Burnley - Economy

Economy

Burnley's traditional employment base has been in decline for several decades. The last deep coal mine, Hapton Valley Colliery, closed in February 1981 and the last steam-powered mill, Queen Street Mill, in 1982. Over the next two decades, Burnley's two largest manufacturers closed their factories: Prestige in July 1997 and Michelin in April 2002. The town has struggled to recover: its employment growth between 1995 and 2004 placed it 55th of England's 56 largest towns and cities, and as of 2007 it was the 21st most deprived local authority (out of 354) in the United Kingdom. 13% of its working age population currently claims incapacity benefit (national average 7%). The largest employment sector in the town is now public administration, education and health (31.2%), followed by manufacturing (21.9%).

Home shopping firm Shop Direct announced in January 2010 that it was to close its Burnley call centre with the loss of 450 jobs. The company, which owns Littlewoods, Additions Direct, Very, Empire Stores and Marshall Ward, had been in the town for over 30 years, originally as Great Universal Stores but now known as GUS plc.

Modern economic developments have been industrial estates and business parks with the following currently in Burnley: Heasandford, Rossendale Road, and Healeywood Industrial Estates; Network 65, Shuttleworth Mead, Smallshaw & Chestnut, Elm Street, and Gannow Business Parks; and Burnham Gate Trading Estate. A further large business park, provisionally called Burnley Bridge, is being developed on a site near Hapton formerly belonging to Hepworth Plastics.

Key manufacturing employers today are in highly specialised fields: Safran Aircelle (aerospace), GE subsidiary Unison Engine Components (aerospace), AMS Neve (professional audio), and TRW Automotive and Futaba-Tenneco UK (automotive components). In 2011 Gardner Aerospace, which made parts or the Eurofighter Typhoon, closed its site, with the loss of 120 jobs. The town has also had a long association with Endsleigh Insurance Services, providing its main training facility and an important call centre. It also hosts the head office of The Original Factory Shop chain. In 2004, the Lancashire Digital Technology Centre was opened by Sir Digby Jones on land formerly occupied by the Michelin factory, to provide support and incubation space for start-up technology companies.

Burnley is a sub-regional shopping destination, and is ranked in a similar position to nearby Blackburn in most consumer spending and footfall rankings. The town's main shopping area is St James Street, along with the nearby Charter Walk Shopping Centre. The YMCA claimed to have opened the largest charity shop in the UK in 2009, when they temporarily took over the former Woolworths store in the centre. The shopping centre was sold in 2001 by Great Portland Estates to Sapphire Retail Fund, which was 50% owned by the Reuben Bothers. The centre was bought in March 2011 by Addington Capital following the 2010 collapse of Sapphire Retail Fund. The centre incorporates the council-run market which is open four days a week.

The town centre is home to a large number of high street multiples, including Marks and Spencer, W H Smith, New Look, Next, River Island, Topshop, Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Ernest Jones, Argos, Clarks, JD Sports, Wilkinson, Supercuts and Scotts, along with other shops, including specialist food shops, independent record shops and an independent bookshop. On the edge of the town centre, four retail parks house stores including Currys, Argos Extra, Sports Direct, T.K. Maxx, Staples, Halfords, Comet and PC World; there are also a number of mill shops. Plans have been in place since 2004 to construct a second town centre shopping centre, originally called 'The Oval'. By the time a sufficient number of tenants had signed up to begin construction, the effects of the financial crisis cast doubts over the project. In early 2011 fresh plans were released for a considerably smaller scheme involving a cluster of retail units, however until the financial situation improves, construction is unlikely to start. As well as Woolworths, the financial crisis has also led to the closure of several other shops in the last few years, including T J Hughes, Miss Selfridge, and HMV.

There are also a branch of Homebase, and various supermarkets including Sainsbury's, Tesco Extra, Asda, Iceland, Farmfoods, Aldi and UGO on the edges of the town centre, as well as a second Farmfoods, second Iceland, two Tesco Express stores and a Co-op superstore in suburban areas.

As well as traditional motor dealerships from Volkswagen, Ford, Vauxhall, Renault and Nissan, the town is home to the second Motorpoint car supermarket in the UK, as well as the only UK dealership of German supercar manufacturer Gumpert.

The local brewery, Moorhouse's, which was founded in 1865, produces a range of award-winning beers – including the very popular Pride of Pendle and Blond Witch – and currently operates six pubs in the area. The Worsthorne Brewing Company produces a number of cask ales including Chestnut Mare, Packhorse, Foxstones Bitter, Some Like It Blonde, Old Trout, Collier's Clog and Winter Ales. The Moonstone Brewery is operated within the "Ministry of Ale", Burnley's first Brewpub.

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