Marketing Lancashire team wins double

Marketing Lancashire was named winner of the Downtown Lancashire in Business Best Social Media Presence of the Year award, at the Downtown Lancashire in Business Awards held at the Mercure Blackburn Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa on Thursday 16 June.   

Marketing Lancashire’s Chair of the Board of Directors, Tony Attard OBE (pictured right) and Chief Executive of Burnley-based company Panaz, was awarded the special Contribution to Lancashire award, at the same event. 

Championing Lancashire as a place to live, work, study and invest in, as well as being one of the UK’s top visitor destinations is Marketing Lancashire’s mission.  The organisations investment in digital platforms and social media leads the way in   showcasing Lancashire’s strengths and assets, to attract more interest and investment to the county.                                                                    

Frank McKenna, Chief Executive of Downtown in Business said 

“Without a doubt, the political landscape in Lancashire is the toughest that Downtown operates in, and so it is with some satisfaction that we have witnessed the Local Enterprise Partnership making good progress, and recognising that we are better working together than competing with close neighbours.  It seems likely that a strategic Combined Authority will be established before the end of this year.

“ Marketing Lancashire, especially have made a huge contribution to supporting this agenda, as their stake holding in County goes from strength to strength. In particular, their aptitude and focus in communicating and maintaining a dialogue throughout the region has never been stronger. 

“This is evident by the number of votes they received from the region's business community at the Lancashire Business Awards” 

Over the last year @MarketingLancs, the organisation’s business Twitter channel, and  its consumer visitor channel @VisitLancashire have enjoyed growth of over 50% with a combined following of almost 50K.  

Much of Marketing Lancashire’s social media activity directs followers to the organisation’s websites. VisitLancashire.com is the most engaging website with 2 million unique users, viewing over 6 million web pages (2015/16 statistics) and growing each year by 20%. Marketing Lancashire’s 600+ visitor economy members are featured on this popular website which helps attract and inform Lancashire’s 63million annual visitors.  

Ruth Connor, Chief Executive of Marketing Lancashire, commenting on the award said 

“Social media’s immediacy and ability to engage and open conversations with a wide range of influencers, is crucial to growing the Lancashire brand and taking the county to a world market.

"My congratulations to the team at Marketing Lancashire who have demonstrated their passion and commitment to amplifying Lancashire’s voice, through their creative development of these highly effective communication channels, for the wider benefit of Lancashire.  Congratulations also to Tony Attard for his most deserved Contribution to Lancashire award. ”   

Both Visitlancashire.com and Marketinglancashire.com will be transformed over the summer months with significant investment added to both sites, with improvements aimed at increasing visitors, improving the customer journey and experience, driving bookings and offering new and commercial opportunities for our partners. 

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Anna Izza, Head of PR and Communications   01772 426 459

Laura Crabb, PR and Communications Executive 01772 426 456