informal, strategic meetings that Enterprise4All has planned for the coming year and it was well attended by senior representatives of public authorities, educational institutions, healthcare organisations and charities. Amongst the honoured guests were the Mayor of Blackburn, Councillor Mohammed Khan OBE; Doug Garrett, Chief Executive of ReBlackpool; and Andrew Lightfoot, Deputy Chief Executive of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.

In his speech, Lord Andrew Mawson emphasised the need for personal involvement in the community and the importance of taking swift action. He urged the audience not to dwell too long on research, consultancy and procedures but to consider the detail of their initiatives, identifying the real barriers to change and taking immediate practical steps to overcome them.

The event provided a forum for many useful discussions between the attending agencies and Enterprise4All Chief Executive, Ilyas Munshi was delighted by the delegates’ feedback.

“This first working lunch has done exactly what we intended it to do,” he said. “I discussed the idea some months ago with my friend and colleague Sir Bill Taylor and we agreed that we wanted to create a platform where influential leaders could meet to discuss important sub-regional issues and share good-practice. There were some fascinating discussions going round the tables and there was a tangible sense of energy and enthusiasm, so the event really lived up to our expectations.

Sir Bill Taylor added “Lord Mawson’s presentation was exceptionally good and an inspiration to all of us. He certainly deserves his reputation for being the ‘Richard Branson’ of social enterprise, and we’re very grateful that he took the time to visit us to share his insights and experiences.”