Lancashire Growth Hub Pulse year in review

25 Lancashire business trends that caught my eye in ‘25

Written by Andrew Leeming, programme manager, at Boost; Lancashire’s Business Growth Hub

Over the past 12 months, we have published the monthly Lancashire Growth Hub Pulse, which is a distillation of Boost’s intelligence gathering work with the county’s business support providers, private sector leaders, trade bodies and local authorities.

Alongside our 40 UK Growth Hub partners, these insights are compiled into a national report shared with government to help shape future business support policy. 

In this special edition, I look back on 2025 to highlight 25 Lancashire business trends that caught my eye in what has been another eventful 12 months for our brilliant county. 

1. Consistent patterns emerging 

Individually, each month felt noisy and unsettled. Collectively, they revealed consistent patterns; businesses adjusting behaviour rather than retreating, resetting expectations and planning for uncertainty as the norm, rather than the exception. 

2. Resilience as a requirement  

Resilience was no longer classed as a strength or ambition. It became a baseline requirement. Businesses learned to absorb shocks, plan for volatility and operate during states of flux without expecting a quick return to stability. 

3. Most businesses were busy but cautious

Activity levels often remained high, yet margins, confidence and headroom were tight. Many firms described themselves as busy but cautious, balancing delivery with underlying confidence, cashflow and workforce strain.  

4. Rising employment costs changed the maths for many firms

National Insurance increases and rising employment overheads forced difficult recalculations. Planned investments were shelved, recruitment plans were deferred and productivity improvements replaced headcount growth. 

5. Cash flow dominating management team conversations

Across SMEs, protecting cash took precedence over growth. Investment decisions were slowed, borrowing was approached cautiously, and resilience planning became central to financial strategy. For many businesses, late payment represented a consistent risk and hurdle to short and long-term confidence. 

6. Capability largely held firm

Despite periods of uncertainty, Lancashire businesses did not lose their ability to deliver and excel. Businesses focussed on staff, customer relationships and operational excellence – their core foundations.  

7. Aerospace and defence provided consistency 

Aerospace and defence-linked businesses benefited from stable pipelines and strategic demand. Growth opportunities were real, although at times constrained by shortages of specialist skills. 

8. Automotive saw off an unsettled year of challenges

Traffic shocks, EV transition pressures, cyber attacks and global uncertainly combined to create volatility across the automotive supply chain, testing resilience at every tier. 

9. Specialist manufacturing standing out

Advanced, niche and high-value manufacturers continued to perform well. Others, particularly exposed to energy costs and supply chain issues, faced tougher trading conditions and delayed investment. 

10. Retail and hospitality turning a corner in some places

Structural challenges continue to persist, especially around employment and tax, but across Lancashire new regeneration projects have created pockets of optimism, footfall and local confidence. 

11. Skills shortage stopped being a future risk but a daily constant 

Engineering, manufacturing, digital and supervisory roles provided hardest to fill. Skills gaps, increasingly limited capacity and growth potential. 

12. Keeping good people mattered more than finding new ones 

Retention strategies evolved. Flexible working, knowledge capture from retiring staff, returner schemes and remuneration investments all featured as businesses focussed on stability. 

13. More owners started thinking seriously about succession and exit

Exit planning, succession and ownership transition gained momentum, driven by demographic change, market consolidation and a desire to secure long-term continuity.

14. Lancashire is a digital investment hotspot

Digital adoption became a reality and not an ambition. CRM systems, ERP upgrades, workflow automation and data visibility delivered tangible productivity improvements. 

15. AI shifted from interesting to impactful

AI tools moved from experimentation to application, particularly in diagnostics, design, customer engagement, marketing and internal efficiency, with a growing focus on improved productivity and profitability.

16. AI and automation increasingly replaced recruitment as the growth lever

In response to skills shortages and rising costs, many businesses invested in automation and AI rather than expanding headcount, reshaping how growth was achieved.

17. Global policies landed close to home 

US tariffs and geopolitical instability rippled quickly through Lancashire supply chains, affecting firms regardless of whether they traded directly overseas.  

18. Exporters grew more deliberate, diversified and prepared

Export-active firms professionalised their approach, diversifying markets, strengthening compliance, and making better use of export finance and planning tools. 

19. ESG moved from nice to have to ‘you won’t win the contract without it’

For many suppliers, ESG compliance became a prerequisite rather than a differentiator, particularly in aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing supply chains. 

20. Regeneration lifting confidence

Across the county, we saw place-based investment in many areas including Preston, Burnley, Skelmersdale and Blackpool, boosting local confidence and commercial activity.   

21. Investment putting Lancashire on the map 

GVS Filters’ £19.7m expansion, BAE Systems’ Typhoon deal, Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s new £8.7m rise and Lancaster University’s £2m simulator grabbed the headlines and showed investment intent is still there. 

22. Scaling tech 

Bilbeam advanced its AI-powered receipts platform, AIRehab expanded intro NHS Scotland and the US, and AWS-hosted events in Burnley boosted confidence in Lancashire’s tech capability. 

23. Net zero heroes   

Crow Wood Hotel installed over 2,200 solar panels, Lancaster University advanced commercial-scale biogas and anaerobic digestion performance, and The Wellbeing Farm received a national award for its work. 

24. Lancashire making national headlines  

Preston-based insurer Chesnara plc flew the flag for Lancashire with its £260 million acquisition of HSBC Life (UK). The deal is expected to significantly increase Chesnara’s scale, boost cash flows and potentially position it for inclusion in the FTSE 250.

25. Lancashire kept its character  

2025 was not without warmth or personality: revived bakers, cyber-savvy students, solar-powered hotels, national awards, therapy dogs on TV, and bronze penguins anchoring new leisure spaces. These moments mattered. They reminded us that business is human as well as financial. 

What will 26 bring? 

Our businesses were forced to adapt in 2025. They are now looking to advance in 2026. Productivity will matter more than expansion. Businesses that invest selectively in skills, digital capability and process improvement will be best placed to grow. Export risk planning will move from specialist activity to standard practice. ESG readiness will be vital rather than virtue signalling. 

Above all, focus will be rewarded. Lancashire firms have shown they can operate under pressure. The opportunity in 2026, is to turn that hard-won resilience into sustained confidence, competitiveness and growth. 

Partnership, as ever, will be central to that journey. 

Good luck for 2026.

Andrew

www.boostbusinesslancashire.co.uk