Pendle Vision Board

This is Pendle

Pendle has a fascinating story to tell. It is home to many world class companies, offers a great quality of life and good quality housing. It is home to one of the country’s top performing colleges.

The Pendle Vision Board has supported the development of a new film showcasing Pendle as a great place to live, to work and to do business.

Vision Board video transcript

This is Pendle. Pendle, named after the legendary Pendle Hill, has a strong story to tell. Our amazing industrial heritage is not just something of the past. Our world class companies continue to innovate, shape the future and grow. In the 1940s we developed the jet engine, and we’re still renowned globally for advanced manufacturing and aerospace engineering today. Many of our mills which once clattered to the beat of looms and spindles have been replaced by the latest tools. But – if you look closely – you will still find industry leading weavers producing world class products. Our skilled people craft award-winning, globally recognised brands, producing champion bikes, biscuits, fabrics, food, beds and buildings. And of course, we supply the world’s most prestigious stores.

This is Pendle. We’re well connected locally, nationally and globally by road, rail and plane. Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds airports are just 60 minutes away. We are big on ambition and opportunity. We’re proud of our schools and outstanding college which give the skills to tomorrow’s workforce, and where friends are made for life. Above the rooftops of houses and industry, moors unfold beyond the horizon. Pendle is lush rolling countryside, bustling towns and pretty villages, with plenty of heritage thrown in along the way. We’re as famous for our people as our businesses which call Pendle home. Our stories take you on amazing journeys to discover what makes it special.

Bridleways and ancient trails take you off road to largely undiscovered countryside, for all to enjoy.

This is Pendle. A place where you’ll always get a warm welcome. And we have great places to eat.

This is Pendle. The place to live, to work, to do business, to study and to visit.

Pendle is the place to be.

What is the Pendle Vision Board?

Key employers and private sector businesses have come together to ensure a very bright future for Pendle.

High-tech manufacturers join leaders of retail and service industries, and managers from the NHS and other public agencies, to offer their expertise to us.

Pendle Vision Board speak up for the private sector by:

  • advising us on long-term economic development
  • lobbying for funds
  • promoting the Pendle Advantage: a great place to live, work and play

The Board's three strategic priorities are to:

  • assist with regeneration of Nelson town centre
  • develop key strategic employment sites
  • promote business support initiatives

An interview with the Chairman, Dennis Mendoros

Dennis Mendoros Interview transcript

Interviewer: Key employers and private sector businesses have come together to ensure a very bright future for Pendle. The Pendle Vision Board aims to promote the economic well-being of the Borough and its surrounding areas. I went to meet the Board Chairman, Dennis Mendoros.

So, Dennis, tell me what the Pendle Vision is, and what your role is within it.

Dennis Mendoros: I’m the Chairman of the Pendle Vision Board, and the Pendle Vision is a group of very successful business people. People that run their own businesses, people that are managing huge PLCs, people that understand business. We actually got together in order to offer one voice which actually represents the interests of the private sector in Pendle.

Interviewer: And what is the aim of the Board? What was it set up for?

Dennis Mendoros: The Board has an aim to ensure that we actually continue the funding stream that we have achieved over the last 14 years. During the Pendle Partnership period from 1994 to 2004 we were successfully in securing over £180 million pounds of investment for Pendle. This is quite an impressive result. Over the last few years we have seen a decline of funding available to our region and we are very concerned that this will affect the economic regeneration of Pendle and the wider area of East Lancashire. So we are actually intending to address this issue and ensure that we bring new funding. We have a target of over £150 million for the foreseeable future.

Interviewer: And when you’re raising the money, and obviously the money you’re about to raise, where does it go to?

Dennis Mendoros: It’s actually spent in a lot of different initiatives   mainly business support, because we believe that if you get the business right then you secure existing employment and at the same time you create new business opportunities and new jobs for the region. The second thing is obviously we need to encourage and support continuous training, skill enhancement, making sure that our workforce is able actually to acquire the new technology that the businesses need in order to maintain the competitive edge.

Interviewer: There’s a really impressive range of businesses within the area isn’t there?

Dennis Mendoros: Indeed. Pendle is the melting pot of manufacturing for the United Kingdom. You’re going to see companies that are involved in aerospace, in textiles, in printing, in food manufacture (biscuits), development of huge programmes, building companies, all of us, we’re actually contributing substantially in the economy not of Pendle, not only of East Lancashire, but actually of the North West.

Interviewer: And where is the board taking their vision over the next few years?

Dennis Mendoros: Our single objective is to ensure that the quality of life of Pendle is actually enhanced. We want to make it a place where people will enjoy living, will attract the right calibre of people, will ensure that people that have been trained and they finish education in other parts of the UK will find it attractive to come and stay and build their families and build their businesses in this part of the world.

Companies Register 

Pendle's Companies Register provides an alphabetical listing of companies, giving addresses, contact details, activity description and an indication of the number of people they employ.