Blackpool had a standout year and 2025 is shaping up to be even better
We saw major progress of key schemes involved in Blackpool’s £2bn+ Growth and Prosperity Programme and spoke to some fantastic local businesses driving the change. We’ll take you through what we’ve achieved this year and give you a sneak peek of what you can expect in the next.
The Holiday Inn Blackpool opened its doors
As part of the £350m Talbot Gateway regeneration, the Holiday Inn Blackpool welcomed its first guests.
The 144-room 4* hotel is placed next to the brand new tramway extension which also opened this year.
Guests can also enjoy dining at Marco’s New York Italian restaurant, business conferencing facilities and a fitness centre. Since opening, the hotel has welcomed around 40,000 guests and employs around 70 local people.
Retail units at Station View underneath the hotel and around the new tram stop are also available.
Blackpool’s new tramway extension
A £23.42m investment into Blackpool’s tramway extension brought a new transport connection for the town centre.
The new 600 metre track extension connects the Promenade tramway to a new tram stop by Blackpool North train station. The extension and new tram stop opened in June and now offer an extended commuting route for local workers as well as tourists.
Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone
The Enterprise Zone is fast becoming one of the North West’s premier business destinations, with over 250 different businesses and 4,000 local workers calling the Enterprise Zone home.
Work to expand the business park began this year with the construction of a second access road . The new road will open in 2025 and create up to 10.5 hectares of new commercial land allowing for industrial units ranging up to 75,000 sq ft.
Commercial plots are set to be available from summer 2025 as a design and build, joint venture or direct long leasehold sale.
The Enterprise Zone will also be home to the highly anticipated Silicon Sands.
Silicon Sands
The master plan for Silicon Sands was launched in May.
Silicon Sands is Blackpool’s answer to the future of data centres. Across a 40-acre site north of Blackpool Airport, Silicon Sands will be a carbon-friendly, digital-led campus for high performance companies.
Anchored around a series of green data centres powered by renewable energy, the new site will allow for businesses to have access to a colocation data site. Silicon Sands is located alongside the landing point for the Celtix-Connect2 internet cable, which transports up to one third of the world’s internet traffic between Blackpool and New York in less than 64 milliseconds.
Championing the use of renewable energy is a key focus of the centre – for example, it will make use of liquid immersion cooling technologies and redirecting waste heat to re-heat nearby businesses.
Stay tuned to find out more about the renewable data centre and its progress in 2025.
Blackpool premiered the future of film with The Backlot Cinema and Diner
Located in the new Houndshill Shopping Centre extension, it was lights, camera, action for the state of the art Backlot Cinema and Diner this March.
The multiplex is home to the only IMAX® screen in Lancashire and one of the largest in the North West! It’s also fitted out with ultramodern technology for live gaming events and corporate conferences.
And as a perfect pairing for the big screen, The Backlot’s 100-seater diner serves a range of food, including American-style thick pancakes, indulgent sundaes and thick milkshakes, so there’s always something for everyone.
The construction of the Backlot has been credited with positive local impact, creating £6m of social value by sourcing local staff and subcontractors and supporting apprenticeship schemes.
Progress for the Department of Work and Pensions new home
The £100m, 215,000 sq ft building taking shape in Blackpool town centre and a key part of the Talbot Gateway development will be the new home for over 3,000 civil servants early this year.
The seven-storey building is being delivered by Blackpool Council, alongside nationwide placemaker, Muse, and main contractor VINCI Construction.
It’s phase three of Blackpool’s £350m Talbot Gateway regeneration, which is bringing over 8,000 professional workers and students into the area in the coming years.
Showtime for Showtown
The first ever museum in Blackpool opened in March. It exhibits the fantastic stories of the UK’s first mass seaside resort and its immeasurable role in the rise of British popular entertainment.
The V&A has been working in collaboration with Blackpool Council for nearly ten years to bring this dream to life with a commitment to ensuring the V&A’s collections are accessible to audiences in and around Blackpool.
Showtown is part of the wider £2bn+ regeneration programme, providing new jobs and boosting the visitor economy.
Stanley Buildings renovation began
The £7.5m Stanley Buildings renovation project will rejuvenate the space and turn it into a new and modern business hub for the town.
The historic 1930’s art deco building will be converted into over 40 offices and state-of-the-art meeting facilities on the higher floors. It will also contain a significant amount of co-working space on the ground floor, offering flexible and dedicated hot desks and member benefits.
UKREiiF 2024
We attended the UKs Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) for the third time and it was another major success with over 13,000 delegates.
We spoke to 1000s of delegates over the three-day conference, spreading the word of all the change happening in Blackpool and still to come.
We hosted our very own invitation-only fringe event about Silicon Sands and key members of Blackpool Council appeared on various panels. And it wouldn’t be a Blackpool exhibition without our taste of Blackpool sessions bringing local food and drink to attendees!
Final Multiversity plans submitted
The final plans for a new, state of the art town centre campus for Blackpool and The Fylde College were submitted.
The 115,000 sq ft building would consist of five floors of education space and provide over 70 individual courses. The building itself would also be carbon neutral, with solar panels on the roof and heated by sustainable air source heat pumps.
With the Council having already acquired c 60% of the site we are now awaiting confirmation of a compulsory purchase order following a public inquiry in November and December, a decision on which is anticipated in January
If approved, the campus will bring up to 3,000 students into Blackpool town centre, increasing footfall and boosting the local economy.
The Multiversity is phase four of the £350m Talbot Gateway regeneration plans.
Blackpool-based businesses shared their stories
We spoke to a number of Blackpool-based businesses this year who are operating at the forefront of their industries. It was great to learn more about their growth, local workforce, work with the Council and why they love working in Blackpool. We spoke to:
– Abingdon Street Market: watch as we go behind the scenes of the famous market with Jake Whittington.
– Gilberts Blackpool: learn more about the Blackpool-founded manufacturing company.
– Invibio: read about the success of the high-performance biomaterial company and life on Hillhouse Enterprise Zone.
– Simpsons Beverages : we spoke to leading drink manufacturers about the science, art and innovation of flavours.
– Tandem Bank: hear from Alex Mollart about the neobank and take a tour of Enterprise Zone offices.
Awards and successes
2024 has been a year of big numbers and big successes.
– More than 80,000 trips were made on Blackpool’s £23m new tramway extension in the first two months alone since its launch.
– In just the first six months of the Holiday Inn, they welcomed 35,000 guests from around the world, sold over 20,000 rooms.
– 22 businesses on the Fylde coast were named in the latest Lancashire Business View magazine’s Hot 100.
– Blackpool was ranked 7th most entrepreneurial in the country by a recent survey.
– Blackpool Council and New River were awarded the Public/Private Partnership Award by Estate Gazette for our work bringing Phase Two of the £20m Houndshill scheme to fruition.
Telling our story
We also brought the story of Blackpool to a range of events around the country.
We sponsored the Lancashire Development Update 2024 in association with Place North West. Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, shared the vision for Blackpool and all that’s being done to achieve it.
We attended North West Emerging Development Hotspots 2024 where Nick Gerrard, Growth and Prosperity Director at Blackpool Council, spoke on the panel about Blackpool’s transformation story and exciting plans.
Insider’s Shaping Industrial Property lunch event also took place – this event explored the future of industrial property in the region, hearing from investors, developers, occupiers and local councils about the opportunities in the sector. We got to share all about Silicon Sands and how it aims to solve key challenges facing the industrial property sector.
What can you look forward to in 2025?
Where you can find us
We’ll be sponsoring Lancashire Development Update 2025 in February. This will be the first development-focused Place North West event next year and will have senior figures from across the country discuss the big questions facing Lancashire. Nick Gerrard will also be sharing more about Silicon Sands at the event.
We’ll be attending UKREiiF for the fourth year in a row! You can find us at an even bigger stand, ready to talk to more of you about Blackpool. We’ll also be bringing the pride of Lancashire to the conference by partnering with Wyre and Fylde Councils this time around!
We’re also joining media publication Place North’s delegation of northern towns and businesses at MIPIM, sharing the common goal of promoting the area as a destination for future investment. The Blackpool delegation will aim to promote the town as a whole, as well as promoting major development opportunities at Blackpool Central and Silicon Sands on Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone.
Scheme developments
A number of developments in Blackpool will take on their final shape or make major progress:
– The new home for the DWP will be opening in spring.
– Construction for a new office, security and small terminal building at Blackpool Airport is expected to commence in early 2025.
– Work on developing Silicon Sands will begin as the land for a data centre the site will be prepared.
– Construction of a new office bringing 1,000 new workers into the Talbot Gateway is expected to start, while it’s hoped work on the Multiversity campus will also begin in 2025.
It’s been a fantastic year of great news and successful events in the town. We can’t wait to see what 2025 will bring!
If you’d like to learn more about what’s to come and opportunities to be a part of it, contact us here.
