IT Support in Bolton

Technology

Bolton is home to a number of tech firms and has a thriving digital sector. Blue Prism is a computer hardware and software firm who are renowned for pioneering robotic process automation over the last 20 years.

The computer company Fujitsu also have a presence here, as does Google, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Oracle, Booking.com, and Amazon.

Other tech firms located within the town include Datel Computing, MPP Global Solutions, Zenith Technologies, MDS Global, Globant, and Prodware.

The town is home to a plethora of other network, IT, and computer companies with a pool of skilled graduates supplied by the local university.

Tourism

Bolton is home to a number of historical landmarks and Grade I and Grade II listed buildings, such as its town hall, an impressive neoclassical building dating back to the 1870s.

The town also features Hall i' th' Wood, a medieval farmer's house which is now a museum. Bolton has 700 listed buildings spread across 26 conservation areas.

Some of Bolton's visitor attractions include Leverhulme Park, Victorian Queen's Park, Le Mans Crescent, the Market Place, and Ye Olde Man & Scythe.

Art and Culture

A survey conducted by the British Association for the Advancement of Science found people from Bolton, also known as Boltonians, to be the friendliest in the country.

Bolton is home to a number of theatres such as the Octagon as well as a museum, art gallery and central library.

The Bolton Museum and Art Gallery is home to an extensive collection of local and global artworks whilst the Bolton Steam Museum contains various preserved steam engines.

Bolton Central Library is one of oldest public libraries founded after the 19th century Public Libraries Act – it was initially located on the old market square before it was moved to Le Mans Crescent in the 1930s.

The town is also home to the Bolton Symphony Orchestra who perform regularly at the Victoria Hall and the Albert Halls in the centre of town.

The Cottontown Chorus can also be found here, a barbershop chorus who were awarded the 2008 BBC Radio 3 Adult Choir of the Year.

Bolton has also featured as a set for numerous TV and film dramas including Sherlock Homes, Sleepers, Peaky Blinders, and Between the Lines.

In 2015 Bolton's first LGBT+ Pride event was held in the town and has been a recurring yearly event ever since. It now includes live music and a parade.

Famous Boltonians include Fred Dibnah, a popular TV historian, and comics Paddy McGuiness and Peter Key.

Sport

Since the 1870s, Bolton has been home to Bolton Wanderers F.C. who were initially based at Burnden Park but have been located at the University of Bolton Stadium in Horwich since the late 1990s.

Winner of four FA Cups, the team is renowned for having 73 seasons in the top division of the English league under their belt.

The town also features Bolton Hockey Club which has over 120 playing members, Bolton Cricket League, and a rugby union club.

A baseball club formed in the early 2000s can also be found here – Bolton Robots of Doom and also a junior baseball team – Bolton Bears. Baseball in Bolton can actually be traced all the way back to the 1930s when a team called Bolton Scarlets played in the town.

Other sporting teams and activities within the town include American football and speedway racing. Bolton also used to host Greyhound racing at Raikes Park Greyhound Stadium – this took place from the late 1920s up until the late 1990s.

Bolton is home to Amir Khan, a world champion boxer acclaimed for becoming the WBA World light-welterweight champion in the late 2000s.

At only 22 years old at the time, this afforded him the status of the country's third youngest world champion boxer.

History

Bolton was a market town from the 13th century up until the 1700s. The 14th century saw Flemish weavers settling in the region, which led to the introduction of woollen cloth manufacturing.

A second wave of Flemish settlers arrived in the 1600s, introducing fustian to the area which is a coarse cloth fabricated from linen and cotton.

The textile industry grew rapidly in the 1800s thanks to a steady stream of improvements and innovations in this field.

This included the invention of the spinning mule amongst the development of other more advanced spinning and weaving techniques.

Bleach works were a prominent feature in the area at this time and the moorland streams provided the water required for these.

The textile industry's expansion was also fuelled by easy access to coal and there were a number of mines in the area, but this fell into decline in the 1900s.

Another factor which bolstered the industrial growth of the city was the town's transport infrastructure with a canal and railway facilitating the transport of coal and other raw materials.