The Lancashire Festival of Business

Lancashire’s most anticipated business event of the year is back, and promises to be bigger and better than ever!

The Lancashire Festival of Business 2025 is your chance to connect, learn, and grow alongside the county’s leading businesses.

This year’s event is headline sponsored by Lancashire County Council is powered by a compelling mix of panel discussions, interviews, guest speakers, interactive masterclasses and networking opportunities. All designed to fuel business success and community collaboration in our thriving region.

We’ll also bring the best expertise, guidance, market intelligence and inspiration to the Festival from across Lancashire’s business support community and beyond.

Everything you need to grow, scale or start a business in the county will be on hand with two tracks to provide inspiration and learning at the heart of each.

The event will focus on the below with panels and masterclasses:

• Finance and funding
• Tech and AI

Masterclasses 

1) Resilience is the key to unlocking growth - Turnkey Corporate

Are you ready to take your business to the next level?In this engaging masterclass, Turnkey Corporate will share their expertise in:

• Proven strategies to drive business growth and scale effectively
• Leadership insights to inspire and empower your team for lasting success

And, at its heart, this session will show you how to prosper in an environment of flux and change by focusing on resilience.

We’ll investigate what ‘world class’ looks like and how to raise the bar in your business.

And with an eye on finance, operations, sales and strategy, we’ll share a ‘resilience top ten tricks and tips’ which will resonate for budding entrepreneurs and seasoned leaders.

2) Protect Yourself, Protect Your Business -  Napthens Group

Don’t just think the law and legal consultancy are about compliance – they are crucial to every step on a business journey from inception to growth and scaling and, ultimately, disposal.

This masterclass will draw together practical advice and actionable strategies that integrate legal considerations into business growth stories. 

In an interactive session, Richard Robinson, corporate partner at Napthens, and Chris King, legal director at AfterAthena, will  focus on:

• Real life stories of businesses that neglected their legal safeguards, the impact that had and the lessons they provide 
• Understanding how proactive legal strategies can empower scaling and protect assets
• Dispelling the myths, and focusing on collaboration and partnership. 

3) Get me in front of my prospects! -  The Sales Lady

Ever wondered why potential clients hesitate to take the next step with you?

In this packed session, we’ll ask:

• How do I get more opportunities to sell?
• How do I get more sales calls into the diary?
• What am I communicating – or not communicating – that is holding clients back?

And we’ll lay out a four stage strategy to unlock opportunities and show delegates how to fix and enhance the sales offer, commit to action points and stay on track.

You’ll leave the session with a stronger offer, a sense of direction an an understanding of how to manage yourself better.

4) Streamline your software for success, sanity and savings! - Matrix247

Are you overwhelmed by having to navigate and learn multiple software platforms in pursuit of business efficiency, communication, growth and innovation?

In this session we’ll identify and leverage assets you already have in your business and learn about the latest tools and capabilities available to gain a competitive advantage.

By the end of the masterclass, you’ll leave with:

•  A deeper understanding of the Microsoft 365’s portfolio of apps to enhance collaboration and communication, automation and AI, and security and management  that generate efficient and evolving operations
• Streamlining strategies to deliver cost savings across software and apps
• Ideas on adopting the latest tools to thrive in an increasingly competitive market and how to select the best approache to your tech stack - a crucial component of a robust infrastructure

The Festival

The Festival will provide a great vibe as we take over the venue with attendees free to roam each zone throughout the day. This will feature:

Main stage - the inspiration zone

Our main stage will feature keynotes speakers, panels and interviews with those who will share their stories of success. It will also feature the exhibition and networking area.

Masterclass stage – the learning zone

Throughout the day we there will be a handful of masterclasses happening which you can learn from and implement into your business from the get go. Topics covered are below.
Please note there are limited spaces on the masterclasses and they are not guaranteed with the ticket booking.

 Refreshment zone

Grab a drink or lunch with space to meet new contacts and take a moment out of the event to reflect.

Confirmed exhibitors:

• Bigtank
• Blackpool Council
• Burnley College
• Burnley Council
• Chamber Low Carbon
• Chorley Council
• D&M Creative
• Hyndburn Borough Council
• Innovate UK Business Growth
• Lancashire County Council
• Love to Brand
• Matrix247
• Napthens
• PM+M
• The Sales Lady
• Turnkey Corporate
• University of Central Lancashire

Why should I attend? 

• Directly engage with business leaders from across the county, including members of the new Lancashire business board. 
• Masterclasses and fireside chats: Learn from industry experts in specialised sessions designed to give you actionable takeaways.
• Business support hub: Discover the latest support programs, funding options, and expert advice to drive your business forward.
• Network and collaborate: Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or part of a growing company, this event is designed to help you make meaningful connections across the business spectrum.

The event will be reviewed in full in Lancashire Business View’s special supplement in our March/April edition and shared with our 50,000 readers in print and online.

Sponsorship

For sponsorship opportunities including exhibition options please contact Joanne Hindley on [email protected] or 07442 949697.

Tickets include full access to the festival and event programme including networking, exhibition, panels, interviews plus refreshments and lunch.

Please note the masterclasses are not guaranteed for every delegate as places are limited.