The Trade Minister Lord Livingston plans to contact all 8,900 mid-sized businesses in the country before summer, to offer tailored trade advice and an intensive programme of support to help them export or break into new markets.

Manufacturers in Lancashire are being urged to apply for free funding and support, after a survey predicted there will be growth within the industry during 2014.

Regenerate Pennine Lancashire has been selected in a bid for £5m from the latest round of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF), to run a programme which will create hundreds of new jobs across the county.