It was another remarkable event for the county as over 150 businesses gathered to celebrate Lancashare Day 2018 in the Pavilion at The Villa, Wrea Green.   Lancashire Day commemorates the day in 1295 when Lancashire first sent representatives to parliament.  Lancashare was created by the businesses of the county and launched on Lancashire Day 2016, the day has since been celebrated each year to mark their birthday and celebrate the county.   Messages of support were given from Simon Rigby MBE, Jonathan Warburton and Jake Berry, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and businesses were entertained by national comedian Tez Ilyas and local performing arts company Rothwell Arts who belted out hits from the Greatest Showman.

However, it was the exclusive and first time, morning 'Buyer Event' that had everyone talking and rightly so!  33 brave Lancashire businesses made history by being bold enough to step up and put their purchase requests on the table at the first ever 'buyer even't in a bid to buy it locally, work more collaboratively and keep more money within our county, subsequently helping to reduce our carbon footprint.  Buyer requests were carefully matched with local suppliers who held interviews throughout the morning.

Lisa Edge, Founder of Lancashare said, 'The whole event was incredible and not possible without the support and buy in from local businesses.  We held the buyer event to really drive home the 'keeping it local' message and draw attention to our online purchasing facility on the Lancashare platform.  We had no idea how well it would go but, as businesses networked in a room full of buyers, not sellers, the conversation took a totally different approach, by the end of the event, the scheduled buys had almost doubled and we've already been asked to run future buying events.  Support for the event was incredible and it's humbling to see so many businesses wanting to be involved'.  

The buying wall was beautifully produced and sponsored by Lomas Office Furniture & Stationary Supplies whilst East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce  sponsored the mornings buyer event.  Annette Pettman & team from procurement specialists Bright Track Solutions Limited were on hand to offer sound procurement advice and negotiating skills.  

Feedback was gathered on the day and following the event and 100% of respondents said they;

Found a potential new supplier

Saved money on their spend budgets

Were interested in attending any future events

Generated additional leads on the day

Made new connections

Helen Caddock, of Attain Digital said; 'Having not attended a similar event before we weren't sure what to expect.  However, it far exceeded our expectations!  Lisa had so carefully thought about which supplier would be best suited to which, meaning every conversation was purposeful and lead to a potential sale - brilliant!' 

Special thanks to all our buyers and suppliers, to Bright Track Solutions Limited for the specialist procurement advice, to East Lancashire Chamber for sponsoring the buyer event and to Lomas Office Furniture & Stationary Supplies for the provision of a fantastic buying wall.