LIFT '25
Thursday 12th June 2025 04:30 PM to 06:30 PM
Chews Yard, Preston

LIFT25 is the inaugural Lancashire Innovation, Funding and Tech festival, hosted by Innovate Lancashire in Preston in June.

Produced by Innovate Lancashire - a Lancashire County Council economic growth programme - LIFT will bring together founders, business leaders and key influencers for a half-day event at Chew’s Yard, Market Street, on June 12.
With a focus on actionable takeaways, LIFT will feature a four-hour programme of keynote talks, fireside chats and panel discussions featuring entrepreneurs, investors, finance experts and tech sector specialists.
Rob Binns, board member at Preston Partnership, said: “Preston Partnership exists to tell Preston’s story, shape its future and bring together an ambitious community. By sponsoring LIFT, we’re helping spotlight Preston’s pivotal role in Lancashire’s growing tech and innovation eco-system. Events such as LIFT help create the conditions for investment, collaboration and long-term economic growth."
Innovate Lancashire’s programme lead, Hannah Churchman, said: "LIFT is a new innovation, tech and early-stage finance event aimed at dynamic entrepreneurs and progressive industry leaders across the whole of the county. For its inaugural event, Preston, which is home to an expanding tech and digital economy and a growing community of ambitious founders, was seen as an obvious location.
“Being able to work with a business-led organisation like Preston Partnership was another reason to bring LIFT to the city. The partnership understands the value of bringing the private and public sectors together to drive business growth and create new investment opportunities, and it supports the initiatives like Preston Innovates.
“The synergies between Innovate Lancashire’s countywide objectives and what’s happening in Preston - especially in the tech, digital and innovation space - are clearly very strong, and we greatly value the support and involvement of Preston Partnership in LIFT as its host city sponsor.”
LIFT takes place on Thursday June 12 and will begin with arrival and networking from 12pm to 1pm, followed by the main programme from 1pm to 4:30pm. It will conclude with a drinks reception and DJ from 4.30pm to 6.30pm.