Lancashire County Council has hired across its tech and marketing teams, as it seeks to promote its place within the North West Cyber Corridor.
Next year, the National Cyber Force (NCF) will be opening its new base in Samlesbury; and the County Council is a member of the newly formed Lancashire Cyber Partnership, featuring the NCF, as well as BAE Systems and local universities.
Claire Lambert is the first new recruit, who’ll take on the role of Marketing Project Officer. Joining from Active Lancashire, prior to that she spent almost a decade at the North West Aerospace Alliance, leading on marketing and events.
Tom Whiley, who previously worked in business development at the Lancaster-based technology consultancy Northern Reach, has been named Monitoring and Evaluation Project Officer.
Both will support the council’s delivery of the Lancashire Innovation Plan (LIP). Announced last year, the ‘blueprint for growth’ is focused on the county’s capabilities in innovation-led sectors such as aerospace, advanced manufacturing, energy and chemicals.
It also outlines the need to maximise and broaden its R&D offer and exploit new opportunities in emerging markets including electech, cyber, the digital industries, health, and low carbon.
Innovation Hub
The county council’s innovation team, which is led by Maya Ellis, has also been leading the development of a new £6m innovation hub at Samlesbury. This is to capitalise on the technology organisations already based in the area, including AMRC North West, BAE Systems and the NCF.
This “cross-sector facility” has been set up to facilitate more ideation, innovation and collaboration within a range of high value, high growth industries.
The same team is behind the FHundED community, led by Rory Southworth, who’s recently been promoted to Innovation Ecosystem Manager.
“Innovation is widely recognised as a key driver for regional economic growth. By strengthening our team in areas like marketing and evaluation, and widening Rory’s remit so he can take his FHundED and Fraser House experience to other parts of Lancashire, we can ensure we take full advantage of every opportunity which comes Lancashire’s way,” explained Maya Ellis, LCC’s Innovation Programme Lead.
“With more capacity, we will also be able to support potential new capital developments such as the proposed £6m innovation hub at Samlesbury, alongside existing investments already in the pipeline like the National Cyber Force HQ.”
