News Centre

Brockholes announced the first building of its kind to be awarded BREEAM Outstanding  The New Year arrived with a bang for Brockholes, a new 106 hectare Lancashire Wildlife Trust nature reserve off junction 31 of the M6. Brockholes has been awarded BREEAM Outstanding for its unique floating visitor centre, the first building of its kind […]

Lancaster and Morecambe College have a higher level management course beginning in February. If you are a manager looking to develop your skills and abilities then read on. CMI Level 5 Certificate in Management and Leadership Introduction This is 30 hour programme delivered over 10 x 3 hour sessions and is designed for practicing middle […]

NEW YEAR SEARCH FOR HOTSHOTS 2011 Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board (LBTB) is looking for this year’s culinary hot shots, to take part in the board’s successful scheme that brings new chef talent to the top table. HotShots is an LBTB initiative, created to give opportunities to emerging young chef talent across the county.  The chefs […]

Special Bulletin from Visit Britain : Prime Minister launches partnership between VisitBritain and travel and tourism industry  As you know, last August the Prime Minister gave a speech in which he stated his Government’s view that tourism was one of the best and fastest ways of generating the jobs the country needed. Earlier today he […]

VisitEngland launches new online tool to help the industry provide better information for visitors with access needs. VisitEngland, the national tourist board, today launches a new online tool aimed to help businesses cater better for visitors with access needs.  VisitEngland spearheaded the creation of the Access Statement, a description of a venue’s services and facilities […]

A bumper year of momentous first time births, huge investment and a hat-trick of awards has seen Blackpool Zoo’s visitor numbers hit new record heights. Despite the snow and ice of January, November and December and 42 per cent above average rainfall for the month of August, the award winning attraction beat its previous best […]

Highly commended for LBTB’s in house digital team Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board (LBTB) was shortlisted for two awards in the Don’t Panic Social Media Awards and came away with the Highly Commended award for Best In-House Team, at a ceremony last night (Thursday 09 December) at The Hilton Hotel, Deansgate,  Manchester. The event was attended by over 300 social media and  communications professionals from          […]

One of Preston’s most highly respected restaurants has been nominated in the Hi-Life Dining Awards Best Overall Restaurant category. The Walled Garden in Preston will compete with some of the UK and Ireland’s best restaurants for the highly sought after Hi-Life Dining Award.  The Walled Garden will now rely on the 100,000 voting Hi-Life members […]

VisitEngland Research Shows Industry Happy with Autumn Performance 1 December 2010.   Results, released today, from VisitEngland’s Business Confidence Monitor show the majority of accommodation businesses are satisfied with levels of business over the autumn, and are positive about prospects for 2011. The findings provide a broadly positive picture for the industry in which 81 per […]

Rich still desire luxury tourism despite credit crunch, says VisitBritain research Rich tourists still have an appetite for the exclusive luxury experiences that Britain offers despite the economic downturn, according to a new VisitBritain report. The report ‘’Luxury Travel: Understanding the Luxury Consumer’’  identifies seven new trends in luxury travel that are capturing the imaginations […]

For Channel 4’s Four In a Bed Programme  Channel 4 is back to make a second series of Four In a Bed and you could be a part of it. Do you think you have a great B&B? Would you like to show the nation why they should book in? Do you think your business knowledge […]

The standard rate of VAT is currently 17.5 per cent but will be increased to 20 per cent on 4 January 2011. For any sales of standard-rated goods or services that you make on or after 4 January 2011 you must charge VAT at the 20 per cent rate. If you have a cash business […]