BOOK NOW | Lancashire Development Update 2026

With devolution and local government reorganisation taking up so much of the public sector’s bandwidth, how can the private sector plot a course to delivery and profitability against an uncertain backdrop? Find out at Place North West’s annual Lancashire summit.

Place North West’s exploration of all things property and development in Lancashire will get under the skin of the county’s politics and ask how they are shaping regeneration projects, examine the specific geographical challenges developers and their supply chains are seeking to overcome, and shine a light on the big projects promising jobs and growth.

You will hear from political leaders, housebuilders, mixed-use regeneration specialists, and more at this half-day conference held in Blackpool.

This event is sponsored by Roma Finance, Blackpool Council, and Morgan Sindall Construction.

Tickets cost £90+VAT. There will be a mix of presentations and panels. Breakfast and lunch are included, providing plenty of opportunity for business development.

Specific venue details will be announced in due course.

What you will take away

• Understanding of how the public and private sectors are working together to deliver transformative change in Lancashire

• Insight into how the shifting political and governance landscapes are impacting development and delivery on the ground

• Updates on large projects like Silicon Sands and Eden Project Morecambe

• Analysis of the county’s residential opportunities and challenges from city centres to rural hinterlands

• Valuable contacts for your business

Speakers confirmed

Cllr Lynn Williams is Leader of Blackpool Council. From pioneering education campuses, to leisure schemes worth hundreds of millions, and a transformative approach to neighbourhood renewal, Williams boasts one of the most diverse regeneration pipelines of any North West council leader. She will update us on where those schemes are up to and what they hope to achieve.

Nick Mullins is co-founder of Axis-RE. Having recently acquired three acres in the centre of Lancaster, Axis-RE and joint venture partner Marco Living are drawing up plans for a truly mixed-use scheme featuring homes, entertainment venues, and a health facility. Mullins will share insight into the challenges of delivering this kind of development.

John Winstanley is managing director for strategic land at Story Homes. Housebuilders like Story Homes are alive to the opportunities around Grey Belt and the role it can play in plugging the gap when it comes to housing. Winstanley will explain how this is playing out in Lancashire and shine a light on how housebuilders are ensuring their developments provide quality as well as quantity.

Nick Gerrard is growth and prosperity programme director at Blackpool Council. He manages the growing places division within the local authority, holding responsibility for a range of projects vital to Blackpool’s future, including Talbot Gateway, Multiversity and Silicon Sands, a 50-acre campus project intended to host a raft of data centres at the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone.

James Scott is managing director of Maple Grove Developments. Active across Lancashire with a variety of schemes from leisure, workspace, and industrial, newly promoted Scott is well-placed to run the rule on which sectors are hot and which are not.

Chris Hayward is director of development and housing at Preston City Council. Armed with a 10-year regeneration strategy that features plans to redevelop land around the city’s train station and deliver on the promise of a 60-acre residential quarter, Preston presents one of the most intriguing investment and development opportunities in the region. Hayward will tell us more about the plans and how he expects them to become reality.