THE biggest-ever survey of companies in Burnley has revealed a complex picture of firms happy about the quality of their workforce, but concerned about the town's image.

More than 200 firms were questioned in depth by consultants West Midlands Enterprise about their thoughts on doing business in Burnley.

The research was undertaken for Burnley Borough Council and is being used as the basis for planning a new range of support services for business and industry in the town.

Senior economic development officer John Searle said the survey was the largest of its kind to be carried out in the borough.

"The results of this survey give an idea both of Burnley's strengths and the challenges it faces," he said. "There was nothing that surprised us, but it did lead to the conclusion that we need to help business more in the future.

"New programmes for business support being drawn up ahead of new funding from the Single Regeneration Budget and the European Regional Development Fund will be based on those findings."

The survey found that Burnley companies were largely happy with the quality of the local labour force and the communications infrastructure.

On the downside, however, firms cited the image of the borough as a significant disadvantage to being located in Burnley.

On the use of computers in business, the survey found that 15 per cent of companies were using no IT at all and that less than half were planning to invest in IT over the next 12 months. Businesses blamed a shortage of finance and staff not having the right skills.

Companies were agreed that business support agencies should provide more assistance with exporting, training and recruitment.

Even among existing exporters, 60 per cent felt they could boost their international trade with additional assistance.

Almost six in ten companies said they would undertake job-related training, with priorities being IT, sales and marketing and customer care.