Large employers

Lancashire is home to a diverse range of public and private enterprises. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, less than 1% of these enterprises have 250 or more employees, while the vast majority employ nine employees or less (see the business structure article for further information). However, this small number of large organisations account for a substantial proportion of total employment.

Identifying Lancashire's large employers is not straightforward. Employee figures for many public sector organisations are published, while figures private sector businesses are not. Since it is not possible to provide employee figures for private enterprises, local knowledge and publicly available information has been used to compensate for the lack of detailed employee numbers.

Key points

• Lancashire County Council is by far the largest single employer in the county. Collectively, the various NHS organisations in the county make up a greater share of employees, with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust having the most staff.

• In the private sector, BAE Systems is by a very large margin the biggest employer. Other large private sector employers in the county include Booths, Westinghouse Springfields.

Major public sector employers in Lancashire

National Health Service (NHS)

The NHS is a major employer across the Lancashire area. A number of NHS trusts are based solely in Lancashire whilst others have locations both within the county and outside the area. East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is the largest NHS trust in the county in terms of employee numbers (excluding primary care staff). The numbers of staff working NHS trusts and other core organisations can be found on the NHS employees article.

Local government

Local government, including the lower-tier and upper-tier authorities in Lancashire, employ many people. Across the authorities, Lancashire County council accounts for the highest number of staff, with the majority of these staff working in Lancashire's local authority maintained schools. Figures for the local government workforce for the 15 local authorities in the Lancashire area are available on the local government employees article.

Central government

The civil service is a large employer in Lancashire. Notable sites include the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) office in Fylde View in Blackpool and Hesketh House in Fleetwood, (with the latter shared with the NHS Business Services Authority), HM Revenue and Customs in St Mark's House in Preston, Veterans UK (part of the Ministry of Defence) in Norcross in Wyre, and HM Land Registry in Lytham. The number of staff working in the civil service employees in Lancashire are available on the civil service employees article, though the figures do not distinguish exactly how many people are employed at particular sites.

Police

Lancashire Constabulary is a significant local employer. These bi-annual figures show that front-line police officers make up the largest proportion of Lancashire Constabulary's employees. The latest employee figures can be found in the police workforce article.

Higher and further education

There are four universities which have campuses in Lancashire and all are major local employers, though not all employees are based in Lancashire. The University of Lancaster has the largest number of employees, with its main campus at Bailrigg, to the south of the historic city of Lancaster. Further information and figures for the university workforce in Lancashire are available on the employment at universities article.

There are a number of further education colleges in the Lancashire area that are also significant employers. This includes Accrington & Rossendale College, Blackburn College, Blackpool and The Fylde College, Burnley College, Cardinal Newman College, Lancaster & Morecambe College, Myerscough College, Nelson and Colne College, Preston College, Runshaw College, and West Lancashire College.

Major private sector employers in Lancashire

As the largest employment sector, the wholesale and retail trade sector accounts for a substantial number of jobs in Lancashire. Supermarket retailers including Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Booths, Sainsbury's, Co-op, and Marks and Spencer are major employers in Lancashire, with Booths being headquartered in Preston. James Hall & Co Ltd, based in Preston, is a major wholesale distribution company operating as the primary wholesaler to SPAR retailers throughout the North of England.

Manufacturing is a key sector in Lancashire. The most important multi-national company in this sector is BAE Systems, with two major sites in Fylde and Preston. There are also many sites in the county belonging to other major national and multinational organisations. These important local employers include Leyland Trucks, Westinghouse (Springfields), Baxi Heating, Safran Nacelles, Fox's Burton's Companies, Warburtons, Rolls Royce, Sunmagic, Graham and Brown, Akzo Nobel, AGC Chemicals Europe, Andrew Industries, Tensar International, Hanson Heidelberg Materials, Victrex, AB InBev, Silentnight, Navigator Tissue UK, Dixon Group Europe, Crown Paints, Promethean, and Johnsons Apparelmaster Ltd.

In the energy sector, the nuclear industry has a very important presence in Lancashire. EDF Energy operates Heysham 1 and Heysham 2 nuclear power stations which are large sites of employment in Lancaster. Vital Energi, which delivers renewable and sustainable energy products and services across the UK, is a major regional employer headquartered in Blackburn with Darwen.

The accommodation and food services sector accounts for many jobs in Lancashire. Crow Wood Leisure is a notable employer based in Burnley, operating a hotel and leisure complex, while Haven operates the large Marton Mere Holiday Village in Blackpool. Mellors Catering Services is a large employer based in West Lancashire, operating across the North and Midlands.

Eric Wright Construction is an important employer in the construction sector in Lancashire, with the headquarters in South Ribble, alongside other construction sector companies, such as Ainscough Crane Hire which also operates across the North West and beyond.

Notable employers in the telecoms and communications sector in Lancashire include BT Openreach and Daisy Communications, while Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) is a major employer in the administrative and support sector. In the financial and insurance sectors, Danbro, The Co-operative Bank and HomeServe are large employers in Lancashire. Royal Mail is a major employer across the county in the postal and courier activities subsector.

Lancashire has a very important agricultural sector that encompasses a range of farming, fishing and horticultural activities. Many of the businesses are well-established in the county. Large employers of note are Flavourfresh Salads Ltd based in West Lancashire, a leading UK salad producer, and Huntapac Produce Ltd based in Preston, a company which grows, packs and distributes organic and conventional root vegetables, brassicas and salads. Agency staff, hired during the busier parts of the growing season, significantly add to the permanent workforces at these and other major local employers in this sector.

Page updated 26 February 2026