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A city venue is to hold a major new Lancashire-based tech and innovation festival.
Chew’s Yard has been chosen for the first Lancashire Innovation, Funding and Tech festival (LIFT).
The one-day event is taking over the city’s independent food and drink market in Market Street West for panel debates and brings together business leaders, founders and others for a half-day event in June.
Preston Partnership, a private-sector membership organisation aiming to promote business in the city, has stepped in a sponsor of the festival.
Director of Preston Partnership and prominent city businessman Rob Binns said: “Preston Partnership exists to tell Preston’s story, shape its future and bring together an ambitious community. By sponsoring LIFT, we’re helping spotlight Preston’s pivotal role in Lancashire’s growing tech and innovation eco-system. Events such as LIFT help create the conditions for investment, collaboration and long-term economic growth.
“Following the Convention of the North and the February opening of the new Animate leisure scheme, the arrival of LIFT in Preston is yet another sign of the growing momentum in the city.”
The hosting of the event in Preston follows the city being the centre of this year’s Convention of the North which brought more than 800 delegates from across the political and business world to the city’s university with a fringe event at Chew’s Yard.
It also follows significant focus on the city’s digital, tech and cyber economy in recent months with the launch of the Preston Innovates initiative – backed by both Preston City Council and Preston Partnership following an in-depth report by consultants Plexal which highlighted how the city had been lagging behind on digital and tech innovation.
Innovate Lancashire’s programme lead, Hannah Churchman, said: “LIFT is a new innovation, tech and early-stage finance event aimed at dynamic entrepreneurs and progressive industry leaders across the whole of the county. For its inaugural event, Preston, which is home to an expanding tech and digital economy and a growing community of ambitious founders, was seen as an obvious location.
“Being able to work with a business-led organisation like Preston Partnership was another reason to bring LIFT to the city. The partnership understands the value of bringing the private and public sectors together to drive business growth and create new investment opportunities, and it supports the initiatives like Preston Innovates.
“The synergies between Innovate Lancashire’s countywide objectives and what’s happening in Preston – especially in the tech, digital and innovation space – are clearly very strong, and we greatly value the support and involvement of Preston Partnership in LIFT as its host city sponsor.”
The LIFT festival will see a four-hour programme of keynote talks, fireside chats and panel discussions with a range of entrepreneurs, investors, finance experts and tech sector specialists.
Christine Cort, partner at Chew’s Yard, said: “It’s incredibly rewarding to see so many companies and individuals choosing Chew’s Yard as an event venue. High profile events like LIFT and the Convention of the North coming to Preston help people see the city in a new light, inspiring confidence in what this place has to offer. Success breeds success. Preston should aim high and over deliver every time.”
The festival takes place on Thursday 12 June from 12noon to 4.30pm and then followed by a drinks and DJ reception. Early-bird tickets start at £13.45 and are available via Skiddle.
