AI automation in Nelson and Colne.
Pendle had 3,135 businesses in 2026, and 88.8% of them employ fewer than ten people.Source [1] Manufacturing made up 26.7% of Pendle's 30,000 employee jobs in 2024, more than three and a half times the British share of 7.3%.Source [1]
We cover all 52 towns and villages in the district. Most of what we build is delivered remotely, so the practical question is not how far you are from us. It is whether we understand the way your trade actually works. We will come out if it helps.
Written by Sami (Sam) Swain. Local facts checked 9 October 2026.
What is happening in Pendle
Where the work is
- Lomeshaye Industrial Estate sits beside the M65 near junction 12. In 2019 the council counted around 100 businesses employing about 4,000 people on its 40 hectares.Source [2]
- Rolls-Royce lists two sites in Barnoldswick, Bankfield and Ghyll Brow, both on Skipton Road.Source [3]
- The Nelson Town Deal gave 38 Nelson businesses grants worth £1.9 million over four years, helping create more than 200 full time jobs. Grants of up to £100,000 paid for machinery, lower energy use and building improvements at firms such as Buoyant Upholstery and Precision Tube & Laser.Source [4]
Support for businesses
- Pendle's Innovation and Productivity Grants paid up to £18,000 towards new technology from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. That scheme ran from April 2025 to March 2026 and has ended.Source [5]
- The council's business page points firms to Rosebud, which offers loans from £25,000, and to East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce.Source [6]
- With manufacturing so large a share of local jobs, Made Smarter North West is the most relevant county scheme here.Source [1]Source [7] Read our Made Smarter North West guide
Industries that matter in Pendle
These sectors employ a bigger share of people here than they do across Great Britain, so they are where automation usually earns its keep first.
Manufacturing and engineering
Manufacturing is 26.7% of employee jobs against 7.3% in Great Britain.Source [1]
AI for manufacturingHelp across Lancashire
- Boost is Lancashire's business growth hub. Its Business Support Helpdesk on 0800 488 0057 is open to every Lancashire business and to anyone planning to start one. Growth Lancashire runs the helpdesk on Boost's behalf.Source [8]
- Made Smarter North West helps small and medium manufacturing and engineering firms adopt digital technology. Firms with 249 staff or fewer and a turnover under £36 million, or a balance sheet under £18 million, can apply. It offers up to 50% match funding to a maximum of £20,000 for equipment and specialist advice, a leadership programme and funded digital internships worth up to £4,035. Boost is one of its delivery partners.Source [7]Source [9] Read our Made Smarter North West guide
- The UK Shared Prosperity Fund pays for no activity after 30 September 2026. Several council grant schemes it paid for have closed, and some councils, such as Burnley and Hyndburn, now pay for their own schemes.Source [10]Source [11]Source [12]
Grants and funded training that are open now are on our funding page.
Main towns in Pendle
Nelson
Town, population 33,617, BB9
Lomeshaye Business Park is the town's main employment site with around 4,000 workers after the cotton industry's decline.
Colne
Town, population 17,855, BB8
Precision engineering, particularly for the aerospace sector, drives the local economy.
Barnoldswick
Town, population 10,752, BB18
Rolls-Royce plc, which designs jet engines in the town, is its largest employer.
Barrowford
Village, population 6,171, BB9
Historically a cotton textile centre. Booths supermarket is a significant modern employer.
Earby
Town, population 4,538, BB18
A former lead-mining settlement whose economy is now based on community services and tourism.
Villages and smaller places we also cover
These are covered on the same terms. They are listed here rather than given a page each, because a page that only restates the district page helps nobody.
Alkincoats
Area between Colne and Barrowford, site of Alkincoats Park and the former Alkincoats Hall
Ball Grove
Area on the eastern edge of Colne, site of Ball Grove Park picnic area and former dye works
Barley
Cotton factories were powered by local brooks. Barley Green Mill ran 200 looms until the floods of 1880.
Barley-with-Wheatley Booth
Parish directly under Pendle Hill, the main walking access point for the summit.
Barnside
Settlement east of Colne, historically a detached part of Foulridge township
Blacko
Spring Field Mill, a cotton weaving mill of about 1850, closed in the 1970s and the site is now housing.
Bracewell
A Roman road from Ribchester to Ilkley passes through the parish.
Bracewell and Brogden
Pendle's smallest and most rural parish, crossed by the Roman road from Ribchester to Ilkley.
Bradley
District of Nelson and a Pendle borough ward. Dense terraced inner Nelson neighbourhood.
Brierfield
The cotton industry remained the main employer here well into the 1960s.
Brogden
Farming hamlet paired with Bracewell in Pendle's most easterly parish.
Clover Hill
District of Nelson, part of the Brierfield East and Clover Hill ward
Coates
Residential area of Barnoldswick that gives its name to the town's Coates ward.
Cottontree
Hamlet paired with Winewall in Trawden Forest parish on the edge of Colne.
Fence
Named after the enclosure erected to keep the King's deer within the Forest of Pendle.
Foulridge
An important stopping point on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal summit pound at the mouth of Foulridge Tunnel.
Goldshaw Booth
Parish containing Newchurch in Pendle, lying within the Forest of Bowland AONB.
Higham
A historic pinfold and the 1837 village hall, built as a National School, stand in the village centre.
Higham-with-West Close Booth
Parish on the southern slopes of Pendle between Padiham and Fence.
Higherford
Sits on the A682 immediately above Barrowford, with which it is often confused.
Horsfield
District of Colne paired with Waterside in the borough ward name
Kelbrook
Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and still culturally linked to Craven.
Kelbrook and Sough
West Craven parish straddling the A56 corridor between Earby and Barnoldswick.
Laneshaw Bridge
Long dominated by the Emmott family estate. Now residential with walking tourism.
Lomeshaye
Western district of Nelson and the borough's main industrial estate, Lomeshaye Industrial Estate
Marsden
Historic township (Great Marsden and Little Marsden) that modern Nelson was built across. Survives as the Marsden and Southfield ward and Marsden Park.
Newchurch in Pendle
The village centres on the historic St Mary's Church, a focal point of Pendle witch heritage.
Old Laund Booth
Parish on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal containing the villages of Fence and Wheatley Lane.
Primet Bridge
District of south west Colne, gives its name to Colne Primet Academy
Reedley
Suburban village in Pendle borough that adjoins Burnley's north-eastern edge.
Reedley Hallows
Construction of a marina on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal began in the parish in January 2008.
Roughlee
Sits at the foot of Pendle Hill and is closely associated with the Pendle witches.
Roughlee Booth
Small Pendle Hill parish on Pendle Water, part of the Pendle witch tourism trail.
Sabden Fold
Hamlet in Goldshaw Booth parish, Pendle witch country between Newchurch and Sabden
Salterforth
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal cuts through the village, with narrowboat moorings and canalside facilities.
Sough
Lies east of the main A56 road between Earby and Kelbrook in the West Craven area.
Southfield
District of Nelson named in the Marsden and Southfield ward
Spen Brook
Hamlet in Goldshaw Booth parish below Pendle Hill, near Newchurch in Pendle
Trawden
The community co-operatively owns the village library, shop, community centre and pub.
Trawden Forest
Upland parish covering Trawden, Winewall, Cottontree and Wycoller on the Lancashire/Yorkshire watershed.
Vivary Bridge
District and former ward of Colne on the northern side of the town
Walverden
District of eastern Nelson around Walverden Water and Walverden Reservoir
Waterside
District of Colne at the base of the southern slope next to Colne Water, part of the Waterside and Horsfield ward
Wheatley Lane
Ribbon village in Old Laund Booth parish running along the Pendle Hill shelf above Nelson.
Whitefield
District of Nelson and part of the Whitefield and Walverden ward, a designated conservation area of weavers' terraces
Winewall
Until 2001 Winewall had one of England's last Inghamite chapels.
Wycoller
Centred on the ruins of the 16th-century Wycoller Hall and its group of historic bridges.
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Sources
We opened and read every source below on 9 October 2026. If one has changed since, the source is right and this page is out of date, so please tell us.
- 1. ONS via Nomis, Labour market profile, Pendle (BRES 2024 employee jobs, UK Business Counts 2026).
- 2. Pendle Borough Council, Expansion for Pendle jobs and businesses as Lomeshaye gets go ahead, 28 February 2019.
- 3. Rolls-Royce, UK sites.
- 4. Pendle Borough Council, Nelson Town Deal Business Grants Programme gives huge boost to local economy, 24 August 2026.
- 5. Pendle Borough Council, Pendle Innovation and Productivity Grants.
- 6. Pendle Borough Council, Business Support and Advice.
- 7. Made Smarter, Made Smarter Adoption, North West.
- 8. Boost, Lancashire County Council, Business Support Helpdesk.
- 9. Made Smarter, Made Smarter Adoption, in my region.
- 10. MHCLG, GOV.UK, UK Shared Prosperity Fund 2025-26, additional information.
- 11. Burnley Borough Council, Future Business Support and Employment Support, report to Executive, 25 February 2026.
- 12. Hyndburn Borough Council, Hyndburn Borough Council launches business grants programme for 2026/27, 13 May 2026.