Preston City Council

What Preston City Council does

Preston City Council is the statutory local government authority for the city of Preston, Lancashire, England, established in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 and currently employing 337 staff. It delivers the full spectrum of district council services to approximately 140,000 residents, local businesses, and visitors, including waste collection and recycling, council tax administration, business rates, planning and building control, housing and welfare benefits, environmental health, licensing, parks and open spaces, arts and events, and community wealth building initiatives. Funding is sourced from council tax receipts, retained business rates, government grants (Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund, Homes England), and discretionary service fees such as skip hire, bulky waste collection, garden waste subscriptions, and planning fees.

The council's service platform is anchored by the preston.gov.uk website, built on the GOSS Interactive digital platform with a self-service citizen portal (selfservice.preston.gov.uk) for authenticated transactions. Supporting technology includes Recite Me for accessibility and 100+ language translation, Silktide for automated WCAG 2.2 AA compliance monitoring, Capita for payment processing, Google Analytics for traffic analysis, and Convo for real-time British Sign Language interpreting. The council also operates a family of segment-specific digital properties (Visit Preston, Help in Preston, Invest Preston, Preston Markets, Animate Preston) and physical assets including Town Hall, Preston Markets, and the Animate leisure complex.

Distribution is hybrid: online self-service, in-person at Town Hall and field services, with a multi-channel marketing approach spanning owned websites, social media (Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube), e-newsletters, and council-sponsored events. Key strategic partners include Lancashire County Council, Cosy Homes in Lancashire (Warm Homes Local Grant 2025-2027), Heaton Group (Park Hotel redevelopment), the Preston Regeneration Board, and the Deafway organisation for BSL accessibility outreach. The council is undergoing Local Government Reorganisation, with plans to merge with Lancaster and Ribble Valley into a new unitary authority.

Name

Preston City Council

Legal name

Preston City Council

Website

https://preston.gov.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Preston City Council is the statutory UK local government authority for Preston, Lancashire, delivering waste, council tax, planning, housing, licensing, and community services to residents, businesses, and visitors through preston.gov.uk, physical assets, and a network of branded digital properties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Preston

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Council Tax: Preston City Council collects council tax from all residential properties in the Preston area to fund local services. The council administers council tax, discounts, reductions, support schemes, and changes of address.
2. Business Rates (Non-Domestic Rates): The council collects business rates from commercial properties and businesses operating in Preston, administered under the Local Government Finance Act 1988.
3. Service Fees and Charges: The council generates revenue through various service charges including skip hire (starting at £225 for 3-yard general waste skip), bulky household waste collection (£24 for up to 3 items), planning application fees, building regulation inspection fees, and license fees.
4. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support Administration: The council administers housing benefit and council tax support schemes under the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 and associated legislation.
5. Garden Waste Collection Subscription: Chargeable subscription service for garden waste bin collection, with renewal options available annually.
6. Investment and Regeneration Funding: External funding from government schemes including Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund, and Homes England grants (e.g., £8.6m secured for Park Hotel redevelopment) to support regeneration projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels13 records

Core offering

Preston City Council provides statutory local government services to residents, businesses, and visitors in Preston, Lancashire. Core services include waste and recycling collection, council tax and business rates administration, planning and building control, housing and benefits, licensing, environmental health, parks and open spaces, arts and culture, and economic regeneration. Service delivery is enabled through the preston.gov.uk digital portal, a self-service citizen portal, in-person services at Preston Town Hall, and field operations across the city.

Product overview

Preston City Council operates a comprehensive digital service platform comprising the main preston.gov.uk website built on GOSS digital platform technology, serving as the primary portal for all council services. The platform offers a unified citizen-facing experience through a self-service portal for authenticated transactions, supplemented by accessibility tools including Recite Me for web accessibility and Convo for British Sign Language interpreting. Services span waste management (bins, recycling, bulky waste, skip hire), council tax, planning and building control, housing and benefits, business services, employment, parks and open spaces, arts and events, community wealth building, and climate action initiatives. The council also manages or is associated with several related websites including Help in Preston (community support), Visit Preston (tourism), Preston Markets, Invest Preston (business investment), and Animate Preston (leisure complex).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Invest Preston: Investment and economic development hub for Preston, promoting business opportunities and regeneration projects
• Visit Preston
• Help in Preston
• Preston Markets
• Animate Preston

Products and services

• Bins, Waste and Recycling Services

Quantifiable outcome

• £1 million cost-of-living support package provided to Preston residents
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cosy Homes in Lancashire (Rhea Projects Ltd)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2025Cosy Homes in Lancashire is an Affordable Warmth initiative established by the 14 Local Authorities in Lancashire, managed by Rhea Projects Ltd. The scheme delivers the Warm Homes Local Grant (WHLG) in Preston from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2027 to improve energy efficiency of eligible homes by installing insulation, renewable heating systems, solar panels, and double glazing.
• ConvocoreTechnology or IntegrationConvo (previously SignLive) is a deaf-owned platform providing real-time British Sign Language interpreting services. The council has partnered with Convo to enable deaf residents to communicate with council services via the Convo Now app, QR codes at Town Hall, and web browser access. The service is free for residents to use.
• DeafwaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeafway is the local organisation supporting deaf residents in Preston. The council is in touch with Deafway to help promote the Convo accessibility service to deaf people who could benefit from it.
• Greener Homes in Lancashire / Green RoseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGreener Homes in Lancashire is the official council-backed not-for-profit support service for middle and higher-income homeowners and landlords in Lancashire. Green Rose is a delivery partner, a not-for-profit social enterprise delivering services in Lancashire for over 5 years and supporting over 3,000 households.
• Hey GirlsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHey Girls is a not-for-profit organisation working to eradicate period poverty across the UK. They are a stakeholder informed of results from the Change the Cycle project (a trial of reusable menstrual products) if deemed appropriate.
• LARACminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLARAC is a membership organisation representing local authority views on waste, recycling, and resource issues. They may be informed of results from the Change the Cycle project if deemed appropriate.
• GOSS InteractivecoreTechnology or IntegrationGOSS Interactive provides the digital platform technology, online self-service, and web content management system powering the Preston City Council website and its family of subsidiary sites.
• CapitacoreTechnology or IntegrationCapita provides the payment management system used by the council for online payments. Session cookies are used for the payment application which holds information when moving between pages.
• Recite MecoreTechnology or IntegrationRecite Me is accessibility software integrated into the council website, enabling users to personalise and customise their experience. Features include text-to-speech navigation, colour/contrast changes, language translation (100+ languages), font customisation, and zoom up to 300%.
• Lancashire County CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLancashire County Council provides certain services within Preston including household waste recycling centres, school admissions, libraries, concessionary travel passes (NoWcard), blue badges, and resident parking permits which are managed at county level rather than city council level.
• Preston BIDminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPreston BID (Business Improvement District) company is partnered with the council to administer and enforce BID levies under The Business Improvement Districts (England) Regulations 2004.
• Preston Regeneration BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Preston Regeneration Board is a new collaborative body bringing together three anchor institutions to drive forward regeneration in the city. It oversees the Preston 35 Regeneration Plan (2024-2035) and is exploring formal delivery vehicles for regeneration.
• Heaton GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHeaton Group is the development partner for the £70m transformation of the former Park Hotel in Preston city centre. The council has secured £8.6m Homes England grant to facilitate the redevelopment.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Wigan Council: Metropolitan borough council in Greater Manchester with comparable population and similar industrial/post-industrial regeneration profile. Operates on a similar statutory-tier mandate with broader resources.

Direct peers

• Lancaster City Council: Adjacent Lancashire district council of comparable size undergoing the same Local Government Reorganisation merger with Preston. Closest direct comparator in scope, geography, and statutory responsibilities.
• Wyre Council: Coastal Lancashire district council providing waste, planning, and housing services at a comparable scale. Same county-tier governance framework and shared back-office arrangements.
• Chorley Council: Small Lancashire district council with shared service history and similar population. Comparable on council tax base, waste collection, and leisure/cultural service provision.
• Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council: Unitary-equivalent Lancashire authority of similar population and economic profile. Comparable regeneration, waste collection, and economic development functions serving a town of comparable scale.
• Ribble Valley Borough Council: Third party to the Preston/Lancaster/Ribble Valley LGR merger. A small Lancashire district council with the same tier of statutory functions as Preston, providing a near-direct comparator for cost-base and service breadth.
• Fylde Borough Council: Small Lancashire district council of similar population size. Closely comparable on tourism/leisure assets (similar to Preston's Animate), waste collection, and council tax scale.
• Burnley Borough Council: Lancashire district council of broadly comparable size and economic profile. Both operate Levelling Up/Towns Fund programmes and similar regeneration mandates.
• South Ribble Borough Council: Neighbouring Lancashire district council sharing administrative boundaries with Preston. Direct comparator for shared services, joint waste arrangements, and council tax base composition.

Broad incumbents

• Salford City Council: Larger metropolitan authority that has become a UK benchmark for council-led regeneration, digital service transformation, and inclusive growth strategies — directly comparable to Preston's Community Wealth Building and digital-first agenda.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/prestoncouncil
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/PrestonCouncil
• Facebookfacebook.com/PrestonCityCouncil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/preston-city-council
• Instagraminstagram.com/prestoncitycouncil

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Preston City Council