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The first benefit of the partnership will be a study to look at improving Leigh’s night-time economy. Other areas of work will be identified as the partnership develops.

Dr Gordon Fletcher, retail and development expert at the �������� Business School, said: “This partnership should provide a great opportunity to delve into the issues facing Leigh and to help the town overcome those challenges with innovative ideas to drive business growth. It will also provide our students with real life experience as they help to tackle some of those challenges facing the High Street in the town.”

The partnership has been developed with the help of Dr John Davies, a retired professor of �������� Business School.

John said: “I’m a born and bred Leyther and became aware of the great work that LMB was doing to help develop business in Leigh towards the end of 2021. I am keen to use my expertise to help them to push forward in making Leigh a better place. My main focus when at the University was to bring together business organisations with the University so that businesses could improve using the expert knowledge of the staff and students. It seemed to me that bringing LMB together with the �������� would create benefits for both partners”.

Les Thomas, Director and Chair of Leigh Means Business, said: “I’m delighted to be partnering with the ��������, which has an excellent reputation for working collaboratively with industry. This partnership will enable us to broaden and deepen our business development offer to the businesses of Leigh. In addition, the projects will provide excellent opportunities for the University’s students to put their learning into action working alongside business owners”.

LMB will be hosting a round table event on 16th June in the Legends Bar in Leigh Sports Village and part of this will be an introduction to the �������� so that member businesses can explore the range of opportunities and benefits from working with the University.