Why Lancashire
At the Forefront of UK Cyber
Lancashire is at the heart of the UK's defence & security capabilities and is fast becoming one of the UK’s most strategically significant cyber and digital innovation hubs.
Anchored by the arrival of the National Cyber Force (NCF) at Samlesbury, the region is now a key pillar of the UK’s national security and digital infrastructure. This move is catalysing a new era of investment, economic ambition, innovation, and collaboration across the public and private sectors.
With a £40 billion economy, over 55,000 businesses, and a £22 billion investment pipeline, Lancashire offers a dynamic environment for companies seeking to scale securely and sustainably.
The region’s industrial strengths in aerospace (defence and civil), advanced manufacturing, nuclear and telecoms are now converging with digital technologies to create a mission-led innovation ecosystem.
Lancashire offers a rare combination of strategic location, sectoral depth, and innovation readiness, and hosts one of the UK's most comprehensive and nationally significant defence, security and critical national infrastructure ecosystems
Lancashire is uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in the UK's retention of sovereign industrial capability, with these inimitable capabilities having the potential to add significant value to the defence economy by maximising expertise in dual-use technologies such as nuclear, robotics and electech
It is also part of the North West Cyber Corridor linking GCHQ Manchester, the University of Lancashire, Lancaster University’s cyber research centre, and the NCF.
This corridor is rapidly becoming the UK’s most secure and connected environment for cyber operations, making Lancashire a natural choice for firms in defence, digital, and data-intensive sectors.
- Home to over 4,000 technology and digital enterprises, including 2,000 computing businesses, 200 telecoms firms.
- Home to the UK's 2nd highest manufacturing base
- Home to the world's 4th largest aerospace cluster,
- Home to 700 firms working within sectors directly aligned to the defence & security industries, with a further 3,200 companies with defence sector capabilities based on dual-use tech
- Home to around 20,000 direct defence and security jobs, nearly half of the NW's total defence workforce
- Lancashire is at the heart of the NW's defence and security sector which is the only region to offer the full complement of traditional defence and security requirements – air, under/over sea and land, as well as emerging requirements in cyber (now home to NCF and central to the NW Cyber Corridor) and drone/UAV technologies (Altitude, Warton EZ)
Lancashire therefore offers a wealth of cyber-related opportunities for both global players and ambitious SMEs who wish to access an established and effective defence and security ecosystem.
Whether seeking flexible office space, large-scale industrial plots, or collaborative R&D environments, Lancashire provides the infrastructure, talent, and support to accelerate business success.