Members News

THE LANDSCAPE

IS CHANGING

The north Liverpool landscape is changing as Everton Football Club’s new stadium build at Bramley-Moore Dock gathers pace.

Work on the development, a former semiderelict dock, has been in progress for a year this month (July 2021).

And the Everton Stadium will provide another iconic landmark on the city skyline – and act as a mesmeric gateway to Liverpool for cruise ships that bring legions of visitors.

The remarkable transformation, widely recognised as the largest single-site private sector development in the country, will provide Everton with one of the most environmentally-friendly football stadia ever built.

It will contribute an estimated £1.3bn to the UK economy, creating thousands of jobs and attracting 1.4m visitors to the city of Liverpool, annually. Once complete, the scheme will have acted as a catalyst for more than £650m worth of accelerated regeneration directly benefiting the nearby Ten Streets development.

And importantly, it ushers in a new dawn for Everton Football Club after more than a century at Goodison Park.

The 52,888-seater stadium offers not only an increased capacity, but also a revolutionary opportunity for a re-set of traditional football hospitality at Everton Stadium. It allows the Club to develop new concepts, enhance traditional ones, innovate and offer supporters a broader choice and more ways to meet, in a variety of social spaces on matchdays. In readiness for the new stadium opening, the Club is set to contribute to upgrades of the facilities at nearby Sandhills train station.

This follows a fan survey held by Everton Football Club back in 2018, to help inform the planning process, which suggested that 60% of fans wanted to use public transport.

The close proximity to the city also means more fans will have the opportunity to walk the short distance to Bramley-Moore Dock, while a matchday shuttle bus service will run between the stadium and the main stations in town, for those who cannot make the journey on foot.

Once the new stadium is opened, a fitting legacy will be delivered on the Goodison Park site, a project which could include high quality and affordable housing, a multi-purpose health centre, community-led retail spaces, a youth enterprise zone, office and business facilities and green space.

THE DEMAND FOR CORPORATE

HEALTHCARE HAS NEVER BEEN GREATER

Local health insurer Medicash has been looking after the health and wellbeing of the people of Liverpool (and further afield) for over 150 years, but never in its history has it seen such a surge in demand from employers looking to provide health cover for their organisation.

2021 saw Medicash sell over 122,000 new policies, the most in its 150-year history. Better yet, this impressive record is on track to be broken again in 2022, with over 100,000 new policies being written in the first 6 months of this year alone, taking Medicash’s policy base to over 400,000 for the first time. Medicash’s previous highest number of policies peaked in 1947, just before the NHS was introduced, with a total of 396,000 policies.

Paul Gambon, Sales and Marketing Director at Medicash, puts this success down to Medicash continually advancing and innovating their product range to work for the modern world, including investing in a variety of new digital health benefits, as well as working consistently on evolving the My Medicash App.

The My Medicash App houses all of Medicash’s digital benefits, like Virtual GP and digital physiotherapy, plus its skin cancer screening service through SkinVision, enabling policyholders to access their benefits instantly and easily. The SkinVision and digital physiotherapy benefits have been particularly welcomed by both employers and employees, as they allow users to access remote care at a time that is most convenient to them. These digital solutions aid proactive and preventive care as well as faster recovery.

Medicash are regularly recognised not only for their innovation and investment in technology, having won Health Cash Plan Provider of the Year at the Workplace Savings & Benefits Awards and winning Best Cash Plan Provider at the Corporate Adviser Awards for the second year in a row, but also their customer service, holding the Investor in Customers Gold Award since 2013 for their high-quality customer support. This high-quality service is reflected in Medicash’s impressive figures and excellent 5* Trustpilot rating.

Paul said: “The rapid and continuous growth of Medicash’s policy base over the past few years shows that demand for corporate health plans has never been greater and won’t be slowing down any time soon. Organisations are realising that a health cash plan is a great solution for supporting employee wellbeing at a reasonable price, providing practical and digital health benefits for employees at every level.”

As the demand for health cash plans continues to grow, this comprehensive health solution is becoming extremely popular within employee benefit packages. In fact, according to the Willis Towers Watson Employee Benefits and Wellbeing Index they have become the second most popular benefit amongst employees, ranking only behind contributory pensions.

Now more than ever, it is important for employers to show that they genuinely care about the health and wellbeing of their staff. Investing in a health cash plan is an effective way to retain top talent and appeal to potential employees in today’s job market, whilst also ensuring employees are able to stay in good health, so they can continue to work productively.

To find out more about Medicash, visit www.medicash.org or call 0800 195 2992, and don’t forget to vote for Medicash in the Liverpool Chamber Innovation in Business Awards 2022.

LEVELLING UP

As newly appointed Strategic Partners of the Chamber, it adds a spring to my step and a smile to my face that my first article in the Well Connected magazine is all about Levelling Up.

Since I moved both my businesses (The Social Desk & Lucrum Digital) within the Liverpool City Region I’ve felt an enormous sense of belonging and pride. We have been welcomed into the city, launched into lots of networking with some fantastic businesses and have been nominated for several awards.

Liverpool is an extraordinary city and with so much-untapped potential. Levelling Up will bring more opportunities, increased funding, and improved projects within the public and private sectors. I believe it could provide Liverpool with the fundamentals to become a powerhouse within Europe again, if not even further.

So, I am left pondering as a marketer, what free tips or advice I can offer when you are thinking about Levelling Up. The question I feel you have to ask yourself and with true honesty is, is your marketing strategy working for your business? Are you generating a return on investment (ROI)? In sum, is it worth it?

Those that have met me will know, I’m a stickler for analytics. It’s the beginning of the story and it tells me everything about your marketing strategy. So, start here, be fanatical about it, look at the finite detail and read the numbers like a story because they will tell a tale. I have seen some fantastic, well developed marketing strategies but they aren’t giving any ROI – why? Because they aren’t working for that business; “shooting the pistol point blank only wastes the ammo”. When it looks good and sounds good, why wouldn’t you keep going hoping one day it will give a return? But in my experience, its false hope and its time to stop, recalibrate, review and tailor it to your business.

Learn more about your audience, who are they? what are they focussing on? what do they expect from you? What platforms are they on and what do they engage with outside of your business?

And remember, always stop, recalibrate, review and tailor – there is always room to change and develop, no one ever moved forwards standing still.

If you would like any further advice, Please contact James@thesocialdesk.co.uk

LEVELLING UP EVENTS IN LIVERPOOL: EVENTS ARE

THE KEY INGREDIENT TO REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE LIVERPOOL CITY REGION.

The Government’s Levelling Up Whitepaper offers welcome ambitions to boost economic prosperity in the UK through the development of towns, cities and regions. We think events are the key ingredient to regional development in the Liverpool City Region.

The events industry is a huge driver of Liverpool’s economy. For context, prepandemic, events were worth £3.3bn to Liverpool annually, supporting 38,000 jobs.

It’s clear that Liverpool is already a leader in the UK events industry. From organising conferencing festivals that attract thousands of attendees, to live music performances that attract hundreds of thousands. Not to mention the fact Liverpool were chosen to pilot the Government Events Research Programme. All of this and more only reinforces our national reputation for innovation, tourism and hospitality.

Other productions home to Liverpool such as the River of Light, and the Giants have drawn huge crowds and show that with the right technology, the possibilities are endless.

Over the last couple of months, we have seen a vast increase in events, production, broadcast and av hire across the city, with no indication of slowing down. Our clients are looking for fresh and innovative ideas to 1) keep up with the demand and 2) stand out within a crowded market.

MSP are committed to providing unforgettable productions, which requires the latest hightech equipment. With events on the rise, we spent time and resources searching for the right equipment that our city deserves. After months of research and a trip to Paris, we decided to upgrade our sound systems to the world-leading NEXO range. This partnership brings with it a host of opportunities and exciting tech solutions for our clients, as well as global potential for the business.

Furthermore, we are finding the demand for high end tech is growing, with orders for digital LED walls increasing – transforming venues, photoshoots and studios into an immersive experience, in any event. We’ve recently supplied a video wall to Liverpool Film Office, creating an illusion of a moving train used in a digital advertisement featuring Liverpool legend Mo Salah. If the creative industry can transform a studio in Liverpool into a global advertising campaign, this brings with it huge opportunities to put our city, its infrastructure and its creative minds on the map.

Investing in high-tech equipment will not only boost the scale of innovative productions possible for the region but could also attract national and even global interest. The more we can do as an industry to lead the way in event technology, the bigger the crowds get and the more attention we bring to our incredible city region.

We were proud to be the official AV partner for the World Climate Summit 2021, providing a full production service including high-tech LED technology that transformed the venue into an event fit for national and international viewing. Technology and events go hand in hand, and with events like the COP26 Summit attracting global attention, there’s no reason to say events like these couldn’t take place in Liverpool. As more opportunities come our way, we will naturally attract more visitors, workers and students which all work together to ensure we are retaining creative talent, and that our industry can grow with them.

We are lucky to have first class venues, people and infrastructure on our doorstep that are shaping the creative and events industry. Liverpool certainly has the key components needed to boost tourism, stimulate inward investment and attract global interest. With the right equipment, talent and delivery, the sky is the limit.

Get in touch with a member of the team to find out how we can enhance your next event with new technology.