We held our third Mayor's Business Lunch at the Town Hall. This one was for the communications sector and we had representatives from The Leader Series of newspapers, Lancashire Telegraph, Asian Eye, Northern Life and Daisy Communications. The lunch went well, with wide ranging discussions on issues of mutual interest. The business lunches have all been successful and we have now also covered; start up companies and growing companies. We will be having another lunch for our larger companies probably in April.
I then nipped into our graphics studio to check the Pendle Business Awards designs.
An evening meeting with our group members meant that I got my tea at about 10.00pm.
Tuesday 5 February
We spent all day visiting companies short-listed for the Pendle Business Awards. We got around to 10 businesses ranging from shops and cafes to innovative manufacturers. All of them were excellent in what they were doing and it was very uplifting for my fellow judges Kelly Eardly from Pendle Economic Development and Kevin Clark from Pendle Enterprise Trust. At lunchtime we stopped at Pendle Heritage Centre for a spot of lunch and to chat about the excellent entrants.
Wednesday 6 February
In the afternoon we opened (with a sharp pair of scissors), David Philips Solicitors in Barclays Bank Chambers in Nelson. The opening was well attended and I gave a short speech on the changes that are coming to Nelson Town Centre. These include; a new Tesco store, the Bus/Rail Interchange, No 1 Market Street bringing in 300 new jobs, the ACE centre which will bring Nelson back to life at night, the road being re-instated through the centre and lots of “public realm” work. Nelson; I told them is on the up!
Straight after that I joined my fellow judges continuing our Pendle Business Awards judging. Yet again, the quality of the companies was inspiring.
Thursday 7 February
We joined with Peter the Mayor of Burnley at the Digital Centre to launch the new Transdev Starship buses.
I join the Mayor of Burnley cutting the ribbon to launch the new Starship bus
The company had invested millions in the new buses and they are more passenger friendly and use less fuel than the ones that they replaced. They have easy access step-free entrances for easy access, 8 cctv cameras and the latest technology engines.
The new space age busses will be very popular
We cut the ribbon to launch the bus after a smoke, light and music introduction. We then got on the bus for a trip around Burnley and Pendle where I met the manager of the old Burnley & Pendle Transport Company when it was in local authority hands. 
Standing room only for a quick tour of Pendle and Burnley
Afterwards we went back to the Digital Centre for a quick sandwich and where I met Colin Tempest, a childhood friend who I used to play out with over 50 years ago!
I then got back to pendle to continue our Pendle Business Awards judging. Yet again we were staggered by the quality of our local businesses.
Friday 8 February
We met at the Town Hall for a meeting with Richard and Jacqui about Mayoral diary and other issues. Afterwards we then had a quick meeting with Jane and the committee clerks about the Mayors Black & White Ball, which seems to be going very well.
Buzz Hawkins greets us a for a great night out
In the evening it was our charity event; Buzz Hawkins meets the Mayor of Pendle. We met Buzz (the man behind the Bradshaws) and Jennifer his agent who were both very nice people.
We join Buzz and "rent-a-crowd" for a newspaper picture
The Nelson Leader came around for a photo before the show where we got most of our family as the “rent a crowd”.
Buzz making everyone laugh their socks off
At the interval we were selling Lancashire Hot Pot and as we didn’t know how many we would sell we guessed at 100 and would you believe it got the number dead right – we sold all of them. The night was a great success and raised around £3250 for charity. Everyone went home smiling.
The ladies of the Mayoresses Fundraising Committee who made over £250 on the raffle
Our chance to thank everyone for coming and supporting our charitiesBuzz Hawkins and the Bradshaws met the Mayor of Pendle, Coun. Allan Buck on Friday, for a fund raising charity night at Colne Muni.
Buzz had everyone in stitches with his wickedly funny look back to the days of our childhood, when a brass band was always playing two or three streets away and convenience food was a sugar butty. The Bradshaws; young Billy, dad Alf and mother Audrey gave us their own brand of humour which warmed the hearts of everyone. “It was crackin’ night out, everyone really enjoyed themselves and I laughed so much my chain nearly fell off,” said the Mayor.
He added; “I stood near the exit as everyone was leaving, to thank them for coming and asked - did you enjoy yourselves? The resounding reply was; it’s the best night out in ages!”
Pendle Leisure Trust supported the event, which raised over £3000 for our charities and will enable us to get help to where it’s much needed.
Saturday 9 February
At 10.00am we opened up the Town Hall for a Mayors Surgery where anyone can pop in to discuss anything that concerns them. From there at 11.00am we went over the new Spa to meet with Eric Knowles from BBC Antiques Road Show to launch the new Discover Pendle Guide.
